Lead Systems Engineer (DA)

Leonardo UK Ltd; Southampton; Hybrid; GBP 75,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working hours

Pension scheme

Employee assistance & wellbeing

Job summary

Leonardo UK Ltd in Southampton is seeking a Lead Systems Engineer/Design Authority to guide the NATO JEWCS IPT. You will oversee the system solution architecture, review supplier designs, and ensure compliance with customer requirements and safety standards.

The role requires strong leadership, intricate system integration experience, and the ability to coordinate with SMEs across the project lifecycle.

Qualifications

• Degree (or equivalent) in a STEM subject with strong numerical and analytical skills.
• Solid understanding of system and project lifecycles and architecture activities.
• Experience influencing design and integration of major systems.
• Proven ability to lead and communicate across internal and external teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead the architecture team and document architecture across the project lifecycle.
• Influence requirements to enable design decisions and trade-offs.
• Provide direction on technical risks and opportunities and support verification.
• Act as interface between customer and Leonardo Engineering; support junior engineers.
• Travel within the UK and abroad to meet customers and industry partners.

Skills

Lead Systems Engineer

Design Authority

Systems Lifecycle

Systems Architecture

Problem solving

Stakeholder management

Design Reviews

Team leadership

Technical risk management

Education

STEM degree

Job description

Job Description:

Leonardo has an exciting opportunity for a Lead Systems Engineer/Design Authority (DA) to join its NATO JEWCS Integrated Project Team (IPT), within the CEMA and ICS Sector based across the south of the UK. We are producing the next generation Electronic Warfare (EW) Training System assets covering Land, Sea and Air together with an IT infrastructure to enable effective planning, programming and review for NATO exercises.

Your impact

As Lead Systems Engineer and Design Authority, you will be responsible for providing the technical oversight and expertise at all levels of the overall system solution, working with both internal and supplier design teams to ensure that the architecture of the overall system solution is developed and delivered to meet the Customer and business requirements.

Working across the whole of the systems engineering lifecycle, as part of a multi-disciplined team, the successful candidate will seek advice from SMEs to review and advise on the creation and verification of subsystem technical solutions lead the directly supporting the Project Chief Engineer in ensuring the system and sub system designs are:

• fit for purpose and due consideration has been made for the integrity of the design
• compliant with customer requirements and required standard
• safety of the overall proposed architecture is maintained and assessed

As a result, strong technical, delivery, and people leadership skills and abilities are essential in this role, particularly the ability to discuss and resolve complex technical problems in the EW domain.

This role will see the successful candidate join the quickly expanding engineering team within the CEMA and ICS sector and take on a key role in shaping the future of the NATO JEWCS deployed solution combining use of COTS with the latest technologies and ensuring that they meet the needs of the customer.

• Work closely with the Project Chief Engineer to identify and resolve technical issues across the whole system and subsystems and to ensure the integrity of the solution.
• Deputise for the Project Chief Engineer within the project.
• Lead the architecture team to develop and document the architecture thought the project lifecycle.
• Influence all levels of requirements to enable design and development decisions and trade-offs to be made.
• Provide direction, control, evaluation and recommendations relating to technical risks and opportunities.
• Support test planning and requirements verification to achieve certification and delivery for the overall system.
• Working with and influencing key project stakeholders including customer and end users.
• Present Architecture material at Design reviews internally and externally for the overall system.
• Act as a technical interface between the end customer and the Leonardo Engineering team.
• Actively support knowledge sharing and exploitation of best practice.
• Support the guidance and development of junior Systems Engineers within the Engineering team.
• Contribute to the successful achievement of engineering milestones as an integrated part of the Prime team.
• Support and advise sub-system design teams through their design reviews.
• Travel within the UK and abroad to meet with our customers and industry partners.

What you’ll bring

Required

• A degree (or equivalent experience) in a STEM subject and strong numerical, analytical and design skills, with the ability to apply these to real world problems.
• Strong understanding of system and project lifecycles as applicable to delivery of sub-systems, technical and commercial baselines, and change control.
• Strong understanding of Systems Architecture activities as part of the Systems Lifecycle.
• Self-motivated with a strong aptitude for problem-solving and decision-making within projects involving design complexity and uncertainty.
• Strong experience of influencing system design and integration of a major system.
• Strong experience in stakeholder management within organisations and with customers (internal or external) in a high-pressure environment, pulling in technical expertise when and where appropriate.
• Experience of successfully passing Design Reviews and implementing potentially complex remedial actions with sub-contract equipment suppliers and Prime integration teams.

Ideally

• Knowledge of military EW/radar passive and active RF.
• Strong understanding of systems integration and progressive assurance.
• Experience of making design decisions by trading-off alternate solution based on functionality, performance and cost.
• Chartered engineer / member of the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET)

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 - Southampton

Additional Locations:

GB - Basildon

Contract Type:

Permanent

Hybrid Working:

Hybrid