Principal Systems Engineer

Leonardo; Luton; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 70,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Time to Recharge

Pension scheme

Wellbeing support

Bonus scheme

Learning & development

Refer a friend

Job summary

Leonardo UK is recruiting for a Systems Engineer to join a Bristol-based, predominantly office and laboratory role. You will collaborate with multi-functional teams on system and sub-system development and engage with suppliers across the UK to refine requirements and designs.

The role emphasizes lifecycle knowledge, integration and test activities, and opportunities to mentor colleagues and lead technical initiatives in a defence-related environment.

Qualifications

• A science-based Honours degree or equivalent experience.
• Experience or a desire to gain electronic warfare domain knowledge.
• Knowledge of the systems engineering lifecycle: requirements, architecture, integration, testing, verification.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with multi-functional teams on system and sub-system development.
• Work with suppliers, integrators, and users across the UK.
• Develop and refine system-level requirements and designs.
• Control Parts and Documentation, including change management.

Skills

Systems engineering

Electronic warfare knowledge

Education

Science-based Honours degree

Job description

Job Description:

Your Impact

Are you looking to advance your career and work on technology that will shape the future of defence? Does working on developing systems for current and future military aircraft sound like a challenge that would be of interest? If you have skills in systems engineering and five years UK residency, we are looking for engineers to join us at Leonardo in Bristol in a predominantly office and laboratory-based role.

What you'll do as a Systems Engineer

• Collaborate with multi-functional teams on system and sub-system development
• Work with suppliers, integrators, and users across the UK
• Develop and refine system-level requirements and designs
• Control Parts and Documentation, including change management

Our Systems Engineers work in multidisciplinary teams spanning a range of activities pulling together the necessary engineering and technology strands into a high-performance system, bridging the gap between the theoretically possible and the practically implementable.

Examples of Work

• Engaging with stakeholders, defining requirements for a new system
• Conducting cost and functional performance trade-offs and evaluation of proposed solutions
• Development of capability within limitations and constraints of the target hardware
• Root-cause analysis of anomalies observed during integration or evaluation activitiesDesigning and conducting testing to prove equipment function and performance
• Opportunities to lead technical activities and initiatives
• Mentoring and coaching other engineers
• Creating and delivering reports, presentations and proposals to customers and industry partners
• Supporting knowledge sharing and exploitation of good practice

What you'll bring

• A science-based Honours degree or equivalent experience
• Experience or a desire to gain electronic warfare domain knowledge

Knowledge of the systems engineering lifecycle, particularly in the following areas:

• Problem definition
• Requirements engineering, including the use of IBM DOORS
• Systems Architecture
• Integration, Test and Evaluation
• Verification and Validation

It would be desirable if you had experience from some of the following:

• Experience of working with related specialisms such as safety, security, airworthiness or reliability

Domain-specialist knowledge such as:

• Digital signal processing
• RF systems
• Multi-sensor data fusion and tracking
• Real time data simulation/generation
• Military Electronic systems
• Data analysis using AI or Machine Learning
• Operational Experience in Electronic Intelligence or Electronic Warfare

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), along with an additional range of Personnel Security Controls referred to as National Security Vetting (NSV), including 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. Due to the nature of the work and its connections to UK Defence strategy, applicants must have five years UK Residency and hold a UK Passport.

Salary Range:

Senior Engineer £45,000 - £60,000

Principal Engineer £55,000 - £70,000

Where this vacancy is being recruited across more than one grade, the successful candidate will be appointed to a specific assessed grade, and the applicable salary range will be that associated with the grade of appointment.

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.

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 rew