In Services Engineering Manager - Chinook in Crawley

Location: Crawley, United Kingdom

Thales is a global technology leader with more than 83,000 employees on five continents. With over 7,500 people in the UK, operating across defence, space, aerospace, and digital security, we help build a future we can all trust. Thales supports the security and stability of our nation by providing extraordinary technology to our customers, as well as delivering social value to the UK with our products and services.

We are looking to hire an In-Service Engineering Manager (Chinook) to join the Technical Support Section of our Services Operations team. The focus of the role is to manage all Engineering Support activities within the Chinook Support Programme. The role will be multi-disciplined with experience in both Technical and Management behaviours. The role will co-ordinate design, developments and through life support activities across the programme.

What will you deliver?

• Own, lead and deliver all technical service aspects within the Chinook programme
• Provide support and co-ordination to all Through Life aspects of support (Obsolescence, Technical Publications, ILS, DRACAS, Modelling, Configuration Management, Work Package Management)
• Working across Thales core, offsite technical support team, customers and suppliers.
• Work Package Management for Project Engineering Activities.
• Ensuring that all members of the team are aware of the deliverables, timescales and budget.
• Engineering point of contact with the Customer and Partners.
• Responsible for achievement of through life engineering milestones, metrics and reporting to meet the Project requirements (Technical, Cost, Schedule and Quality).
• Establishment, and management, of configuration control strategy for Thales responsibilities.
• Risk identification, management and reporting to the Project Manager.
• Support to the Project Manager as engineering representative at Management Team Progress Reviews and Customer Management Reviews.
• Operate and support within Thales QMS and DAOS governance requirements.
• Proposing improvements for operational activities, products, business tools and processes.
• Support to Business Development, Bids & Proposal activities including but not limited to; Technical review of solution, Generation and review of technical proposals, Generation and review of TLSE estimates.

Who are we looking for?

• Team player who can interface well with Engineering Management and site based customer and Thales teams.
• General engineering knowledge/experience in support, test, production and development environments.
• Good understanding of Engineering Standards, engineering processes and maturity models.
• Familiar with working in a relevant Support or Service environment and managing the customer/supplier relationships (internal and external).
• Experience in being able to build and maintain professional and productive relationships across multi discipline functions and the wider industry partners.
• Demonstrate an ability to interpret and analyse technical data to ensure that correct technical decisions are made and communicated effectively in order to meet a common goal.

Desirable

• Work package management and reporting
• Good analytical skills
• Familiar in using Teamcenter
• Preferred candidate to act as the Project Security and Technical Control Officer
• Experienced in successful management of technical teams
• Familiar with Chinook Thales UK CDS/MAS and SCCS systems.
• Estimating and bid support

Values & Behaviours:

• Focus on Customers
• Perform through teamwork.
• Innovate.
• Keen to develop people
• Visible leadership skills and change management attitude
• Enjoys or thrives on working to tight timescales & maintaining budgeted performance within a project team environment
• Keen to communicate and promote, internally and externally, the added-value brought by the expertise of the team
• Self motivated individual willing to take on challenges
• Takes initiative (i.e. being pro-active)
• Ability to liaise with all levels of management and promote a good working relationship
• Good time-management skills.

What can we offer you?

• Performance-related bonus
• Half day every Friday, usually finishing around 13:00
• 28 days annual leave (plus bank holidays) with opportunity to buy up to 40 hours/year (pro rata)
• 24 hours volunteering paid for
• Matched Pension scheme
• Life cover
• 24/7 Employee Assistance Program and access to mental wellbeing app
• Employee discount shopping schemes on major brands and retailers
• Gym membership discounts

Security Clearance Requirement:

Due to the nature of the work that we do at Thales, many of our roles are subject to security restrictions. This role requires Security Clearance (SC). It would be advantageous if currently held, however, if not currently held, it is a requirement that the successful applicant undergo, achieve, and maintain SC Clearance prior to commencing employment. To be eligible for full SC, you generally need to have resided in the UK for the last 5 years. In some circumstances, a minimum of 3 years’ residence in the UK over the last 5 years may be accepted, with additional overseas checks.

Please visit the UKSV website for further guidance.

At Thales, we ensure equal opportunities, pay and working conditions for all. The benefits we offer include private medical insurance, buying or selling annual leave, cycle to work schemes, employee discounts, paid volunteering day, stocks and shares, annual bonus and much more depending on the role. We are committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels valued for who they are and the unique strengths they bring.

If this role isn’t quite right for you, we encourage you to join our talent community where your details will be shared with our recruitment teams for other potential opportunities.

Join Thales in the UK – Innovate with us and shape the future!