Student Design Engineer (12 month undergraduate student placement)
Wednesday 13 May 2026
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About Niftylift
Founded in 1985 by Roger Bowden, Niftylift has grown to be one of the world's leading manufacturers of mobile elevated work platforms, with over 500 employees in the UK and USA.
Our Culture
Our culture is one of openness, participation, accountability, flexibility and teamwork. We believe people to be our prime asset and highly value and rely on employee involvement to achieve our goals. We operate as a single-status organisation and all employees are treated fairly and equally, whatever their role within the organisation.
Staff Benefits
Our staff welfare program includes benefits such as staff healthcare, staff discounts, subsidised food, death in service, a cycle to work scheme, free on-site parking, a dedicated on-site staff induction and training centre as well as regular staff events. e.g. company luncheons, family open days and Christmas parties.
Type
Location
Description
1 Company Overview
Niftylift Limited is a private UK company, which was founded in 1985, and has achieved sustained sales growth year on year to become one of the world’s leading designers and manufacturers of mobile elevated work platforms. With over 75% of our products exported, we have a vast sales and dealer export network across 40+ countries worldwide, supported by 400+ employees in the UK, based across three centres of excellence manufacturing sites.
2 Role Overview
The Primary role is to support existing products in production. Key activities include problem solving, support to the Product Team, engineering change control, and designing solutions for customer options.
3 Relationships
Responsible to: Principal/ Senior Design Engineers
Liaison with: Product Support Engineers, Production personnel, Purchasing, Quality, Development, Service Department, other Design Engineers
4 Main tasks
· Daily support for existing Mobile Elevating Work Platform products in production;
· Solve engineering problems relating to production line assembly problems, customer options and feedback; engineering change requests;
· Design solutions to problems on existing products and support the Production Engineering and Production departments to implement the solution. (Customer feedback, Stakeholder Team meetings);
· Support Quality and Purchasing departments with technical leadership;
· Prepare CAD/manage models in Creo;
· Produce Engineering drawings to BS8888;
· Conduct experiments to solve 8D problems as part of the company’s team-based problem-solving methodology;
· Undertake the assembly of Prototype systems;
· Oversee the operation of first off production builds;
· Produce Process documentation and work instructions to support introduction of new designs/customer options;
· Work safely to standard operating procedures;
· Fault-find own work and assist with machine commissioning;
· Maintain high standards of workplace organisation and cleanliness.
· The above is not an exhaustive list of duties and you will be expected to perform different tasks as necessitated by your changing role and the organisation’s overall business objectives, this may include the training and mentoring of colleagues.
5 Qualifications & experience
The ideal candidate will have a strong engineering background and one or more of the following qualifications;
· Working towards a degree in an Engineering field.
· Engineering design experience in industry.
The ideal candidate will also be able to demonstrate:
· An understanding of controls systems, software, and structural design, hydraulics, packaging requirements and recognise the importance of good product quality;
· Experience in support of vehicle testing and development;
· Experience of mechanical or electrical CAD design packages, particularly Creo, AutoCAD 2D, and Windchill PDMLink 10 would be advantageous but not essential;
· Experience in Off Road Vehicle design and practical experience in plant maintenance or other agricultural equipment would be advantageous.
6 Characteristics
· Strong problem-solving ability;
· Excellent communication skills;
· Flexibility;
· Able to work individually as well as a team member;
· Good attention to detail and consistently produces high quality work;
· A keen desire to learn new technologies.
7 Benefits
• Annual bonus (for indication only) based on recent average £500 per annum
• 25 days holiday (increases with service, up to 30 days), plus bank holidays
• Staff discounts
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Referral Scheme
• Discounted gym memberships
• Free on-site parking
• Subsidised refreshments (lunch and drink options).
• Free quarterly company lunches
• Free family events
• Health cover scheme for dental, optical etc. (Kids membership included for free)
• 5% contributory pension
• Life insurance scheme
• Workwear (including safety shoes and PPE)
• On-site changing rooms and showers
8 Salary
Competitive
9 Closing Date
Friday 3rd July 2026
Please note that the advert can close early if we reach a substantial number of applications.
How To Apply
If you'd like to apply for this role you can contact us via any one of the following methods:
Apply Online- Send us an email with your CV and a covering letter to hr@niftylift.com
- Give us a call on +44 1908 223456 and ask to speak to the HR department.
- Request a call-back from Niftylift (candidates only):
Due to the high volume of applications we receive, we are unable to respond to all candidates. If you do not hear from us within 28 days of your application, unfortunately, you have been unsuccessful.
All data supplied will be used for recruitment purposes only and will not be shared with third parties.
