Automotive Design Consultant | Circa £70,500 negotiable + excellent benefits | Permanent | Hybrid  

At Thatcham Research we are dedicated to driving innovation in the automotive industry. We work closely with Vehicle Manufacturers (VMs) and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to ensure that their designs not only meet the highest standards of performance and aesthetics but also consider the critical aspect of insurability. 

Role Overview:
We are seeking a talented and experienced Automotive Design Consultant to join our team. In this role, you will support VMs and OEMs in understanding the importance of insurability throughout the design process. Your expertise will help our clients create vehicles that are not only cutting-edge but also cost-effective to insure thorugh your insights on safety, security and sustainable repair, ultimately enhancing their market competitiveness.

The Automotive Design Consultant will work in conjunction with the commercial, product and engineering teams to provide a gateway into the VMs design process, enabling our research and insights to influence vehicle design resulting in more insurable vehicles entering the UK Car Parc.

Using extensive knowledge of the VM design process, this role aims to influence initial design attributes ensuring insurability is captured, support through the process assessing and influencing design solutions as well as providing advice on mitigating any necessary compromises.

As an Automotive Design Consultant, you’ll be responsible for:

• Business development across the VM and OEM sectors, initiating design and assessment projects to support the development of Safe, Secure and Sustainable mobility solutions

• Build and maintain relationships with existing and new customers, this is likely to involve significant international travel including but not limited to USE, Europe and China.

• Support customers with requirement identification, building projects scope to ensure value for all stakeholders.

• Provide situational and data analysis to identify and comprehend a problems or issues to build a value proposition for clients using Thatcham’s product portfolio.

• Through high quality reports, presentations and other relevant communication tools, present results to the relevant clients, supporting them to understand the value add for them.

• Through design consultancy, support clients with improvement recommendations to support both their project objectives, and Thatcham’s mission.

• Support the Head of Automotive with building the strategy to enable continued growth of the Automotive Vertical.

 Skills & experience that will set you up for success in this role: 
Essential skills:

These are the essential skills or experience needed to succeed in this role. 

• Significant demonstrable experience within a Vehicle Manufacturer or Design Consultancy environment.

• Experience in either vehicle safety or repairability and maintainability.

• Bachelor’s degree in Automotive Engineering, Industrial Design, or a related field.

• A track record of building consultancy projects, with an understanding of the project management tools required to ensure success.

• Experience of report writing and analysis/collation of data.

• A track record of building and maintain relationships, as well as influencing the outcomes of those relationships.

• Ability to quickly read and understand technical programmes, identifying potential shortfalls and gaps and aligning these with potential product solutions.

• Innovative approach to work, always looking to support others and build new product propositions to support clients and future business development.

Desirable skills:
These are desirable skills or experience and are not essential, so we would welcome applications from candidates that do not match these additional criteria. 

• A track record of delivering design consultancy projects into the automotive sector.

Did you know...

Research tells us that men are more likely to apply to jobs if they meet only 60% of the criteria, whereas women often hesitate or don't apply unless they meet all of the criteria. This difference in application behaviour can contribute to the gender gap in career advancement and opportunities.

We know the perfect candidate doesn't exist! If you think you have what it takes but don't tick every box, we'd still encourage you to apply - it could be a perfect fit!

Perks & Benefits

Salary - Circa £70,500 negotiable dependent on skills & experience.

• 10% non-contributory pension
• 29 days holiday (inclusive of Christmas shutdown) + public holidays
• Group Life Assurance (equal to 3 x basic salary)
• Group Income Protection (after 2 years’ service)
• Salary Sacrifice schemes (cycle to work & tech scheme)
• Moneyhealth’s Financial Coaching & Wellbeing Platform
• Health Cash Plan (cash back on eligible medical treatments)
• Reward & Recognition Programme
• Discounted gym membership
• Sports & Social club
• Payroll charitable giving
• Subsidised on-site restaurant
• Free on-site parking

When we work

Our standard working hours are 8:30 - 16:30 Monday - Thursday, early finish on Friday - 8:30 - 15:45 (Talk to us about flexible working if this doesn’t quite suit you – we take work-life balance seriously!)

How we work

We understand the benefits of remote and in-person collaboration, and therefore have a hybrid working model – you’ll be expected to work from our office in Thatcham at least two days per week.

What we do

At the cutting edge of automotive research in the UK, Thatcham Research has a unique role in shaping the design of new vehicles and influencing ever higher standards of safety, security and repair. With an on-site Crash Laboratory, Repair Technology Centre and Training Academy, our research expertise is driving some of the very latest automotive developments in technology, materials and standards in this fast moving and highly technical industry.

Our active safety track site is one of the leading accredited Euro NCAP testing facilities, trialling and assessing the very latest developments in vehicle safety and assistance technologies.

Our Values

As an organisation that believes a strong set of Values are key to our organisational success and a sense of belonging for all colleagues, we ask that you understand, represent and apply our Values of Fearless, Inquisitive, Resourceful, Supportive and Trusted and demonstrate these Values throughout the recruitment process.

Our Commitment to Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging

We are dedicated to fostering an inclusive workplace which values diversity and embraces each individual's authentic self. We are proud to champion a culture where colleagues freely share their diverse perspectives, recognising that these contribute to our innovative spirit. Our journey of growth and understanding is continuous as we actively invest in diversity training, workshops, and partnerships to ensure positive change.

Beyond our membership in the Automotive 30% Club, we collaborate with various organisations to advance equity not only in gender but also across ethnicity, age, disability, social mobility, LGBTQ+ identities, experiences, and thinking. Our aspiration is to create an environment where everyone thrives, achieves, and experiences a genuine sense of belonging.

Recruitment process

We’re proud to manage our recruitment in-house and believe this direct approach enables us to give you the best possible Employee Experience we can – which starts right here, your application! We’re continuously striving to improve the candidate journey, and transparency (or communication) is a key area of focus – yes, even with salary & benefits.

What can you expect from our recruitment process?

• Regular updates on the progress / outcome of your application
• An initial telephone screening call with our Recruitment Business Partner
• First interview with the hiring manager, usually via Teams
• Second/Final interview, in-person at our office (we may give you a role specific task to present on!)
• Personalised feedback following your interview – because everyone deserves that!
• An opportunity to give us your honest feedback in a short survey on all of the above

We’re committed to removing invisible barriers. If there are any adjustments we can make to better support you, please let us know when you apply.

All applicants must have Right to Work in the UK.