Senior Aerospace Engineer

LiveLink Aerospace; Havant; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

LiveLink Aerospace in Havant, United Kingdom, seeks a Senior Aerospace Engineer to take ownership of key technical pathways and lead a multidisciplinary team from concept through flight-proven deployment.

You will guide architecture across airframes, avionics, payloads, and ground control while ensuring rigorous tests and reviews. This is a strategic, hands-on leadership role demanding a track record of delivering complex systems.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Aerospace, Systems, or Mechanical Engineering.
• 8+ years of high-level aerospace engineering experience.
• Proven ability to take complex systems from concept to deployment.
• Strong understanding of integration of structures, avionics, embedded software, and aerodynamics.
• Decisive data-driven decision making under pressure.

Responsibilities

• Lead top-down system-level architecture across mechanical, electrical, and software domains.
• Act as the ultimate technical reviewer for critical design reviews (PDR/CDR) and sign off on CAD, schematics, and test plans.
• Tackle complex challenges in aerodynamics, structural integrity, thermal management, and RF communication.
• Define rigorous test methodologies (HIL/SIL, environmental, flight testing) to guarantee mission success and safety.
• Collaborate with the executive team to define the technical roadmap and scalability plans.

Skills

Aerospace engineering

System-level thinking

Decisiveness

Multidisciplinary mastery

Leadership / mentoring

Education

Master’s degree in Aerospace/Mechanical/Systems

Job description

t LiveLink Aerospace, we engineer hardware and software that dictate the future of uncrewed and autonomous flight. We operate at the bleeding edge of aerospace technology, stripping away corporate bureaucracy to focus purely on rapid innovation, rigorous engineering, and deployment. We are looking for an elite technical leader-someone who has navigated the complexities of aerospace development and is ready to architect the next generation of flight systems.

We are seeking a high-calibre Senior Aerospace Engineer to join our Havant facility as a primary technical authority. This is not a standard senior role where you manage spreadsheets and attend endless meetings. This is a highly strategic, hands-on leadership position for a seasoned engineer who lives and breathes complex system architecture.

You will have absolute ownership over critical technical pathways, guiding a multidisciplinary team to turn conceptual requirements into flight-proven reality. You will be the technical backstop for the hardest problems we face, making the decisive calls that balance performance, weight, safety, and operational capability.

At the senior level, your focus shifts to the macro:

• Architecting: Designing full-system architectures that seamlessly integrate airframes, avionics, payloads, and ground control.
• Orchestrating: Driving the engineering lifecycle from first-principles design through prototyping, rig testing, and live flight operations.
• Mentoring: Elevating the engineering standards of the entire team, mentoring junior and mid-level engineers across both hardware and software disciplines.
• Pioneering: Anticipating technical bottlenecks months in advance and engineering robust solutions before they impact the mission.

Key Responsibilities

• System-Level Architecture: Lead the top-down engineering design of new aerospace platforms, ensuring flawless integration across mechanical, electrical, and software domains.
• Technical Leadership: Act as the ultimate technical reviewer for critical design reviews (PDR/CDR), signing off on CAD, schematics, and test plans.
• Advanced Problem Solving: Tackle the most complex technical challenges regarding aerodynamics, structural integrity, thermal management, and RF communication.
• Test & Validation Authority: Define rigorous, uncompromised test methodologies (HIL/SIL, environmental, and flight testing) to guarantee mission success and system safety.
• Strategic Roadmap: Work directly with the executive team to define the technical roadmap, evaluating emerging technologies and scaling our manufacturing and testing capabilities.

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

• Education: A Master’s degree or equivalent advanced study in Aerospace, Systems, or Mechanical Engineering.
• Track Record: 8+ years of proven, high-level engineering experience within the aerospace, defence, or advanced robotics sectors. You must have taken multiple complex systems from a blank sheet of paper to active deployment.
• Multidisciplinary Mastery: Deep expertise in your core discipline, combined with a highly developed understanding of how structures, avionics, embedded software, and aerodynamics interact.
• System-Level Thinking: A proven ability to look beyond individual components and optimize for total system performance and reliability.
• Decisiveness: The capability to make hard, data-driven engineering decisions under pressure and stand by them.

The Calibre We Are Looking For:

• Intimate knowledge of aerospace manufacturing processes, composite materials, and advanced avionics integration.
• Experience navigating aerospace regulations, safety-critical design standards, and certification pathways.
• Exceptional communication skills - the ability to distill highly complex engineering problems into actionable strategies for both the engineering team and stakeholders.