Effects Optimisation System Architect

MBDA UK; West of England; Hybrid; GBP 59,000 - 72,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Company bonus up to 21%

Pension up to 14%

Flexible working arrangements

Enhanced parental leave

Healthcare options

Free on-site parking

Job summary

MBDA UK is seeking a System Architect to support the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) and Future Combat Air System (FCAS). The role requires leading activities in system architecting, MBSE tooling, and governance for complex early-development work.

The position offers hybrid working (4 days on-site) with a salary around £65,000 depending on experience and eligibility for a company bonus up to 21% and pension contributions up to 14%. Security clearance (SC) is required after offer.

Qualifications

• Strong understanding of system architecture for complex, early-development programmes.
• Experience leading small teams and influencing technical direction.
• Ability to communicate new concepts to diverse stakeholders.
• Comfort working with multi-disciplinary teams and evolving requirements.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with customers and industry partners across MBDA projects.
• Contribute to systems engineering, algorithms, software and experimentation.
• Facilitate experiments with the customer community to communicate and test concepts.
• Travel internationally may be required.

Skills

System architecture

Team leadership

Stakeholder communication

Multi-disciplinary collaboration

Concept development

Strategic governance

Tools

MBSE tools

Job description

MBDA are at the forefront of the one of the most exciting and challenging programmes within Defence – to design and deliver the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) for the RAF and international partners in record time! Salary: Circa £65,000 depending on experience Dynamic (hybrid) working: 4 days per week on-site due to workload classification Security Clearance: British Citizen Restrictions and/or limitations relating to nationality and/or rights to work may apply. As a minimum and after offer stage, all successful candidates will need to undergo HMG Security Clearance checks (SC), which are managed by the MBDA Personnel Security Team.

What we can offer you:

• Company Bonus: Bonus of up to 21% of base salary
• Pension: maximum total (employer and employee) contribution of up to 14%
• Flexible working: We welcome applicants who are looking for flexible working arrangements
• Enhanced parental leave: offers up to 26 weeks for maternity, adoption and shared parental leave -enhancements are available for paternity leave, neonatal leave and fertility testing and treatments
• Facilities: Fantastic site facilities including subsidised meals, free car parking and much more…
• Healthcare Cash Plan: The Healthcare Cash Plan benefit provides the option to claim cash back on everyday healthcare expenses such as optical, dental, health and wellbeing and more.

The opportunity: We are looking for a System Architect to provide knowledge and expertise to an exciting new product as part of the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), and Future Combat Air System (FCAS) programme.

What we’re looking for:

• A strong understanding and experience of system architecting for complex systems, particularly in early development with new technologies.
• Experience with model-based systems engineering (MBSE) tools and approaches.
• Strong technical governance abilities across small team task management, support to customer demonstrations, and contribution to system development lifecycle activities.
• Demonstrated ability to directly lead and manage a team, and influence the technical direction of the broader programme.
• An ability to clearly communicate new concepts and architectures to a variety of internal and external stakeholders.
• The ability and cultural awareness to work with multi-disciplinary teams supporting technology and concepting.
• Confidence to embrace the uncertain nature of early concept development and technologies to progress towards defining solutions and system concepts.
• An understanding of aspects of weapon systems, platforms, mission system software, and battlespace architectures will be beneficial.

Here’s what’s in it for you:

This is a high profile role with joint working across our customers, industry partners, and our business including systems engineering, algorithms, software, experimentation, and sales. This is a new programme of work, so there is opportunity to shape it as it grows. The role will develop a broad skill base, across technology and systems engineering processes. Opportunity to facilitate experiments with the customer community to communicate, explore and test them. There could be opportunity to travel internationally. Join a great team! You will be joining a growing team of highly skilled people working across the breadth of MBDA’s current and future products. Your department is focussed on growing and developing a team of excellent Weapon System Architects. This is a small but experienced team focussed on technical solutions and setting the right design principles with new projects.

Our company:

Peace is not a given, Freedom is not a given, Sovereignty is not a given MBDA is a leading defence organisation. We are proud of the role we play in supporting the Armed Forces who protect our nations. We partner with governments to work together towards a common goal, defending our freedom. We are proud of our employee-led networks, examples include: Gender Equality, Pride, Menopause Matters, Parents and Carers, Armed Forces, Ethnic Diversity, Neurodiversity, Disability and more… We recognise that everyone is unique, and we encourage you to speak to us should you require any advice, support or adjustments throughout our recruitment process. Follow us on LinkedIn (MBDA), X (@MBDA_UK), Instagram (MBDA_UK) and Glassdoor or visit our MBDA Careers website for more information. What we do matters. Because defence matters. As a leading company in the defence industry we support our nations by delivering essential military capabilities, both for today and the future. We are proud to be an award-winning employer and are proud of the growing diversity of our workforce. Our people are the ones who drive our constant innovation and deliver against challenging targets. Whatever your background, we welcome your application to MBDA UK and look forward to speaking with you soon.