Chief System Engineer

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

Job summary

Copello Global is collaborating with an established marine technology organisation expanding its UK defence capability. The Chief Engineer will provide technical leadership and governance across complex maritime programmes, acting as Technical Authority and ensuring engineering assurance throughout lifecycle management.

The role requires experience in defence maritime environments, subsea and autonomous systems, with the ability to lead multidisciplinary teams and communicate with customers and

Qualifications

• Defence maritime experience with credible governance of complex programmes.
• Strong systems engineering understanding across lifecycle stages.
• Ability to lead multidisciplinary teams and communicate with senior stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Act as a senior Technical Authority across maritime and defence programmes.
• Provide engineering assurance, governance and technical oversight.
• Ensure processes and controls across the full lifecycle.
• Lead technical reviews and challenge decisions with independent judgement.
• Guide teams to safe, compliant and robust solutions for operation.

Skills

Maritime defence experience

Technical leadership

Engineering assurance

Systems engineering

Stakeholder communication

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.