Chief Engineer

Leonardo; City of Edinburgh; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Time to Recharge

Pension up to 15%

Mental health support

Bonus scheme

4,000+ online courses

Referral programme

Flexible benefits £500

Hybrid working

Job summary

Leonardo UK Ltd in Edinburgh is seeking a Chief Systems Engineer and Design Authority to lead the CS3 team's delivery of support solutions for radar capability, ensuring reliability and availability across the UK and internationally.

The role combines hands-on engineering with strategic leadership, with an initial 6-month embedded period to work with Design Authorities and develop into the role, including mentoring and shaping change control, obsolescence reviews, and incident management.

Qualifications

• Strong engineering background across development, production and support.
• Understand systems-of-systems and broader enterprise dependencies.
• Experience releasing equipment and installations per product and customer needs.
• Experience with certification and release of military equipment.
• Familiarity with design certification and customer acceptance.
• Chartered Engineer with ECUK preferred.

Responsibilities

• Review customer technical queries; initiate investigations and sign off closures.
• Review and improve support and repair processes for continuous improvement.
• Oversee obsolescence and participate in Obsolescence Review Boards for products.
• Review and manage change control impact on equipment and services.
• Coordinate technical responses for repair activities progressing through MRO facilities and Edinburgh plant.
• Conduct product incident reporting and management per company process.
• Provide technical leadership and mentoring within the team.

Skills

Engineering leadership

Systems engineering

Technical strategy

Stakeholder management

Obsolescence management

Change control

Military equipment release

Design certification

Education

Chartered Engineer (ECUK)

Job description

Job Description

Your Impact

Are you an experienced engineering leader looking to make a real impact?

We are seeking a Chief Engineer and Design Authority to join our Customer Support and Service Solutions (CS3) team, leading the delivery and continuous improvement of support solutions for our Surveillance Radar capability. As a technical leader, you will drive engineering excellence, and work closely with customers and stakeholders across the UK and internationally. Combining engineering expertise with strategic leadership, you'll play a key role in ensuring mission-critical equipment remains operational and effective.

Please note the role offers an initial 6 months embedded in the product line group, working with the Design Authorities to support your development into the role.

What you’ll do as a Chief Systems Engineer and Design Authority;

• Review Technical Query raised by customers, instigate Problem Investigations and Defect Investigations, provide the necessary response and sign off on the closure of the activities.
• Review existing processes and procedures associated with support and customer repairs with the aim to apply continuous improvement.
• Oversee internal and external obsolescence and the consequences of recommended action. Participate in Obsolescence Review Boards for the products.
• Review and manage the impact of change control on equipment and services provided.
• Support changes to DDP on behalf of the equipment Design Authority because of change.
• Co-ordinate the technical responses for repair activities progressing through customer MRO facilities and the Edinburgh production facility.
• Conduct product incident reporting and management in accordance with company process.
• Provide technical leadership for others in the team including mentoring and support in development.

What you’ll bring;

• Good Engineering background with significant experience in development, production and support activities.
• Appreciation of how systems fit within the broader capability enterprise, for example as a component of a system-of-systems solution and wider dependencies such as personnel and infrastructure.
• Knowledge in providing release of equipment, installations/upgrades in relation to product, company and customer requirements.
• Experience in certification and release of military equipment.
• Understanding of gaining design certification and customer acceptance.
• Ideally a Chartered Engineer with the ECUK.
• Knowledge of general engineering lifecycle and business process.
• Coordinate multi-stakeholder analysis into reports and presentations for delivery to customers & industry partners.
• Experience of developing defence-based support or service solutions

This is not an exhaustive list, and we are keen to hear from you even if you might not have experience in all the above. The most important skill is a good attitude and willingness to learn.

Security Clearance

This role is subject to pre-employment screening in line with the UK Government’s Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS). An additional range of Personnel Security Controls referred to as National Security Vetting (NSV) may apply, this could include meeting the eligibility requirements for The Security Check (SC) or Developed Vetting (DV). For more information and guidance please visit: https://careers.uk.leonardo.com/gb/en/security-and-vetting

Why join us

At Leonardo, our people are at the heart of everything we do. We offer a comprehensive, company-funded benefits package that supports your wellbeing, career development, and work–life balance. Whether you're looking to grow professionally, care for your health, or plan for the future, we’re here to help you thrive.

• Time to Recharge: Enjoy generous leave with the opportunity to accrue up to 12 additional flexi-days each year.
• Secure your Future: Benefit from our award-winning pension scheme with up to 15% employer contribution.
• Your Wellbeing Matters: Free access to mental health support, financial advice, and employee-led networks championing inclusion and diversity (Enable, Pride, Equalise, Armed Forces, Carers, Wellbeing and Ethnicity).
• Rewarding Performance: All employees at management level and below are eligible for our bonus scheme.
• Never Stop Learning: Free access to 4,000+ online courses via Coursera and LinkedIn Learning.
• Refer a friend: Receive a financial reward through our referral programme.
• Tailored Perks: Spend up to £500 annually on flexible benefits including private healthcare, dental, family cover, tech & lifestyle discounts, gym memberships and more.
• Flexible working: Flexible hours with hybrid working options. For part time opportunities, please talk to us about what might be possible for this role.

For a full list of our company benefits please visit our website.

Leonardo UK operates a grade-based salary framework with broad bands. The salary range shown reflects the approved grade band for this role, or a narrower hiring range published within that band, and is benchmarked against the external market. Exceptions above the standard range are managed through governance controls to protect internal equity.

Leonardo is a global leader in Aerospace, Defence, and Security. Headquartered in Italy, we employ over 53,000 people worldwide including 8,500 across 9 sites in the UK. Our employees are not just part of a team—they are key contributors to shaping innovation, advancing technology, and enhancing global safety.

At Leonardo we are committed to building an inclusive, accessible, and welcoming workplace. We believe that a diverse workforce sparks creativity, drives innovation, and leads to better outcomes for our people and our customers. If you have any accessibility requirements to support you during the recruitment process, just let us know.

Primary Location

GB - Edinburgh

Contract Type

Permanent

Hybrid Working

Hybrid