Head of Welding and Development

weServed; Rosyth; On-site; GBP 75,000 - 85,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous holiday allowance

Matched pension with life assurance

Digital GP and health checks

Employee shopping portal

Payment of Professional Fees

Be Kind Day volunteering leave

Holiday Trading

Job summary

Babcock is seeking a Head of Welding and Development in Rosyth to lead strategic welding capability across complex defence and infra projects. You will champion innovation, automation, and future tech adoption while guiding standards and workforce development.

Day-to-day you’ll be the senior welding SME, driving excellence in welding governance, quality and regulatory alignment. Hybrid pattern available, 37 hours weekly in Rosyth.

Qualifications

• Degree or equivalent in Welding Engineering or related discipline.
• IWT/EWT qualification at minimum.
• IEng registration or equivalent professional recognition.
• Expert knowledge of MIG/MAG, TIG, MMA, FCAW and SAW welding processes.
• Strong metallurgy, weld design and heat treatment understanding.

Responsibilities

• Develop and deliver the welding strategy aligned with production and business goals.
• Lead and evaluate a team of welding engineers and technicians.
• Drive welding innovation, automation and robotic welding solutions.
• Manage welding standards, specs, investigations and continuous improvement.

Skills

Welding governance

Leadership experience

Automation & robotics

Quality improvement

Process optimisation

Education

Degree in Welding Engineering or related

IWT/EWT qualification

IEng registration

Job description

Job Title: Head of Welding and Development

Location: Rosyth, Fife

Compensation: £75,000 - £85,000 Depending on Experience + Benefits

Role Type: Full time / Permanent

Role ID: SF73086

Shape the future of welding excellence in one of the UK's most complex engineering environments

At Babcock we’re working to create a safe and secure world, together, and if you join us, you can play your part as Head of Welding and Development at our Rosyth site.

The role

As Head of Welding and Development, you’ll have an exciting opportunity to influence the direction of welding capability within a leading engineering organisation, champion innovation and automation, and help shape the future skills and technologies needed to support complex defence and infrastructure projects.

Day-to-day, you’ll provide strategic, technical and operational leadership for welding capability across the organisation. Acting as the senior welding subject matter expert, you'll drive excellence in welding engineering, standards, compliance, workforce development and future technology adoption.

• Developing and delivering the organisation's welding strategy, ensuring alignment with production requirements and business objectives.
• Leading and managing a team of welding engineers and technicians, setting direction, objectives and performance standards.
• Driving innovation by identifying, evaluating and implementing emerging welding technologies, automation and robotic welding solutions.
• Managing welding standards, technical specifications, investigations and continuous improvement initiatives to enhance quality and productivity.
• Collaborating with Production, Engineering, Quality, Health and Safety, Supply Chain, customers and regulators to support operational and compliance requirements.

This role is full time, 37 hours per week, based at Rosyth. Hybrid working patterns are available.

Essential experience of the Head of Welding and Development

• Experience developing and implementing welding strategies within a complex manufacturing, fabrication or engineering environment.
• Strong leadership experience managing welding engineering or welding development teams.
• Expertise in welding governance, technical standards, root cause analysis and welding quality improvement.
• Experience delivering capability development, workforce training and professional development programmes.
• Proven ability to work with senior stakeholders and support customer, regulatory and accreditation audits as a welding subject matter expert.

Qualifications for the Head of Welding and Development

Essential:

• Degree or equivalent qualification in Welding Engineering or a related engineering discipline.
• International or European Welding Technologist qualification (IWT/EWT) as a minimum.
• Incorporated Engineer (IEng) registration or equivalent professional recognition.
• Expert knowledge of major welding processes including MIG/MAG, TIG, MMA, FCAW and SAW.
• Strong understanding of metallurgy, weld design, heat treatment and material behaviour.

Desirable:

• International or European Welding Engineer qualification (IWE/EWE).
• Chartered Engineer (CEng) status.
• Experience with robotic or automated welding systems.

Security Clearance

The successful candidate must be able to achieve and maintain Security Check (SC) security clearance for this role.

Many of the positions within our company are subject to national security clearance and Trade Control restrictions. This means that your eligibility for certain roles may be affected by your place of birth, nationality, current or former citizenship, and any residency you hold or have held. Further details are available at United Kingdom Security Vetting: clearance levels - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

What we offer

• Generous holiday allowance
• Matched contribution pension scheme, with life assurance
• Access to a Digital GP, annual health check, and nutritional consultations through Aviva DigiCare+
• Employee shopping savings portal
• Payment of Professional Fees
• Reservists in the armed forces receive 10-days special paid leave
• Holiday Trading is a benefit that allows UK Babcock employees to buy additional leave or to sell up to one working week of annual leave from their annual entitlement. This Window opens February through to March annually.
• 'Be Kind Day' enables employees to take one working day's paid leave a year (or equivalent hours) to undertake volunteering work with their chosen organisation or registered charity

Babcock

We’re Babcock - a global FTSE 100 organisation with over 29,000 people working together to make a difference.

Here, you’ll be part of something bigger. From initial design to final decommissioning, your work will contribute to products and services that are essential to national security and public infrastructure. Together, we’re building a future that lasts - not just through the impact we make, but through meaningful careers that respect your work-life balance.

We call that lifetime engineering.

Join us and see how far we can go, together.

We are a disability confident committed employer. If you have a disability or need any reasonable adjustments during the application and selection stages, please email [e-mail] with the subject header 'Reasonable adjustments requirement'. We’re committed to building an inclusive culture where everyone's free to thrive. We are happy to talk about flexible working - please ask about alternative patterns of work at interview.

Closing date: 02/11/2026

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