Project Engineering Lead - Supplier Engagement in Newcastle upon Tyne

Job Description:

Your impact

Are you looking for an exciting and challenging opportunity to lead a skilled team in a time of significant growth in an AESA Radar sector, based in either our Edinburgh or Newcastle offices?

Leonardo is a global leader in defence electronics and delivers mission-critical systems for situational awareness, electronic warfare and surveillance across land, sea and air. The Radar and Advanced Targeting line of business, based across Edinburgh and Newcastle, is uniquely positioned as one of the world's top manufacturers of radars, lasers and infrared countermeasure systems with a rich heritage in engineering, with 100 years of pioneering development. The Secretary of State for Defence announced the UK European Common Radar System (ECRS) Mk2 production contract during a visit to Leonardo Edinburgh in January 2026. We have an exciting opportunity to join the ECRS Mk2 programme at an early stage of its lifecycle. Based in either Edinburgh or Newcastle, you will have the opportunity to influence the successful delivery of equipment to the end user.

We are seeking a Project Engineering Lead (PEL) to lead a multi-disciplinary engineering team responsible for maturing cutting‑edge PCB/PCA designs in the supply chain supporting the ECRS Mk2 Programme. Reporting directly to the Project Engineering Manager, this role will provide technical and operational leadership across Leonardo and strategic suppliers to improve manufacturing capability, yield, quality, throughput and production readiness.

As the PEL for the Supply Chain Improvement Team you will :

• Lead the ECRS Mk2 Supply Chain Improvement Team, providing direction, prioritisation and governance across supplier improvement, manufacturing maturity and industrialisation activities.
• Establish and deliver a strategy for improving supplier quality, yield, throughput, lead time and production readiness.
• Act as the primary engineering interface between Leonardo, strategic suppliers and internal stakeholders advising of improvements to design to aid manufacturing quality, schedule & cost
• Drive root cause investigations and robust corrective and preventive actions.
• Lead regular supplier performance reviews focused on yield, quality, capacity and schedule adherence.
• Conduct supplier assessments, technical reviews and manufacturing readiness evaluations.
• Provide engineering leadership for manufacturing non-conformities and quality issues.
• Work closely with Engineering, Procurement, Manufacturing, Quality and Programme teams.
• Drive Design for Manufacture (DfM), Design for Assembly (DfA) and industrialisation best practice.
• Provide regular updates to the Project Engineering Manager, Chief Engineer, Programme Leadership Team and Head of Programmes.

What you'll bring

• Degree qualified in Engineering, Manufacturing, Electronics, Physics or equivalent technical discipline.
• Experience of leading engineering teams or complex manufacturing, industrialization, NPI or supply chain work packages.
• Experience working with suppliers to improve quality, delivery and manufacturing capability.
• Strong understanding of manufacturing processes, quality systems and continuous improvement methodologies.
• Ability to identify root causes and implement effective corrective and preventive actions.
• Experience leading supplier reviews, audits or performance improvement activities.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Self-motivated with the ability to provide structure, focus and momentum within a challenging delivery environment.

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). For more information and guidance please visit: https://careers.uk.leonardo.com/gb/en/security-and-vetting

Why join us

• 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).
• Rewar