Lead Safety Engineer

LEONARDO Germany GmbH; Luton; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Pension scheme

Mental health support

Online courses access

Refer a friend

Job summary

Leonardo UK Ltd is seeking an experienced Lead Safety Engineer to join our Combat Air team in a hybrid role, contributing to the safety leadership across advanced airborne platforms, mission systems, sensors, weapons and support solutions.

You will drive safety lifecycle activities, develop safety evidence, and help embed safety into technical decisions while mentoring junior engineers. A regulated aerospace background is essential and strong collaboration with suppliers is expected.

Qualifications

• Strong background in system safety engineering in aerospace/defence or similar regulated environments.
• Experience leading safety activities on complex systems or programmes.
• Practical experience developing Safety Cases and managing hazards.

Responsibilities

• Lead safety engineering activities across Combat Air programmes.
• Develop and maintain Safety Cases, Hazard Logs and safety management plans.
• Lead and oversee FHA, PHA, SHA, FTA and FMEA/FMECA analyses.
• Define and manage safety requirements with traceability through design and verification.
• Provide safety guidance to multidisciplinary teams and suppliers.
• Develop safety evidence for customers and stakeholders.
• Mentor other safety engineers and help develop the capability.

Skills

System safety engineering

Lead safety activities

Safety Cases

Safety standards knowledge

Safety requirement tracing

Authoritative guidance

Education

Engineering or safety qualification

Job description

Job Description:

Your impact

Want to use your safety engineering expertise to influence the next generation of Combat Air capability?

At Leonardo, we are looking for an experienced Lead Safety Engineer to join our Combat Air team, providing safety leadership across the development and integration of advanced airborne platforms, mission systems, sensors, weapons and support solutions.

You will play a key role throughout the system lifecycle, ensuring safety risks are identified, understood and effectively managed while supporting airworthiness, certification and successful programme delivery.

What you will do as a Lead Safety Engineer:

• Lead safety engineering activities across complex Combat Air programmes.
• Develop and maintain Safety Cases, Hazard Logs and safety management plans.
• Lead and oversee safety assessments including Functional Hazard Assessments (FHA), Preliminary Hazard Analyses (PHA), System Hazard Analyses (SHA), Fault Tree Analyses (FTA) and FMEA/FMECA.
• Define and manage safety requirements, ensuring traceability through design, integration and verification.
• Provide safety engineering guidance to multidisciplinary engineering teams and suppliers, helping embed safety considerations into technical decision‑making.
• Develop and present safety evidence to customers, internal and external stakeholders and independent assessors.
• Mentor and support other safety engineers, contributing to the continued development of our safety engineering capability.

What you’ll bring

We are looking for someone with a strong background in system safety engineering who is comfortable taking a technical lead across complex engineering programmes.

You will ideally bring:

• Strong experience in system safety engineering gained within aerospace, defence or another highly regulated engineering environment.
• Experience leading safety engineering activities on complex systems or programmes.
• Practical experience developing Safety Cases, managing hazards and applying safety and risk assessment techniques.
• Knowledge and practical application of relevant safety standards such as Def Stan 00-056, ARP4761, ARP4754A and/or MIL-STD-882.
• Experience defining, managing and tracing safety requirements through the engineering lifecycle.
• The ability to provide authoritative safety engineering guidance and influence technical decisions across multidisciplinary teams.
• A relevant Engineering, Systems, Safety or closely related technical qualification, or equivalent relevant experience.

Experience within Combat Air, military aviation, mission systems or electronic warfare, together with knowledge of Military Aviation Authority (MAA) regulations, airworthiness processes or Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE), would also be valuable in this role.

This is not an exhaustive list, and we are keen to hear from you even if you might not have experience in all the above. The most important skill is a good attitude and willingness to learn.

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: https://careers.uk.leonardo.com/gb/en/security-and-vetting

Why join us

At Leonardo, our people are at the heart of everything we do. We offer a comprehensive, company‑funded benefits package that supports your wellbeing, career development, and work–life balance. Whether you're looking to grow professionally, care for your health, or plan for the future, we’re here to help you thrive.

• 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 part time opportunities, please talk to us about what might be possible for this role.

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

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.

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 - Luton - Cap. Green 300

Additional Locations: GB - Bristol - Coldharbour Lane, GB - Lincoln, GB - Southampton

Contract Type: Permanent

Hybrid Working: Hybrid