Project Chief Engineer

Overview

In this role you will own the technical delivery of EW Payload solutions, shaping concepts into deliverable systems. You will collaborate with customers, engineering teams, and senior stakeholders to define and assure technical solutions from concept to implementation. You’ll influence future product strategy while leading multidisciplinary teams to balance performance, cost, schedule and risk. This role combines technical leadership with customer engagement in a high-visibility environment and offers hybrid working with travel.

Pay / Benefits

• generous leave with up to 12 flexi-days per year
• pension scheme with up to 15% employer contribution
• mental health support and wellbeing resources
• 4,000+ online courses via Coursera and LinkedIn Learning
• bonus scheme
• flexible benefits including private healthcare, dental, gym memberships

Responsibilities

• Own the technical solution for EW Payload programmes, ensuring requirements are translated into deliverable, compliant solutions.
• Collaborate with customers to develop CONOPS and CONUSE, translating operational needs into system requirements with engineering teams.
• Provide technical leadership to multidisciplinary teams, guiding decisions and trade-offs across performance, cost, schedule, quality, and risk.
• Identify, assess, and manage technical risks and opportunities to support informed decisions.
• Partner with Development SDA and stakeholders to shape future product strategy and capability roadmaps.
• Review bids/proposals and provide independent technical assessment aligned with objectives and customer needs.
• Coach and mentor engineers to deliver high-quality, cost-effective solutions.

Key requirements

• Significant technical leadership with a strong systems engineering background and track record in design, development, qualification, certification, and delivery of complex solutions in defence/aerospace or similar regulated industries.
• Ability to engage with customers and senior stakeholders, providing clear technical direction and leading diverse teams.
• Broad experience across the engineering lifecycle: requirements management, verification, qualification, acceptance, design certification, and customer acceptance.
• Proven capability in design standards, configuration management, and delivering innovative system-level solutions.
• Experience delivering compliant technical solutions within cost and schedule constraints.
• Strong leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Self-motivated and collaborative, able to work with minimal direction and communicate with SMEs and end users across cultures.

• leadership
• stakeholder management
• communication
• systems engineering
• requirements management
• verification & validation

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