Chief Engineer

Copello; Southampton; Hybrid; GBP 108,000 - 132,000; Full time

Job summary

Copello, in partnership with an established marine technology organisation, is appointing a Chief Engineer to provide technical leadership, engineering assurance and governance across complex maritime and subsea programmes in the UK Defence sector.

The role acts as Technical Authority, ensuring safety, compliance and robust engineering decisions throughout the lifecycle, with hybrid working from the Hampshire office and eligibility for UK Security Clearance.

Qualifications

• Established senior engineering leader with defence maritime experience.
• Experience as Technical Authority or Engineering Authority on complex programmes.
• Strong knowledge of the full engineering lifecycle from requirement to acceptance.
• Ability to challenge technical decisions with independent engineering judgement.

Responsibilities

• Act as a senior Technical Authority across complex maritime and defence programmes.
• Provide overall engineering assurance, governance and technical oversight.
• Ensure engineering processes, standards and controls are applied across the lifecycle.
• Provide technical leadership across systems, integration, design, development, verification, validation and acceptance.

Skills

Senior engineering leadership

Defence maritime engineering

Engineering governance

Technical authority

Systems engineering

Job description

Chief Engineer – Maritime Defence- Permanent- Salary negotiable, circa £120,000

Copello is working in partnership with an established marine technology organisation that is expanding its presence and capability within the UK Defence sector.

As part of this growth, we are looking to appoint a Chief Engineer to provide technical leadership, engineering assurance and governance across a portfolio of complex maritime and subsea programmes.

This is a senior and influential position, acting as a Technical Authority within the organisation and providing confidence that engineering activities, technical decisions and solutions meet the required standards throughout the full engineering lifecycle.

The Role

The Chief Engineer will take overall responsibility for engineering assurance across key programmes, working closely with engineering teams, programme leadership, senior stakeholders and the customer.

Responsibilities will include:

• Acting as a senior Technical Authority across complex maritime and defence programmes.
• Providing overall engineering assurance, governance and technical oversight.
• Ensuring appropriate engineering processes, standards and controls are applied throughout the full engineering lifecycle.
• Providing technical leadership across systems, integration, design, development, verification, validation and acceptance activities.
• Reviewing and challenging technical decisions, engineering risks and programme assumptions.
• Supporting technical reviews and ensuring solutions are safe, compliant, robust and appropriate for their intended operational environment.
• Working closely with customers and stakeholders across the UK Defence community.
• Providing technical guidance and leadership to multidisciplinary engineering teams.
• Supporting the continued development of engineering capability, processes and technical governance as the organisation grows.

About You

We are looking for an established senior engineering leader with significant experience within the UK Defence maritime environment.

You are likely to have:

• A strong Defence engineering background, ideally within maritime, naval, submarine or subsea programmes.
• Experience of subsea systems, underwater technology, autonomous maritime systems or similarly complex marine systems.
• Previous experience operating as a Chief Engineer, Technical Authority, Engineering Authority, Engineering Director or equivalent senior technical leader.
• Strong knowledge of the full engineering lifecycle, from requirements and concept development through design, integration, verification, validation, qualification and acceptance.
• Experience providing engineering assurance and technical governance on complex programmes.
• The credibility to challenge technical decisions and provide independent engineering judgement at senior level.
• Experience working directly with UK Defence customers and stakeholders, ideally including the MOD and/or Submarine Delivery Agency (SDA).
• Strong systems engineering and multidisciplinary engineering understanding.
• The ability to communicate complex technical matters effectively with engineers, programme teams, senior leadership and customers.

This is an opportunity to take a senior technical leadership position within an organisation bringing advanced marine technology into the UK Defence environment at a significant point in its growth.

The organisation operates a flexible hybrid model. Candidates will need to be able to work from the company's Hampshire office approximately two days per week, although there is flexibility around remote working depending on programme and customer requirements.

Due to the nature of the work, candidates will need to be eligible to obtain the appropriate UK Security Clearance.