Hardware Team Leader

BAE Systems; Tonbridge and Malling; On-site; GBP 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading defense contractor in the UK is seeking a Hardware Team Leader to provide managerial and technical leadership within an electronics design team. This role involves managing work package costs and schedules, ensuring support for production programs, and providing technical governance. The ideal candidate will demonstrate strong leadership in engineering management and possess a background in working with complex systems such as Helmet Mounted Displays and Flight Controls. Competitive benefits include a robust pension scheme and health initiatives.

Benefits

Competitive pension scheme

Employee share plans

Flexible health and lifestyle benefits

Shopping discounts

Annual incentive eligibility

Qualifications

• Able to demonstrate high performance in engineering leadership.
• Proven experience with cost management tools.
• Experience in design improvements and team skill development.

Responsibilities

• Manage an electronics design team.
• Handle work package management, including cost and schedule.
• Ensure engineering team supports production programs.

Skills

Leadership and management of engineering teams

Cost and planning management tools

Design improvements and skill development

Knowledge of production program support

Experience with PLD/FPGA design

Tools

DOORS

MSP

JIRA

Job description

Overview

Job Title: Hardware Team Leader

Location: Rochester

Salary: Circa £60,000 per annum

What you’ll be doing

• Managerial and technical leadership of an electronics design team
• Work package management; cost, schedule, risk and opportunities
• Ensuring the engineering team is supporting the production program demand
• Providing technical governance and ensuring adherence to company processes
• Leading cost and performance trade-offs
• Control Account Management (CAM)

Your skills and experiences

Essential:

• Able to demonstrate high performance and achievement in leadership and management of engineering teams through a full product development lifecycle
• Proven experience / knowledge of cost and planning management tools/optimising solutions and minimising impacts from dependencies/ product design and work package control
• Experience of design and identifying improvements to working practices and team skill development, alongside root cause and target areas of improvement, focusing on failure reduction and MDBF
• Knowledge of supporting a production program

Desirable:

• Experience of PLD / FPGA design
• Requirements management tools, such as DOORS
• Work-package management tools, such as MSP, JIRA

Benefits

As well as a competitive pension scheme, BAE Systems also offers employee share plans, an extensive range of flexible discounted health, wellbeing and lifestyle benefits, including a green car scheme, private health plans and shopping discounts – you may also be eligible for an annual incentive.

The Hardware team

As a Hardware Team Leader, you will lead a team of highly skilled and experienced hardware engineers responsible for the support to our production programs within products such as Helmet Mounted & Head-Up Displays, Mission Computers, Flight Controls, Active Inceptors and other associated safety critical technology. This role will provide you with the opportunity to work with innovating projects as a member of a very experienced diverse team, with the view to progressing your career in this industry.

Why BAE Systems?

This is a place where you’ll be able to make a real difference. You’ll be part of an inclusive culture that values diversity of thought, rewards integrity, and merit, and where you’ll be empowered to fulfil your potential. We welcome people from all backgrounds and want to make sure that our recruitment processes are as inclusive as possible. If you have a disability or health condition that may affect your performance in certain assessment types, please speak to your recruiter about potential reasonable adjustments.

Please be aware that many roles at BAE Systems are subject to both security and export restrictions. These restrictions mean that factors such as your nationality, any nationalities you may have previously held, and your place of birth can restrict the roles you are eligible to perform within the organisation. All applicants must as a minimum achieve Baseline Personnel Security Standard. Many roles also require higher levels of National Security Vetting where applicants must typically have 5 to 10 years of continuous residency in the UK depending on the vetting level required for the role, to allow for meaningful security vetting checks.

Closing Date: 3 February 2026

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.