Principal Systems Engineer

Job description

Location: Glasgow, United Kingdom

Thales people architect solutions that are relied upon to deliver operational advantage at every decisive moment throughout the mission. Defence and armed forces customers rely on us to deliver the full range of defensive systems for land, sea, and air. From early warning, to threat neutralisation, our platforms cover all levels from very short-range systems, to extended protection across the entire battle-space including Airspace Mobility Solutions, Vehicles and Tactical Systems and Missile Defence, Optronics, and Radar.

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 five major industries; Aerospace, Defence, Ground Transportation, 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.

At Thales we architect, deliver and maintain solutions that are relied upon to deliver an operational advantage at every decisive moment throughout missions. Defence and armed forces customers rely on us to deliver the full range of defensive systems for air, land and sea. From early warning, to threat neutralisation, our platforms cover all levels from very short-range systems, to extended protection across the entire battle-space including Airspace Mobility Solutions, Vehicles and Tactical Systems and Missile Defence, Optronics, and Radar.

Thales Optronics and Missile Electronics (OME) has an exciting opportunity as Project Design Authority (PDA) within the Air sector of the business. The successful candidate will initially work on a passive Infra-Red Search and Track (IRST) Sensor for airborne applications. This is a complex precision Electro-Optic Assembly, comprising of precision optics, an infra-red detector and a number of servo assemblies behind a very wide field of view window.

This project is a refresh of an existing design to remove obsolescence and improve reliability which will require significant attention to detail and thorough engineering practice to deliver a compliant product that achieves the required improvements. Key design documents are required to be updated and a detailed verification program to generate a Certificate of Design will be required.

Primary Purpose of the Role:
The role of the Lead Systems Engineer is to act as the Project Design Authority (PDA) to work with the wider Thales engineering team and the supply chain to ensure that the obsolescence upgrade programme delivers a compliant and safe product.

Key Responsibilities and Tasks:
The Project Design Authority (PDA) is responsible for Solution Compliance for Bids or Projects. The successful candidate will have experience leading, integrating and qualifying complex sensor/instrument solutions. It is also beneficial that they have experience in working with manufacture and repair where issues are frequent and complex. It would be desirable if they had experience of working with an international consortium and experience of working with Electronics, Electro-Optic and/or Opto-Mechanical assemblies and/or airborne equipment.

A strong Systems Engineering background is required to understand and manage the complexities of the system solution, its history and the impacts of design change.

Typical Tasks include:

• Supporting the bid and project team to understand the context and customer needs.
• Acting as the recognised technical leader of the product.
• Interfacing with the Customer.
• Assessing alternative solutions.
• Ensuring the feasibility of the Solution including:
  • The adequacy of the Solution in terms of architecture and technology maturity with respect to solution requirements;
  • The consistency of the Solution with the Product Policy and Make-Team-Buy strategy;
  • The compliance with the contractual requirements and applicable legislation & regulations (inc. export restrictions, Environmental/HSE, safety, security;
• Ensuring that the production and maintenance/service aspects of the Solution are taken into account in terms of: Manufacturability, Maintainability, and Consistency between Non-Recurring & Recurring/Production costs.
• Working within the scope of the Company Governance Processes and Engineering Management Plan.
• Work within the engineering team to accomplish engineering activities to time, cost and quality.
• Working closely with the System Engineering Manager to ensure:
  • Identification & review of the technical risks & opportunities and the related mitigation plans throughout bids/projects;
  • Establish and maintain the Key Decisions tree and associated actions;
  • Prepare Design Validation and Certificate of Design documentation;
  • Approve bid/project engineering reviews and deliverables.

Skills

• Exhibit good team-working skills, be comfortable with delegation and be able to motivate effectively and share information effectively.
• Be able to apply a systems thinking approach to design for the lifecycle of the product, ideally using methods similar to those recommended by INCOSE.
• Have an understanding and experience of Systems Engineering methodologies around Design, Verification, Validation, Qualification and Acceptance.
• Experience of working in complex systems environments, and being able to understand and communicate project/product contexts, as well as being able to derive system capabilities, functionalities and behaviours.
• A strong understanding and experience of project governance, including experience of producing and reviewing documentation with clarity and precision.
• Be prepared to challenge other's views and willing to accept constructive feedback.
• Have a methodical and organised approach.
• Must have good communication skills.
• Experience in Air Domain (Desirable).
• Knowledge of Electro-Optical Systems (Desirable).
• Knowledge of Electronics design (Desirable).

At Thales we offer fantastic opportunities for committed employees to learn and develop their career with us. 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 across a number of domains. 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.

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In line with Thales' Baseline Security requirements, candidates will be asked to provide evidence of identity, eligibility to work in the UK and employment and/or education history for up to three years. Some vacancies may require full Security Clearance which can require further evidence to be provided. For further details of the evidence required to apply for Baseline and Security Clearance please refer to the Defence Business Services National Security Vetting (DBS NSV) Agency.

At Thales we provide CAREERS and not only jobs. With Thales employing 80,000 employees in 68 countries our mobility policy enables thousands of employees each year to develop their careers at home and abroad, in their existing areas of expertise or by branching out into new fields. Together we believe that embracing flexibility is a smarter way of working.

Thales UK is committed to providing an inclusive and barrier-free recruitment process. We will provide reasonable adjustments and support to ensure neuro-diverse applicants or those with a disability or long-term condition can be their best during the recruitment process. To request an adjustment, if you need this job advert in an alternative format or if you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact Resourcing Ops for mid to senior roles, or the Early Careers Team for graduate and apprentice roles.

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