Principal Systems Leader

Principal Systems Engineer

Location - Reading / Basingstoke Area

Salary - dependent on experience plus contributory pension scheme, generous holiday entitlement, additional benefits and an excellent work / life balance including a 9-day working fortnight and flexible working hours (role dependent). A salary sacrifice scheme is also available. We will consider candidates looking for full time or part time hours.

AWE has been named in the Sunday Times top 25 big companies to work for in 2019.

The UK Atomic Weapons Establishment is embarking on a Replacement Nuclear Warhead programme, to ensure the UK continuous at sea deterrent.

To enable the successful delivery of this programme, the AWE Warhead Engineering function is seeking experienced Systems Engineering Leaders who can launch, lead, deliver & execute key workstreams across multiple lifecycle phases.

We are interested in engaging with candidates who have an extensive knowledge of applying Systems Engineering and Systems Thinking to mechanical, electronic, safety, security or nuclear projects and are interested in developing their career with us.

We are particularly looking to deploy experienced Engineering Leaders into roles such as Test and Evaluation Campaign Director and Lead Systems Verification Engineer roles and are therefore particularly interested in hearing from those with experience in developing test and evaluation campaigns, leading test and evaluation activities or integration and test teams.

As a Principal Systems Engineer within a matrix organisation, your role will span a range of responsibilities:

• As a Principal Systems Engineer, you will be a technical leader, responsible for developing or executing the project vision, working closely with stakeholders to scope, refine and break down projects, ensuring a high level of quality and timely delivery of these projects.
• You will demonstrate the behaviours of a systems thinker and to select and apply appropriate systems thinking skills to solve complex problems and implement constructive change
• You will ensure collaboration across functional teams and work to pull disparate teams and plans together.
• You will work with Project Management counterparts to create and maintain Integrated Master Plans and Schedule and will ensure the delivery of the technical output against these.

As a Test and Evaluation Campaign Director or a Lead Systems Verification Engineer, you will also be responsible for one or all of the following:

• Generation of a fully justified, fully traceable and fully detailed verification plan. That may include ensuring that the people, process and tools (plant - rigs/facilities and HW) are on track to be in place to deliver that plan, with risks and assumptions managed. It will require the integration of disparate areas including Design, Production and specialist engineering areas.
• Delivery of an integrated evidence dataset and associated case reports providing progressively growing confidence in the proposed designs, and delivery of final verification evidence to support certification and acceptance.
• Oversight of test and evaluation activities ensuring plans, schedules, products, events, and reports align across the varied units contributing to final programme success. You will lead on the prioritisation of activities to meet customer and organisation objectives.
• Coordination across delivery units, production houses, test facilities and systems engineering teams, seeking innovative approaches and ensuring a model-led approach to ensure the overall objectives of the verification plan are met.

Furthermore, an objective of AWE is to enhance our existing staff by augmenting the teams with proven System Engineering competencies, with the ability to stand up and implement Systems Engineer processes. Successful candidates must have demonstrated, exceptional soft skills working with people and teams. A key part of this role will be mentoring/coaching others, and influencing the implementation of Systems Engineering.

To be considered for the role, you must have an HNC / HND or higher qualification in an engineering discipline or proven experience working in a similar environment. You should be a strong communicator with the ability to work with multiple stakeholders and effectively balance / prioritise your work around programme and technical requirements.

Candidates must be willing and able to obtain and maintain the necessary security clearance for the role.