Principal Test Engineer

Principal Test Engineer

Leonardo is a world‑leading high‑tech company and one of the key players in Aerospace, Defence and Security. The products developed at Basildon have widespread uses in industrial and civil applications as well as fulfilling many military requirements.

We are committed to building an inclusive, accessible, and welcoming workplace. We believe that a diverse workforce sparks creativity, drives innovation, and leads to better outcomes for our people and our customers.

Your Impact

The design, development and through‑life support of electro‑optical test equipment and test processes for the company’s range of Precision Guidance products, from initial product development through to volume production.

As part of the test engineering team, the engineer will be involved in the specification, design, procurement, manufacture, verification and evaluation of test equipment with supporting documentation, delivered to agreed budget and timescales. Typical test equipment will include optical, thermal and electronic components as well as test software.

The engineer will also support test system related issues in production.

Key Responsibilities

• Interpret product test requirements to define test strategy and plan
• Define test systems and generate work packages, estimating cost to deliver said plan across multiple functions
• Generate, coordinate and execute work packages from bid through to project completion, meeting cost, quality and time objectives with procedural governance
• Build, commission and verify new test solutions
• Development testing of product with understanding of environmental stress screening and production lifespan
• Prepare technical documentation including user instructions
• Support test system related issues in production and investigate root cause of detector faults returned from the field

Qualifications

Essential

• HND or above, in system or electrical engineering
• Experience of electrical test, electro‑optics
• Understanding of opto‑electronic devices such as lasers and photodetectors
• Ability to assimilate and apply technical information to design tasks and to problem solving
• Validate and qualify new mechanical designs under different environmental conditions
• Hands‑on laboratory test, diagnostic and measurement experience, including electro‑optical instrumentation
• Good organisation, planning and execution of work
• Attention to detail
• Teamwork with other engineering and science disciplines
• Good communication and customer liaison skills
• Careful measurement and analytical skills

Desirable

• Test software experience – LabVIEW, MATLAB or similar
• Experience of soldering surface mount components
• Experience of mechanical design
• Experience using industry standard ECAD toolsUnderstanding of how the operating environment influences the design

Security Clearance

This role is subject to pre‑employment screening in line with the UK Government’s Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS). Additional Personnel Security Controls may apply, including National Security Vetting (NSV).

Benefits

• Flexible working – hybrid options available
• Generous leave with up to 12 additional flexi days each year
• Employer contribution to pension scheme up to 15%
• Free access to mental health support, financial advice, and employee‑led networks
• Employee bonus scheme for management level and below
• Access to 4,000+ online courses via Coursera and LinkedIn Learning
• Referral programme rewards
• £500 annually on flexible benefits: private healthcare, dental, family cover, tech & lifestyle discounts, gym memberships etc.

Primary Location

GB – Basildon

Contract Type

Employee – Permanent

Hybrid Working

Hybrid

Seniority Level

Mid‑Senior level

Employment Type

Full‑time

Job Function

Engineering and Information Technology

Industries

Defense and Space Manufacturing, Aviation and Aerospace Component Manufacturing, Computer and Network Security