Principal Engineer - Safety & Environmental Engineering (Control Damage Hazards)

BAE Systems; Broughton in Furness; On-site; GBP 100,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading defense and aerospace company in the United Kingdom is seeking a Principal Safety Engineer to lead safety engineering efforts for nuclear submarines. You will mentor engineers and influence design decisions while developing comprehensive safety case documentation. Ideal candidates hold a degree in a STEM field and possess strong analytical and communication skills. The role offers a competitive salary and flexible working arrangements.

Benefits

Competitive pension scheme

Employee share plans

Discounted health and lifestyle benefits

Flexible working arrangements

Qualifications

• Proven ability to produce clear safety case arguments for complex systems.
• Experience in identifying, assessing, and mitigating hazards.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership as a subject matter expert in safety engineering.
• Mentor and develop engineers in safety analysis.
• Analyse and influence nuclear submarine design using safety engineering techniques.
• Develop and review safety case documentation.

Skills

Analytical skills

Communication skills

Problem solving

Safety case argumentation

Hazard identification

Education

Degree in a relevant STEM discipline

Job description

Job Title

Principal Safety Engineer – Safety & Environmental Engineering

Location

Barrow-in-Furness – we offer a range of hybrid and flexible working arrangements – please speak to your recruiter about the options for this particular role.

Salary

Competitive

What you’ll be doing

• Provide technical leadership as a subject matter expert in safety engineering
• Mentor and develop engineers, guiding safety analysis and influencing design decisions
• Analyse and influence nuclear submarine design using safety engineering techniques, focussing on major hazards (fires, explosions including DSEAR, steam release)
• Apply engineering judgement to justify design safety and compliance
• Interface with regulators, clients within the MOD and internal stakeholders
• Develop and review safety case documentation to substantiate design safety

Your skills and experiences

Essential

• Degree qualified in a relevant STEM discipline or equivalent experience
• Strong analytical, written and oral communication skills with a practical and pragmatic approach to problem solving
• Proven ability to produce clear, structured safety case arguments and supporting technical documentation for complex systemsAbility to identify, assess, and mitigate hazards in complex engineering environments

Desirable

• Experience in highly regulated industries (nuclear, oil and gas, maritime, aerospace)
• Experience in DSEAR and fire risk assessments, including hazard identification and analysis.
• Familiarity with hazard analysis techniques (e.g. HAZOP, FMEA, Fault and Event Tree Analysis)

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 Safety & Environmental team

This is an exciting opportunity to join an established team tasked which offers exposure to the wider strategic initiative. You will be working with six people from principals to apprentices, liaising with operational managers, heads of departments as well as the Health & Safety teams. This role offers exposure to the Wider Control Damage Hazards team whilst individually being given the opportunity for professional growth within the function. We offer relocation support packages across all Submarines roles, subject to meeting eligibility criteria.

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 (for example dyslexia, autism, an anxiety disorder etc.) that may affect your performance in certain assessment types, please speak to your recruiter about potential reasonable adjustments.

Many roles at BAE Systems are subject to both security and export control 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: 9th December 2025

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.