Radar Sector Chief Systems Engineer in Edinburgh

Salary: £67,000 - £92,000

Leonardo UK operates a grade-based salary framework with broad bands. The salary range shown reflects the approved grade band for this role, or a narrower hiring range published within that band, and is benchmarked against the external market. Exceptions above the standard range are managed through governance controls to protect internal equity.

Your Impact

The Radar Sector Chief Systems Engineer provides independent Systems Engineering oversight across our radar portfolio, which has global reach. This senior role influences technical coherence, effectiveness and continuous improvements of Systems Engineering practice, while building project accountability through strong governance of project artefacts and activities, supporting and developing individual project Chief Systems Engineers. You will ensure Radar systems are conceived, architected, integrated and verified using robust, proportionate and modern methods. Acting as the focal point for Systems Engineering strategy and governance, you will help senior leaders make better technical decisions earlier in the lifecycle.

As a member of the Systems functional team, you will work closely with Sector Chief Engineers, Project Engineering Management and People & Capability leaders to build future-ready capability, shaping technical direction, strengthening engineering confidence and improving customer outcomes across diverse Radar architectures, technologies and sensing modalities.

What You’ll Do

• Radar Systems Engineering Leadership
  • Provide coaching in effective Systems Engineering practice, methods, modelling techniques and architectural thinking.
  • Promote and guide the use of appropriate concept development, analysis, modelling and simulation techniques to identify risks, emergent behaviours and architectural trade-off analysis.
  • Drive adoption of innovative and modern SE methods across the lifecycle, including digital engineering, model-based systems engineering and agile SE practices.
  • Develop your own Radar SE specialism.
• Governance, Assurance and Improvement
  • Act as the focal point for Systems Engineering governance supporting Lifecycle Management (LCM) activities, design reviews, audits, and bid or early lifecycle technical guidance where appropriate.
  • Own the sector Systems Engineering strategy, technical governance and technical authority across Leonardo’s Radar sectors.
  • Identify cross-sector trends, lessons learned and opportunities to improve efficiency and quality.
  • Define and maintain metrics demonstrating improvement in SE capability and outcomes across Leonardo’s Radar sectors.
• Capability, Workforce and Communities
  • Develop and maintain the Radar Systems Engineering capability roadmap, including critical skills, emerging skills, development priorities, and sector-wide methods and systems engineering tooling.
  • Strengthen collaboration across engineering disciplines.
• Strategic Influence and Stakeholder Engagement
  • Act as the primary point of contact for Systems Engineering matters with sector technical leadership.
  • Represent Leonardo in external Systems Engineering bodies or forums.
  • Collaborate with peer Chief Systems Engineers across the UK.

Key Deliverables

The Radar Sector Chief Systems Engineer is expected to deliver and maintain:

• A clear strategy and improvement plan for the execution of Systems Engineering across Radar programmes, with systematic measurement at its core.
• A view of Systems Engineering capability, including critical skills, gaps, for both Systems Engineering methodologies and Radar domain knowledge.
• Sector guidance and practical direction on Systems Engineering process tailoring.

Progression

This senior leadership role is positioned to progress toward Programme Chief Engineer, Head of Discipline or Chief Technical Specialist roles. You will identify, mentor and develop a small group of successors. You will benefit from supported learning and development, including transferring your skills into Leonardo’s Radar product domains.

What You’ll Bring

Ideally, you will be a systems thinker with:

• A strong desire to elevate Systems Engineering skills and maturity within Radar development, bringing your skills from your domain experiences e.g. Nuclear, Process Engineering, Rail.
• A bias towards measurement and experimentation as a tool to accelerate learning.
• Experience applying Systems Engineering governance and Life Cycle Management process at sector or programme level.
• Ability to capture and interpret stakeholder expectations.
• Experience defining architectures and guiding architectural decisions.
• Proven leadership in dynamic, high-complexity environments.
• Excellent communication and credibility with engineering, leadership and customers.
• Understanding of integration challenges on long-running complex programmes.
• Determination, resilience and a drive for high-quality engineering outcomes.

Security Clearance

This role is subject to pre-employment screening in line with the UK Government’s Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS). An additional range of Personnel Security Controls referred to as National Security Vetting (NSV) may apply, this could include meeting the eligibility requirements for The Security Check (SC) or Developed Vetting (DV).

Why join us

At Leonardo, our people are at the heart of everything we do. We offer a comprehensive, company-funded benefits package that supports your wellbeing, career development, and work–life balance. Whether you're looking to grow professionally, care for your health, or plan for the future, we’re here to help you thrive.

• Time to Recharge: Enjoy generous leave with the opportunity to accrue up to 12 additional flexi-days each year.
• Secure your Future: Benefit from our award-winning pension scheme with up to 15% employer contribution.
• Your Wellbeing Matters: Free access to mental health support, financial advice, and employee-led networks championing inclusion and diversity (Enable, Pride, Equalise, Armed Forces, Carers, Wellbeing and Ethnicity).
• Rewarding Performance: All employees at management level and below are eligible for our bonus scheme.
• Never Stop Learning: Free access to 4,000+ online courses via Coursera and LinkedIn Learning.
• Refer a friend: Receive a financial reward through our referral programme.
• Tailored Perks: Spend up to £500 annually on flexible benefits including private healthcare, dental, family cover, tech & lifestyle discounts, gym memberships and more.
• Flexible working: Flexible hours with hybrid working options. For part time opportunities, please talk to us about what might be possible for this role.

For a full list of our company benefits please visit our website. Leonardo is a global leader in Aerospace, Defence, and Security. Headquartered in Italy, we employ over 53,000 people worldwide including 8,500 across 9 sites in the UK. Our employees are not just part of a team—they are key contributors to shaping innovation, advancing technology, and enhancing global safety. At Leonardo 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. If you have any accessibility requirements to support you during the recruitment process, just let us know. Be part of something bigger - apply now!