Engineering Portfolio Team Lead

Innovate Recruitment Ltd; Stevenage; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 61,000; Full time

Job summary

Innovate Recruitment Ltd is seeking an Engineering Portfolio Lead (Systems Engineer) in the United Kingdom, offering hybrid work with 2-3 days on-site and a salary of up to £55,000 depending on experience.

You will manage portfolio engineering activities across the Complex Weapons Portfolio, addressing technical risks, obsolescence, and commonality while engaging senior stakeholders and MoD oversight. This role blends hands-on technical insight with broad business delivery.

Qualifications

• Significant experience in engineering with lifecycle knowledge for electro-mechanical systems.
• Ability to influence senior stakeholders, including MoD management.
• Flexible mindset to tackle problems and deliver innovative solutions.
• Strong ability to understand complex problems with some uncertainty.
• Good prioritisation across multiple projects.

Responsibilities

• Manage portfolio engineering activities across the Complex Weapons Portfolio, including technical risk, obsolescence, and engineering commonality.
• Influence senior stakeholders and collaborate with internal teams to align programme plans and dependencies.
• Develop and implement new ways of working, with a focus on efficiency and reuse across projects.
• Act as a liaison between Functions, Equipment Teams, and Centres of Excellence when risks arise.
• Ensure obsolescence removal solutions do not disrupt established dependencies.

Skills

Engineering leadership

Stakeholder influence

Systems engineering

Portfolio management

Job description

Engineering Portfolio Lead (Systems Engineer) | Up to £55,000 DOE | Hybrid (2-3 days on-site)

Security Clearance: Candidates must be a British Citizen or a Dual UK National holding British citizenship.

As a Systems Engineer with our client, a leading name in the defence sector, you could be involved in all aspects of missile systems development - from early concept studies through to series production and in-service support. This role, within the Portfolio Delivery team, offers exposure across the full product lifecycle and is a great way to build a broad understanding of the business, its operations, and its projects.

The Role:

The Engineering Portfolio Lead is responsible for managing portfolio engineering activities across the Complex Weapons Portfolio, including technical risk, obsolescence, and engineering commonality.

This role suits a motivated individual with broad technical knowledge and strong influencing skills, looking for a balance between hands-on technical understanding and broader business delivery. You'll gain exposure to wider portfolio factors including financial efficiencies, operational performance, exportability, and Freedom of Action considerations with the UK MoD.

You’ll get the chance to:

• Use your knowledge and experience to help steer and shape the delivery of a major UK product portfolio
• Develop and implement new ways of working, building on past successes with the freedom to innovate
• Work with projects to improve efficiency through Commonality, Modularity & Reuse, and reduce hardships
• Review predicted and measured benefits to ensure engineering realism
• Work with internal teams to ensure programme plans account for dependencies
• Act as the point of contact between Functions, Equipment Teams, Centres of Excellence and the Portfolio as risks or issues arise
• Ensure obsolescence removal solutions don't adversely affect established dependencies

What we’re looking for:

• Significant experience in an engineering discipline, with a solid understanding of product lifecycle, including the design and development process for electro-mechanical equipment
• The ability to work with, influence, and challenge senior stakeholders, including senior client and MoD management
• A flexible mindset, able to tackle problems and develop genuinely innovative solutions to design challenges
• Ability to understand complex technical problems, often involving a high degree of uncertainty and inconsistency
• Strong prioritisation skills when managing issues across multiple projects
• Ability to concisely summarise multi-faceted problems, and to influence, lead and empower teams positively

Due to the security clearance requirements, only applicants eligible for BPSS checks and holding British citizenship (single or dual national) will be considered