“We do really cool stuff and every day is different”
I work as Test Engineer at Martin-Baker and when I tell people that who I work for and what we do most people’s reaction is to say, “what ejector seats like James Bond!” After explaining that we make ejection seats and that save pilots lives they are even more impressed. It’s my job to conduct tests on the component parts of an ejection seats to make sure it all works as it should in a real-world environment. This could mean testing the rocket motor, exposing the seat to temperatures up to 90 Degrees Centigrade or rotating a seat on a 4-metre pole at high speed or in a vibration chamber all to make sure it will work when it needed to save the pilots life. Literally every day is different I could be setting up and running tests, analysing test results, or writing reports all to make sure that seat doesn’t fail when its most needed.
The people I work with are brilliant at what they do, and I feel lucky to be part of such a talented team. There are plenty of opportunities to progress here, you have got to know what you want and take ownership of getting what you need, and my managers have been flexible and supportive in helping me reach my goals. I joined Martin-Baker as an apprentice and have been able to work in different teams giving me broad experience in Test. The Company sponsored my training beyond my apprenticeship, and I recently completed an Engineering Degree which I studied for part time. It was hard to balance the studying with working, but the end result was well worth it, and I am proud of what I have achieved at Martin Baker. I came into the company knowing nothing about Ejection Seats and now I have the skills and experience to progress my engineering career with Martin-Baker. Most people haven’t heard of Martin-Baker and the work we do but you will be surprised about the range of cool interesting things we do here!
