Service Lead – Obsolescence Management in Portsmouth

Our client is a major defence company located at Portsmouth Naval Base. We offer a range of hybrid and flexible working arrangements – please speak to your recruiter about the options for this particular role.

Salary: Up to £62,000 depending on skills and experience + 10% bonus.

Join our client and you'll be part of something bigger. As a valued member of our global colleague network, you'll bring your unique skills and perspectives to help pioneer progress and protect what matters most. You'll be trusted to play your part in delivering the advanced, technology-led defence, aerospace and security solutions of tomorrow, shaping a safer future for all of us.

This strategic leadership role within our client's Asset Management organisation focuses on defining the business strategy for Obsolescence Management (OM), establishing governance frameworks, and specifying the people tools and respective processes required to enable OM service delivery. It both facilitates existing OM programme delivery alongside positioning our client for future capability ownership.

Core Duties:

• Develop and maintain our client's OM strategy and capability roadmap and act as the internal champion for OM best practice and strategic direction.
• Engage with our customer communities and internal stakeholders to influence OM policy and capability development and support new business opportunities by facilitating bids.
• Define governance frameworks and internal standards for OM.
• Specify and select OM tools, where required, and ensure integration with existing systems and programmes.
• Influence senior stakeholders within our client and the customer community to secure buy-in for OM capability development.
• Mentor and develop internal teams on OM principles and tools.
• Drive cultural change towards proactive obsolescence prevention as part of normal business.

Essential Skills:

• You will have an Engineering degree qualification or equivalent experience.
• You will have awareness and familiarity of Obsolescence Management with materials equipment and component lifecycles.
• You will have detailed and comprehensive understanding of engineering principles, concepts, systems, theories and practices.
• You will have a strong understanding of Naval ship systems and equipment with an appreciation of integration challenges and through life support implications.
• You will have proven leadership skills with experience managing and developing teams.

As part of an integrated Supportability Engineering Hub, the role is not limited to a single discipline. You will develop broader supportability competencies and actively contribute across adjacent areas such as maintenance planning, technical publications, and supportability analysis. This flexible, cross-skilled approach enables the team to respond dynamically to programme priorities and deliver cohesive through-life engineering outcomes.

Here you'll build a career with purpose and limitless possibilities. With lifelong learning and meaningful work, this is a place where you can grow your career with confidence and be empowered to be your best. You'll be recognised for your contribution and enjoy rewards tailored to what's most important to you and your family, support for your financial and personal wellbeing, as well as a balanced lifestyle.

We're committed to building an inclusive workplace where everyone feels valued and supported. We know that a diversity of backgrounds, perspectives and experiences strengthens our teams and is vital to the work we do.

Please be aware that many roles at our client are subject to both security and export control restrictions. These restrictions mean that factors such as your nationality, any nationalities you may have previously held, and your place of birth can restrict the roles you are eligible to perform within the organisation. All applicants must as a minimum achieve Baseline Personnel Security Standard. Many roles also require higher levels of National Security Vetting where applicants must typically have 5 to 10 years of continuous residency in the UK depending on the vetting level required for the role, to allow for meaningful security vetting checks.

Closing Date: 18th November 2026. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.