Inzpire - Expression of Interest - Principal Defence Air Engineering Consultant in London

We are a highly innovative and rapidly growing defence and technology company that design, develop, and deliver some of the world’s most advanced defence related training, products, and services.

We were recently crowned Employer of the Year at the British Ex-Forces in Business Awards 2023. We have been listed as one of the ‘100 Best Large Companies to Work For’ in the UK and Midlands by Best Companies several times as well as achieving ‘Best Companies 3 Star Accreditation’ and a rating of ‘world‑class’ for our employee engagement on a number of occasions. We are also proud to have been honoured with two Queen’s Awards for Enterprise in Innovation, for our next‑generation GECO military mission planning system.

As part of a unique and specialist defence company, our friendly team consists of experienced and highly capable individuals, working together with a mature ‘can do’ work ethic. Our central business functions are located in an easily accessible, bright and modern head office to the west of Lincoln, alongside our mission systems team, while the majority of our operational specialists are embedded alongside our Defence customers.

Location Details: UK‑based hybrid working, with travel to MOD, DE&S, Front Line Command and Defence Industry customer sites as required. Likely locations may include MOD Main Building, Abbey Wood, Dstl sites, RAF stations, Boscombe Down, Farnborough, Warton, Lincoln and other customer or industry locations. Some UK and overseas travel may be required, depending on assignment.

The Opportunity: Inzpire is inviting expressions of interest from Principal Defence Air Engineering professionals with the judgement, credibility, and depth of experience to support complex UK and international military air programmes. We are seeking individuals who can operate with authority, independence, and confidence in demanding MOD, DE&S, Front Line Command, Defence Industry, and international customer environments.

The work supports safe, effective, and operationally relevant military air capability across the Defence Air Environment. It may include airworthiness, certification, safety, engineering governance, complex air systems, capability delivery, systems assurance, test and evaluation, MAA/MRP compliance, through‑life support, international programmes, and export activity.

The Role: Successful candidates will support Inzpire’s expanding Technical and Strategic Services Operational Business Unit, providing high‑level engineering, airworthiness, certification, safety and capability advice to UK MOD, Defence Industry, and international customers.

• Provide senior Defence Air Engineering, airworthiness, safety, certification, and technical assurance advice.
• Act as a trusted customer‑side adviser, helping customers understand technical risk, engineering trade‑offs, risk appetite, evidence maturity, and decision options.
• Support Type and Continuing Airworthiness activity within MAA/MRP‑regulated environments.
• Develop, review, or assure engineering, safety, certification, requirements, trials, acceptance, or Release to Service artefacts.
• Support in‑service engineering, continuing airworthiness, sustainment, modification, configuration, operational availability, and capability enhancement activity.
• Contribute to capability development, requirements management, systems assurance, operational acceptance, and through‑life support.
• Support export, international, Combat Air or multi‑national programme activity.
• Provide independent technical judgement, constructive challenge, and senior‑level assurance.
• Lead or mentor small teams, assure the quality of technical outputs and help develop Inzpire’s Defence Air Engineering capability.
• Represent Inzpire in senior customer forums, working groups, reviews, and governance boards.

Typical outputs may include technical advice notes, airworthiness or certification assessments, safety and engineering assurance reviews, requirements and acceptance advice, governance papers, independent technical evaluations, senior stakeholder briefings, programme support outputs, and recommendations that enable informed customer decision‑making.

Experience and Specialist Areas of Interest: We are seeking candidates with a strong combination of technical depth, operational understanding, regulatory awareness, stakeholder confidence, and sound engineering judgement. Relevant experience may include some or all of the following:

• Type and Continuing Airworthiness; Release to Service; Chief Engineer, Chief Air Engineer, Engineering Authority, or equivalent technical authority responsibilities.
• Air safety, certification, safety case, safety argument, hazard management, technical assurance, or engineering governance.
• MAA/MRP, Defence Standards, JSPs, ASEMS, MOD acquisition, DE&S delivery, Defence safety, or airworthiness governance.
• Civil/military certification, approval, or airworthiness frameworks, including MRP Part 21, MRP Part 145, MRP Part M, DAOS, MAOS or equivalent frameworks.
• Initial airworthiness, continuing airworthiness, major modification certification, design assurance, design organisation interface, modification control, or configuration governance.
• Complex in‑service air platforms, air systems, or mission systems through life.
• 4th, 5th or 6th‑generation air systems, Typhoon, F‑35 Lightning, GCAP, Tempest or other complex Combat Air programmes.
• NETMA, NATO, allied, coalition or international air capability programmes.
• Low Observability, survivability, electromagnetic warfare, EMSO, mission data, platform integration, weapons integration, sensors, avionics, or complex systems integration.
• Airworthiness‑related cyber security or security‑informed certification of complex air systems.
• Test, trials, evaluation, operational evaluation, acceptance, capability release, export support, UK Government‑to‑Government activity, or international customer‑facing delivery.
• Advising senior stakeholders within MOD, DE&S, HQ Air, Front Line Commands, industry, OEMs or international programme organisations.
• Assuring the quality of technical outputs and helping customers make informed, risk‑aware decisions.

Previous experience as a Type Airworthiness Authority, Chief Engineer, Chief Air Engineer, Engineering Authority, Release to Service Authority or equivalent senior airworthiness, certification or technical authority appointment would be highly advantageous. Chartered or Incorporated Engineer status, Fellowship or membership of a relevant professional institution would be advantageous but is not essential where equivalent experience can be demonstrated.

The Person: We recognise that engineering credibility is built through a range of routes and your experience does not need to match every area listed. However, we are interested in candidates who have held, or directly supported, significant airworthiness, engineering authority, capability delivery, platform, delivery team, operational support, Chief Engineer, Chief Air Engineer, Release to Service Authority or equivalent technical authority appointments.

Relevant experience may have been gained in the Royal Air Force, Royal Navy, Army Aviation, DE&S, MOD, Defence Industry, OEMs, international programme organisations, allied military air environments, civil/military aviation environments, or specialist defence consultancy.

The successful candidate will be a confident, approachable, and professionally respected individual, able to operate with authority in complex customer environments. Comfortable advising, constructively challenging, and supporting senior stakeholders, they will bring a pragmatic, collaborative, and delivery‑focused mindset.

Strong analytical and critical thinking skills are essential, along with sound engineering judgement and the ability to translate complex technical, regulatory, or capability issues into clear advice, robust outputs, and practical customer support.

The role requires someone equally at ease working independently, leading activity, supporting a wider team, mentoring colleagues, or integrating into customer organisations to deliver specific contracted outputs. Integrity, resilience, and strong interpersonal judgement are key enabling the individual to build trust quickly and represent Inzpire to a consistently high standard.

This is an opportunity to work in a specialist, agile environment where expertise is visible, valued, and directly connected to customer outcomes.

Security and Eligibility: Due to the nature of the work, candidates must be UK Nationals and must hold, or be willing and eligible to obtain, appropriate UK National Security Vetting. SC clearance is expected as a minimum for many roles. Some assignments may require candidates to hold, or be eligible to obtain, DV clearance. Vetting will normally include criminal record, security, and credit reference checks, and may require at least five years’ continuous UK residency. Existing SC or DV clearance would be advantageous, but we are also interested in candidates who are willing and eligible to complete the required vetting. Some roles may also be subject to nationality, residency, export‑control or customer‑specific restrictions.

Availability: We have potential vacancies beginning in Summer 2026, alongside longer‑term opportunities with start dates in the 6 to 18‑month timeframe.

Benefits: 30 days paid holiday plus 8 days.