Chief Engineer

Leonardo S.p.A.; City of Edinburgh; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Bonus scheme

Pension scheme

Private healthcare

4,000+ online courses

Job summary

Leonardo UK seeks a Chief Systems Engineer and Design Authority to lead the delivery and continuous improvement of support solutions for our Surveillance Radar capability. You will drive engineering excellence, collaborating with customers and stakeholders across the UK and internationally.

Initially six months embedded with the product line group to develop into the role, providing technical leadership, mentoring, and rapid problem resolution for mission-critical equipment.

Qualifications

• Engineering background with development, production and support experience.
• Understanding of design certification and customer acceptance.
• Experience with release of equipment, installations/upgrades in relation to product, company and customer requirements.
• Knowledge of engineering lifecycle and business processes.

Responsibilities

• Review technical queries and sign off on closures.
• Apply continuous improvement to support processes.
• Oversee obsolescence and consequences of related actions.
• Coordinate technical responses for repair activities at customer MRO facilities and Edinburgh.
• Provide technical leadership and mentoring to team members.

Skills

Systems engineering leadership

Multi-stakeholder coordination

Change control impact

Defense-based support

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).

Why join us

• 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 International, multicultural, innovative, technological: this is Leonardo.

The company’s passionate and talented team is strongly influenced by STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) expertise, with a diverse range of experience that enables colleagues to share knowledge and know-how across the generations. Leonardo always wants to expand its talent pool, here you can find the right opportunity for you!