Chief Systems Engineer

Hackajob Ltd; Southampton; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible hybrid working

Pension scheme

Bonus scheme

Sponsorship for courses (Coursera/LI)

Job summary

Leonardo in Southampton is seeking a Chief Systems Engineer to lead governance of systems engineering across complex programmes. You will guide large teams on MBSE practices, architectures, and lifecycle activities, ensuring proper validation and stakeholder alignment.

You will mentor engineers, drive integration across airborne and naval systems, and promote agile thinking while collaborating with UK teams.

Qualifications

• Experience governing Systems Engineering Lifecycle Management (LCM) processes.
• Proven ability to deliver engineering artefacts in Integrated Project Teams.
• Experience eliciting stakeholder expectations and translating them into architecture.

Responsibilities

• Act as the focal point for systems engineering governance and LCM activities.
• Lead cross‑programme teams across Airborne and Naval domains with MBSE artefacts.
• Coach engineers on systems engineering practices across lifecycle stages.

Skills

Governance

LCM process

Stakeholder management

Architectures

MBSE

MBSE tools

Leadership

Communication

System integration

Risk management

Education

Engineering degree

Tools

Cameo Systems Modeler

MATLAB/Simulink

DOORS

Polarion

Job description

Job Description: Leonardo has an exciting and immediate vacancy for a Chief Systems Engineer, someone with a passion for contributing to the UK's Defence Industry and making impactful change. We are recruiting for a Chief Systems Engineer with experience of guiding large teams and has a passion for Systems Engineering and can impart their knowledge and experience on to others. What we build is exciting, interesting, challenging and complex. A diverse product portfolio of technologies, with each programme at a different stage in its development lifecycle. Given this complexity, it requires each programme to connect with the "Art of Systems Engineering" to ensure we are doing the right activities at the right time. Based on a hybrid basis, at our purpose-built site in the beautiful city of Southampton.

What you'll do

The Chief Systems Engineer acts as the focal point for Systems Engineering Governance and ensures our Systems Engineering capability trends in a positive direction. The role will provide a clear point of contact on Systems Engineering capability for the Business Area Head of Engineering Projects, Chief Engineer and will report to the Line of Business Head of Systems Engineering.

• Our systems engineering team assess the problem completely
• Our teams reuse techniques and artefacts across the portfolio of projects
• Our teams manage complexity through architecting our systems well
• Our teams predict and mitigate emergent behaviours when operating at a system or integrated systems level
• Our projects create and enact the correct verification and validation strategy

Day to day duties include

• Influence the development of Engineering artefacts, their technical direction and ultimately stakeholder satisfaction
• You will work across a highly demanding and complex area of the business, immersed in full-scale development programmes spanning the breadth of the engineering lifecycle across the Airborne Comms and Naval Information, Communication System (ICS) teams
• Act as the focal point for systems engineering governance, supporting Lifecycle Management (LCM) activities
• Provide expertise and guidance to ensure our engineers understand the problem completely and stakeholder needs through effective coaching on Systems Engineering practices (early and later lifecycle stages)
• Ensure the appropriate level of concepting, modelling and simulation techniques are used across the lifecycle to inform architectures and solution options
• Influence whole life design considerations relating to Safety, Security, Manufacture, Test, Supportability, Through Life Support in line with company processes
• Support quarterly threat and mitigation reviews across the Business Area's on project status and enabling initiatives (e.g. capability, capacity, competency)
• Represent Leonardo within Systems Engineering bodies and groups of interest, such as INCOSE
• Identify trends across the Business Area's, capturing and sharing lessons learned to improve the quality and efficiency of future work
• Promote an agile mind-set to systems engineering, building a culture of experimentation and failing fast
• Collaborate with your peers in similar roles across the UK to promote a culture of continual learning and improvement, acting as a change agent for systems engineering

What you'll bring

• Experience in applying governance and guidance on Systems Engineering LCM process
• Experience working in Integrated Project Teams delivering Engineering artefacts successfully
• Experience in eliciting stakeholder expectations
• Experience in creating and defining architectures
• Experience in managing and collaborating with internal/external stakeholders
• Proven leadership and decision-making skills in a high complexity, dynamic environment at a senior level
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, proven ability to build trust and respect at different levels (An effective influencer)
• Experience of integration, with an understanding of the resultant issues, cost and schedule implications, and potential mitigations
• Motivation, tenacity and determination, with a desire to deliver outputs and results
• Experience with Model-Based Systems Engineering tools and methodologies
• Experience working on largescale Systems Integration programmes, having managed issues associated with cost, schedule & quality implications
• Domain experience: Telecommunications, RF, Electronic Warfare, Electro-Optics, Air/Land/Sea sub-system
• Domain experience: Platform Integration, Data Distribution Services, Sensor Fusion, AI/Machine Learning
• Practitioner level ability using Model Driven Engineering tool e.g. Cameo Systems Modeler, Matlab, Simulink, DOORS (classic), Polarion

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:

Salary

£80k to £95k

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.

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

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 - Southampton
Contract Type: Permanent
Hybrid Working: Hybrid