Principal Systems Engineer

Fortress Recruit Limited; Poole; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Fortress Recruit Limited is seeking a Senior Electrical/Systems Engineer in Poole to provide technical leadership across defence programmes and own the complete engineering lifecycle from concept to customer acceptance.

You will lead multidisciplinary teams, manage technical risk, and ensure compliance with defence standards while collaborating with customers, suppliers and internal stakeholders. A strong background in electrical design documentation and CAD tools is essential.

Qualifications

• Degree in Electrical or Systems Engineering or related discipline.
• Extensive experience in electrical, electronic or systems engineering, preferably in defence.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary engineering teams and giving senior technical direction.
• Knowledge of the full engineering lifecycle from concept to customer acceptance.
• Experience producing and approving electrical design documentation.
• Strong risk management and engineering governance experience.
• Familiar with CAD tools like Zuken E3, EPLAN.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Chartered Engineer status or working towards CEng is desirable.
• Eligibility for UK SC clearance (5 years residency) would be advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership across complex engineering programmes to deliver customer and business requirements.
• Take technical ownership of electrical and electronic systems and ensure compliance with standards.
• Lead and mentor multidisciplinary engineering teams through the product lifecycle.
• Produce, review and approve electrical design documentation and verification evidence.
• Support requirements development, system definition, design reviews, verification and qualification.
• Manage technical risk and maintain governance throughout delivery.
• Collaborate with customers, suppliers, production, quality, project management and certification teams to resolve issues.
• Support technical cost estimates and keep activities aligned with cost, quality and schedule.
• Contribute to continuous improvement of processes and ways of working.
• Maintain knowledge of defence technologies and engineering best practice.

Skills

Technical leadership

Team leadership

Stakeholder management

Communication skills

Risk management

Education

Degree in Electrical Engineering

Degree in Systems Engineering

Chartered Engineer status desirable

Tools

Zuken E3

EPLAN

Job description

Key responsibilities will include:

• Providing technical leadership across multiple complex engineering programmes, ensuring delivery against customer and business requirements
• Taking technical ownership of electrical and electronic systems and ensuring compliance with applicable engineering, quality and defence standards
• Leading and mentoring multidisciplinary engineering teams, providing technical direction and guidance throughout the product lifecycle
• Producing, reviewing and approving electrical engineering documentation including schematics, specifications, interface definitions and verification evidence
• Supporting requirements development, system definition, design reviews, verification, validation and qualification activities
• Managing technical risk and ensuring appropriate engineering governance is maintained throughout project delivery
• Working closely with customers, suppliers, production, quality, project management and certification teams to resolve technical issues and deliver programme objectives
• Supporting technical cost estimates and ensuring engineering activities remain aligned with project cost, quality and schedule requirements
• Contributing to continuous improvement of engineering processes, standards and ways of working
• Maintaining knowledge of relevant defence technologies, standards and engineering best practice

To be successful in this role, you will have:

• A recognised Degree or equivalent qualification in Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering or a closely related discipline
• Significant experience in electrical, electronic or systems engineering, ideally within defence or another highly regulated industry
• Proven experience leading multidisciplinary engineering teams and providing senior technical direction
• Strong understanding of the complete engineering lifecycle, from concept and design through to verification, qualification, manufacture and customer acceptance
• Extensive experience producing, reviewing and approving electrical design documentation
• Strong experience in technical risk management, engineering governance and design reviews
• Experience with design verification and validation
• Working knowledge of electrical CAD systems such as Zuken E3, EPLAN or equivalent
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills, with the ability to operate confidently with customers, suppliers and senior internal stakeholders
• Chartered Engineer status or actively working towards CEng is desirable
• Knowledge of DEF STAN, MIL-STD, EMC, environmental qualification, configuration management and requirements management would be advantageous
• Eligibility for SC clearance (5 years' UK residency without visa or sponsorship requirement)

This role offers genuine technical ownership across the complete engineering lifecycle. You'll be working on complex defence products designed to operate in demanding environments, giving you the opportunity to influence technical decisions from initial requirements through to manufacture and customer acceptance.

This is a permanent, full-time role based in Poole, with the opportunity to work within a specialist defence engineering environment on mission-critical products and programmes. On offer is a competitive salary plus opportunities for professional development and progression within a growing engineering organisation.