Senior Mechanical Engineer

A little bit about us 

At Recycleye, we’re transforming recycling through advanced AI and automation. Our technology enables waste management companies to recover more material, more efficiently — turning waste into valuable resource. 

Since launching in 2019, we’ve scaled rapidly, deploying our AI-powered sorting systems across Europe and the US. But the challenge remains enormous — globally, only 9% of plastic waste is recycled. 

Our systems operate in harsh industrial environments, at high throughput, and under demanding reliability requirements. Solving these challenges requires thoughtful, robust mechanical engineering — and that’s where you come in. 

Why join Recycleye? 

This is a rare opportunity to join a scaling hardware company at the point where strong mechanical engineering will make a huge impact. 

You won’t just design parts — you’ll help shape systems, define engineering standards, and build the foundations for scalable hardware deployed globally. 

We offer: 

• High ownership and autonomy  

• Fast-paced scale-up environment with real engineering challenges  

• Opportunity to shape processes, standards, and best practices  

• Exposure to full product lifecycle and customer deployments  

• Hybrid working (typically 4 days in Stratford office, 1 remote)  

 
The opportunity 

We’re looking for a Mechanical Engineer with 7+ years of experience to join our Production team and be the go-to mechanical engineer for Quantisort 2.0, our next-generation optical sorting platform.  

This is primarily an office-first, hands-on role. You’ll support PMs and integrators with Quantisort projects, resolve technical challenges, and drive continuous improvements of performance, reliability, and scalability.  

Responsibilities Overview 

Quantisort 2.0 Product Ownership 

• Act as the mechanical owner for Quantisort 2.0, driving the transition from configurable solution to standardised, off-the-shelf product 

• Improve repeatability of third-party integration 

• Drive product maturity and improve robustness and serviceability 

• Develop scalable subassemblies to work for any deployment without bespoke engineering 

• Work cross-functionally with software, hardware, operations, and production teams 

• Travel to customer sites for installations and troubleshooting across Europe (once per month) 

• Lead completion of the CE marking process for Quantisort 2.0, working cross-functionally to ensure compliance 

Production, Manufacturing & Supplier Collaboration 

• Mechanical design (3D CAD assemblies, 2D engineering drawings for fabrication, etc) to help create solutions and retrofit our technology into our client's facilities across Europe. 

• Create installation guidelines, compliance matrices for integrators to adhere to, enabling our product to remain standard. 

• Supporting all stages of the project lifecycle e.g. sales scoping, client layout, build, FAT, install, SAT, commissioning, after-care. 

• Optimise designs for manufacturability, assembly, and integration (DFM/DFA) 

• Optimise build/FAT processes through tooling, testing jigs, process, and design optimisation. 

• Reduce part count, simplify assemblies 

• Work with suppliers and fabricators to improve manufacturability and sourcing 

• Play a role in transitioning the production team to an ERP system 

• Lead value engineering and cost reduction initiatives 

• Improve installation efficiency and build processes 

Engineering Process & Best Practices 

• Improve documentation, version control, and release processes  

• Drive engineering standards and best practices  

• Mentor junior engineers and contribute to technical reviews 

• Degree in Mechanical Engineering, or General Engineering with mechanical specialisation  

• 7+ years of mechanical engineering experience delivering industrial hardware at scale 
• Proven ability to identify and implement process improvements 
• Experience working in fast-paced, iterative engineering environments 
• Highly confident using Solidworks and PDM and producing drawings for manufacture. 
• Strong systems-level thinking and problem-solving ability  
• Solid understanding of manufacturing processes (fabrication, sheet metal, machining, assembly) 
• Experience improving products in production or field-deployed environments  
• Hands-on attitude: you are happy to go and sort out problems at client locations if need be or to assemble one of our products and do some troubleshooting when necessary. 
• Strong communication skills and cross-functional collaboration 
• Excellent skills in communicating technical information clearly to team members and key stakeholders. 
  

It's a bonus if you have

• SolidWorks certification (CSWP/CSWE), particularly sheet metal design 
• Experience with industrial machinery, automation, or robotics  
• Experience working on deployed customer equipment  
• Experience scaling hardware from prototype to production  
• Experience with pneumatics, conveyors, or material handling systems  
• Startup or scale-up experience  
• Experience mentoring engineers or leading technical initiatives  
• A keen interest in solving the problems within the recycling industry. 

Even if you don’t tick every box listed above but are motivated by our work and believe you can make a difference on our team, we’d really love to hear from you – so please do apply and drop us a note about what you bring! 

We are particularly interested in hearing from you if your background enables you to bring a different perspective to our team. 

• An excellent salary that's both equitable and reviewed regularly 
• Progression: we are growing rapidly and excited for you to make an impact as we do so.  
• Unlimited holiday. 
• A welcoming and inclusive team environment with monthly company-wide socials. 
• Plenty of opportunities for training and personal development 
• Healthcare coverage - Vitality is available from your very first day!