Chief Product Engineer in Salfords

Location: Salfords, Surrey, RH1 5GG UK

Company: Rapiscan Systems

About Rapiscan Systems

Rapiscan Systems, an OSI Systems company, empowers those who safeguard our world with the technologies, services, and expertise needed to detect threats, secure commerce, and protect communities. As a global leader in security inspection solutions, Rapiscan delivers innovative X-ray screening, radiation detection, trace detection, metal detection, and optical inspection technologies. With more than 100,000 systems deployed worldwide, Rapiscan supports customs agencies, border security, aviation authorities, law enforcement, military organizations, and security professionals in combating terrorism, smuggling, and trade fraud.

The Opportunity

Rapiscan Systems is seeking an experienced and strategic Chief Product Engineer – ATRS & Conveyance to serve as the technical authority and engineering leader for our Automated Tray Return Systems (ATRS), conveyance platforms, baggage handling, cargo conveyance, and integrated material-handling solutions.

This is a highly visible leadership role responsible for defining and executing the technical vision, architecture, and lifecycle strategy of complex electro‑mechanical products that integrate advanced screening technologies with automated conveyance and controls systems. The successful candidate will provide end‑to‑end technical leadership across product development, revenue‑generating customer projects, deployment, sustainment, and continuous product improvement activities.

Working within a globally distributed engineering organization, you will collaborate closely with Product Management, Engineering Project Management, Revenue Project Management, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Quality, Service, and external partners to ensure Rapiscan continues to deliver innovative, reliable, and market‑leading solutions.

Key Responsibilities

Product Line Technical Leadership & Design Authority

• Act as the technical authority and Chief Product Engineer for ATRS, conveyance, baggage handling, cargo conveyance, and integrated material‑handling solutions.
• Define and maintain the product technical vision, architecture, platform strategy, option roadmap, and long‑term technology direction.
• Drive technical decision‑making across engineering, operations, quality, service, manufacturing, and project teams.
• Balance customer requirements, technical risk, schedule, cost, manufacturability, reliability, serviceability, and product strategy.
• Establish and maintain system architectures, interface definitions, technical standards, and engineering governance across mechanical, electrical, software, controls, and network domains.

Product Management & Platform Stewardship

• Partner with Product Management to define product requirements and evaluate new product features, customer enhancements, and platform developments.
• Provide technical feasibility assessments, engineering estimates, and risk evaluations for new opportunities.
• Support technical product positioning, customer‑facing documentation, compliance responses, and technical proposal reviews.
• Drive initiatives focused on product reliability, maintainability, lifecycle sustainment, obsolescence management, and cost reduction.
• Lead technical activities from concept development through requirements definition, design, integration, verification, validation, certification support, production readiness, and product release.
• Work closely with Engineering Project Managers to define scope, priorities, resource requirements, and technical deliverables.
• Act as the senior reviewer and approver for:
• System requirements
• Functional architectures
• Hazard analyses
• Design reviews
• Verification and validation plans
• Readiness and production reviews

Revenue Programs & Customer Support

• Support commercial pursuits, tenders, and proposals by reviewing compliance requirements, identifying development scope, and assessing technical risks.
• Review system configurations, bills of materials (BOMs), customer‑specific solutions, and deployment architectures.
• Serve as the technical lead during customer engagements, technical reviews, factory acceptance tests (FAT), site acceptance tests (SAT), commissioning, and deployment activities.
• Provide expert‑level support for escalated field issues and complex customer technical requirements.

Integration, Controls & Automation

• Provide leadership for automated conveyance and control systems, including:
• Diverters and sortation systems
• Motion control
• Sensors and encoders
• PLC-based controls
• HMI and SCADA systems
• Barcode and RFID technologies
• Airport and cargo facility IT integration
• Ensure robust integration between Rapiscan screening systems, third‑party equipment, customer infrastructure, and operational workflows.

Operations, Service & Product Sustainment

• Support manufacturing readiness, production processes, technical documentation, and test procedures.
• Lead technical resolution of product quality, reliability, and field performance issues.
• Support engineering change requests (ECRs), engineering change orders (ECOs), product updates, and sustainment initiatives.
• Champion configuration control, engineering excellence, lessons learned, and best‑practice reuse across the product portfolio.

Leadership & Governance

• Provide technical leadership, mentoring, and guidance to multi‑disciplinary engineering teams.
• Influence and align stakeholders across engineering, operations, product management, project management, manufacturing, service, and quality functions.
• Foster effective communication, accountability, and decision‑making across global engineering and operational teams.

Required Experience & Skills

• 12+ years of progressive experience in systems engineering, product engineering, or technical leadership within complex electro‑mechanical, industrial automation, or safety‑critical environments.
• Proven experience leading the development and lifecycle management of:
• Automated Tray Return Systems (ATRS)
• Cargo handling systems
• Automated material handling solutions
• Comparable integrated electro‑mechanical platforms
• Demonstrated experience acting as a Chief Engineer, Lead Systems Engineer, Product Technical Authority, or System Architect.
• Strong understanding of system integration, controls engineering, mechanical systems, software‑enabled products, and industrial networking.
• Experience driving technical trade‑offs involving scope, cost, quality, schedule, risk, manufacturability, and serviceability.
• Experience supporting product management, customer projects, manufacturing transitions, field support, and continuous improvement.
• Strong knowledge of:
• PLC-based control systems
• Industrial communications networks
• Machinery safety standards
• EMC considerations
• Direct experience with airport checkpoint Automated Tray Return Systems (ATRS).
• Experience working with regulatory and certification authorities such as TSA, ECAC, STAC, CAAC, CBP, or equivalent organizations.
• Experience supporting large‑scale airport, transportation, logistics, or cargo hub deployments.
• Familiarity with PLM systems, requirements management tools, Jira, Confluence, Agile PLM, or equivalent platforms.
• Experience working within globally distributed engineering organizations.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering or Science, preferably in:
• Mechanical Engineering
• Electrical Engineering
• Mechatronics
• Related technical discipline
• Strong practical knowledge of:
• Requirements management
• Interface management
• Verification and validation
• Production transition

Preferred

• Master's degree (MEng, MSc, MS) or equivalent advanced engineering qualification.
• Chartered Engineer (CEng) status or equivalent professional accreditation.

#J-18808-Ljbffr