Chief Engineer in Portsmouth

The Chief Engineer is KBS Maritime's senior technical authority, delegated from the Technical Director, for infrastructure engineering, technical governance and Safe to Operate assurance across Portsmouth Naval Base. Operating across strategic, operational and tactical levels, the Chief Engineer establishes an integrated Ensure and Assure Framework that supports operational availability, regulatory compliance, infrastructure resilience and the Naval Base infrastructure safety case.

As a member of the Technical Leadership Team, the Chief Engineer is responsible for shaping the organisation’s understanding of current and future infrastructure risk, developing risk-based strategies and recommendations, and ensuring technical insight informs operational, strategic, commercial and investment decision-making. The role leads the Material State and Safe to Operate value stream, ensuring infrastructure condition/asset health, compliance, maintenance, defects, concessions, asset performance, technical standards and operational dependencies are understood and translated into clear risk positions, decisions and management plans.

The role requires strong technical authority, systems thinking and enterprise leadership; balancing safety, operational need, affordability, delivery constraints and commercial responsibilities to achieve practical, proportionate and defensible outcomes. The Chief Engineer directly leads the EnACT Team (Engineering, Assurance & Compliance Team) and is a visible functional leader to the associated technical and assurance teams including Asset Insights, Compliance, Surveys, Operations and Design Management teams.

Strong relationships are required with Authority representatives, Service Delivery teams, Asset Strategy, Project Delivery functions and wider One Portsmouth stakeholders to influence outcomes, build confidence in technical decisions, and communicate complex engineering risks, options and recommendations in a clear and actionable manner.

What you will bring:

• Extensive senior engineering, infrastructure asset management or technical assurance experience within a complex, highly regulated environment.
• Proven ability to assess asset condition, compliance, maintenance effectiveness and operational risk to support safe and informed decision-making.
• Strong understanding of asset lifecycle management, reliability engineering, risk-based maintenance and infrastructure resilience.
• Experience developing and implementing assurance frameworks, engineering governance processes and risk management strategies.
• Demonstrated ability to make and communicate complex engineering decisions, balancing operational need, safety, affordability and long-term asset performance.
• Strong knowledge of legislative, regulatory and industry standards, with the ability to assess and respond to changing compliance requirements.
• Experience translating technical asset data, inspections and performance information into clear priorities, investment recommendations and improvement plans.
• Ability to lead multidisciplinary technical teams, providing clear direction, accountability and professional development.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills with experience building trusted relationships across customers, regulators, suppliers and senior leadership teams.
• Strong communication and influencing skills, with the ability to present complex technical risks and recommendations in a clear and actionable way.
• Passion for continuous improvement, standardisation and the use of data-driven insights to enhance asset performance, operational effectiveness and safety outcomes.
• Commitment to developing a strong safety culture and ensuring assets remain safe, compliant and capable of supporting operational requirements.

About you:

• Chartered Engineer (or working towards) with a degree or equivalent qualification in a relevant engineering discipline.
• Membership of an appropriate professional engineering institution, such as IET, IMechE, ICE, CIBSE or equivalent.
• Appropriate health and safety management qualification, such as IOSH, NEBOSH, SMSTS or equivalent (desirable).
• Significant leadership experience within infrastructure engineering, asset management, facilities management, construction or another safety-critical environment.
• Experience operating as a senior technical authority across multidisciplinary engineering disciplines.
• Strong understanding of infrastructure assurance, asset management principles and regulatory compliance within complex operational environments.
• Ability to maintain a systems-thinking perspective whilst understanding component-level technical detail where required.
• Strong analytical capability, able to evaluate incomplete or conflicting information and develop proportionate, defensible recommendations.
• Demonstrable ability to translate technical insight into strategic direction, organisational priorities and measurable business outcomes.
• Strong leadership, stakeholder management, influencing and presentation skills.
• Ability to communicate complex technical issues clearly and effectively to technical, operational, commercial and customer audiences.
• Proven ability to build trusted relationships and influence outcomes across multidisciplinary teams and external stakeholders.
• Experience leading organisational change, continuous improvement and adoption of new ways of working.
• Defence, maritime or other highly regulated infrastructure experience would be advantageous.

You’ll get:

• 25 days holiday plus bank holidays
• Holiday purchase scheme, following successful completion of probation period
• Early finish on a Friday
• Discretionary company bonus scheme
• Enhanced pension scheme – employee contribution 4% and company contribution 6%, or you can increase your contribution to 6% and company contribution will increase to 10%
• Life assurance x 4 (subject to scheme T&C’s)
• Access to our internal benefits and discounts programme for all colleagues
• Cycle to work scheme
• Group income protection
• Flexible parental benefits (if applicable)
• Free parking onsite
• Access to our Internal employee assistance network, giving you the opportunity to reach the heights of success within your new position.
• Continued professional career development
• Kudos reward opportunities (internal achievements scheme)
• Occupational Health & Wellbeing Services
• Discount off entry into the Historic Dockyard

Please note that due to the nature of the site we are based on and the work carried out, once offered we carry out a number of pre-employment checks which include UKSV clearance applications – you will need to be eligible for this and willing to go through the process.

At KBS Maritime, we're not just another company – we're an exciting and dynamic joint venture between industry leaders BAE Systems and KBR. Our team is dedicated to providing Asset Management, Infrastructure Management, Energy Solutions and Alongside Services at His Majesty's Naval Base Portsmouth (HMNBP), the beating heart of the Royal Navy. With almost two-thirds of the Royal Navy's surface ships stationed at HMNBP, working with KBS Maritime means being at the forefront of innovation and progress. We operate in a unique and fascinating environment, with a mix of historic dockyards and cutting-edge infrastructure that’s unlike any other. By delivering state of the art solutions to the Royal Navy, KBS Maritime offers the chance to work on projects that make a real difference to the safety, security, and sustainability of the UK's National Defence and Security.

But it's not just about the work – at KBS Maritime, we believe in the value of our people. We have the ethos of a small business, which means we value and empower our team members to succeed. KBS Maritime is committed to building a diverse workforce and fostering an inclusive workplace. We welcome applications from individuals of every social or cultural background, age, gender, ability, sexual orientation, and belief. We will make reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process to accommodate any disability.