Lead Systems Engineer

Thales people provide armed forces customers with operational advantage at every decisive moment throughout the mission. Defence and armed forces customers rely on us to deliver the full range of defence mission systems solutions at land, sea, and air. Our platforms extend across the battlespace including Above and Sonar, Electronic Combat, and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance systems.

Together we offer fantastic opportunities for committed employees to learn and develop their career with us. At Thales UK, we research, develop, and supply technology and services that impact the lives of millions of people each day to make life better, and keep us safer. We innovate across the major industries of Aerospace, Defence, Security and Space. Your health and well-being matters to us and that’s why we offer you the flexibility to do what’s important to you; whether that’s part time hours, job sharing, home working, or the ability to flex your start and finish times. Where possible, we support a working pattern that suits your lifestyle and helps you reach your ambitions.

Primary Purpose of the Role:

To manage the Systems Engineering Process to company and international standards for defined packages of work. To provide line management and technical leadership to Systems Engineers within the Communications and Acoustic Products (CAP) team.

The Lead Systems Engineer typically works with a team of engineers to define what will be designed, how it will perform and how it will be determined that it is working correctly.

Principal Relationships:

As part of the Thales design process you will interact with the following key roles:

• Designers at all levels
• Bid team members
• Project team members
• Testing team members
• Installation team members
• Project Planners
• Sales and Marketing
• Supply Chain
• Commercial Team Members

Key Responsibilities and Tasks:

• Converts requirements into conceptual designs and prepares associated documentation by performing operational analyses, simulations and technical trade-off studies evaluating alternative design configurations and functional features.
• Good understanding of the development lifecycle and lifecycle products.
• Interfacing with the client, to gain approval of test specifications and to host acceptance testing activities.
• Help develop and execute Test Specifications including:
• Support the development of test plans and test strategy documents
• Support the development of test specifications, working from system requirements.
• Execute test specifications (according to test plan and project schedule)
• Record and/or authorise results of test execution
• Raise/investigate/verify defects
• Maintain quality target/standard
• Able to create and/or authorise outline designs from requirements using a variety of design toolsets
• Similarly creates new concepts or modifies existing concepts to fulfil requirements where necessary
• Prepares system & subsystem requirement specifications, interface requirements and test requirement documents by analysing, decomposing modelling and refining customer requirements.
• Prepares system operational plans and reports that explain how the equipment being developed meets requirements. Operational design limits are evaluated and defined; performance analyses and simulations are developed & performed to support the above.
• Performs technical/engineering tasks to define system design and subsystem requirements details.
• Analysis and simulations are performed as necessary to identify design feasibility & driving requirements.
• Supervises staff, by defining their work, coaching them on how and what to prepare, monitoring their progress and directing them on priorities.
• Proposes work package estimates and descriptions based on knowledge of the work and project requirements, ensuring that compliant solutions at optimum cost are identified.
• Develop, implement and maintain tools relevant to the Systems Engineering function. Manage the assessment of relevant tools.
• Defines or proposes updates of processes and standards covering the work and its products based on knowledge of systems engineering.
• Keep abreast of technical development in relevant domain (e.g. sonar systems) both within and outside of the company.
• Manage the production of quality metrics to measure the soundness of the System Engineering processes under your control.

Key performance Indicators against Responsibilities and Tasks:

This role is continually monitored for performance and as such some of the following typical Key performance indicators (KPI’s) will be used

• Quality of work produced against agreed standards
• Delivery to timescales
• Delivery to budget
• Performance against Thales key values
• Attendance
• Performance against mandatory training

Skills (underpinning Knowledge)

• Able to use a range of IT tools (e.g. MS Office, MS Visio, etc).
• Has a sound ability to use system engineering tools. (e.g. DOORS, System Architect, JIRA)
• Has a working knowledge of configuration control.
• Can manage a project through a defined process and is able to tailor CHORUS2 to project needs.
• Can define metrics as part of Quality assurance & control.
• Working knowledge of project plans.
• Has a working knowledge of Engineering Safety Management

Experience:

• The Lead Systems Engineers are the technical focal point for the System Engineering process and must resolve all issues, problems, questions and conflicts in the entire system. This requires frequent handling of new and unusual issues therefore a proven record of working in a Systems Engineering environment is required.
• The post holder should have strong interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate at all levels in the spoken and written word. A good outward appearance, self-motivation and the ability to work under pressure are vital.
• The success of the Systems Engineering job family relies on the interaction of its engineers at all levels, therefore evidence of team working is required.

Values & Behaviours:

• Innovate – Be motivated to search for novel and unique design solutions.
• Team working – Maximise the use of the wider Thales community to produce winning solutions.
• Develop people – Be prepared to share your ideas and experience with the wider Thales engineering community.
• Focus on customers – Be driven to deliver quality solutions to clients.
• Safety – Totally embrace the Thales safety culture to provide a safe and healthy working environment for all.
• Ethics – Thales employees must be exemplary in their ethical conduct and social responsibility.
• Job holders will be expected to perform in line with the Thales Code of Practice, Policies and Procedures.

Desirable Qualifications and Certification:

• HNC/HND/Engineering Degree or equivalent
• Communication / RF system experience.
• Experience in safety compliance and shock / vibration / EMC / thermal testing.

Essential:

• Have attained, or working towards an appropriate professional status or equivalent

Financial / Budgetary Responsibility:

• The post holder may be expected to deliver designs/projects to an agreed budget