Senior Algorithm Engineer

MBDA; Bristol; Hybrid; GBP 58,500 - 71,500; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Company bonus up to 21%

Pension contribution up to 14%

Flexible working arrangements

Enhanced parental leave

Subsidised meals and free parking

Job summary

A leading defense organization in the UK seeks a Senior Algorithm Engineer to join their GCN team. This strategic position involves hands-on technical work in missile guidance and control systems, requiring expertise in aerospace navigation and real-time architecture. The role offers a salary up to £65,000 and hybrid working arrangements, emphasizing collaborative efforts across departments. Candidates must be British citizens or dual nationals and undergo security checks. Benefits include a company bonus and enhanced parental leave.

Qualifications

• Theoretical knowledge and extensive experience of aerospace guidance, control and navigation specification.
• Ability to express design challenges in clear, unambiguous requirements.
• Skill in diagnosing abnormalities in engineering systems through modeling and simulation.

Responsibilities

• Develop expertise in Guidance & Control design.
• Influence design and testing of missile systems.
• Collaborate across departments and programs.

Skills

Aerospace guidance

Control and navigation analysis

Algorithm design & implementation

Real-time architecture

Matlab & Simulink

Job description

Join to apply for the Senior Algorithm Engineer role at MBDA.

The Senior Algorithm Engineer role in GCN (Guidance, Control, and Navigation) is a highly visible, strategic position, working with a highly capable technical team. This role presents a rare opportunity for hands‑on technical involvement, research and strategy steering, without line‑management duties.

Salary and Working Arrangements

Salary: Up to £65,000, depending on experience.

Dynamic (hybrid) working: 5 days per week on‑site due to workload classification.

Security Clearance

British Citizen or a Dual UK national with British citizenship. Restrictions and/or limitations relating to nationality and/or rights to work may apply. All successful candidates will need to undergo HMG Basic Personnel Security Standard checks (BPSS) after the offer stage.

Benefits

• Company bonus up to 21% of base salary
• Pension: maximum total (employer and employee) contribution of up to 14%
• Flexible working arrangements are welcomed
• Enhanced parental leave: up to 26 weeks for maternity, adoption and shared parental leave, plus enhancements for paternity leave, neonatal leave and fertility testing and treatments
• Facilities: Fantastic site facilities including subsidised meals, free car parking and more

Responsibility Overview

As a Senior Algorithm Specialist you will develop expertise from detailed Guidance & Control design to higher architectural levels, demonstrating capability for rigorous system analysis and managing complexity. You will influence the current and future direction for design and testing of sophisticated missile Guidance & Control systems, spanning specialist algorithms, real‑time architecture, and complex equipment such as RF & IR seekers, inertial sensors, actuators, propulsion (turbojets, ramjets, thrust‑vectored rockets) and interfaces to surface and air launch platforms. You will collaborate widely across departmental, directorate and national boundaries and be involved across multiple programmes throughout their lifecycles, from early research and concept stages through full‑scale development and guided flight trials.

What We’re Looking For

• Theoretical knowledge and extensive experience of aerospace guidance, control and navigation specification, analysis, algorithm design & implementation, real‑time architecture and verification.
• Ability to bound the scope of an engineering problem and to express the design challenge in terms of clear unambiguous design requirements/objectives.
• Managing complexity by identifying major drivers in a large, inter‑connected engineering system.
• Able to cross‑verify complex systems and system models against underlying theory.
• Communicating complex or conceptually difficult ideas clearly.
• Diagnosing abnormalities in an engineering system both physically and virtually through computer modelling and simulation (Matlab & Simulink).
• Influencing technically when other factors drive teams.
• Particular interest in applications with control experience, preferably applied flight control (not essential).

Our Company

MBDA is a leading defence organisation. We partner with governments to work together towards a common goal, defending freedom and supporting our armed forces. We value diversity and inclusion, with employee‑led networks in Gender Equality, Pride, Menopause Matters, Parents and Carers, Armed Forces, Ethnic Diversity, Neurodiversity and more. We encourage you to speak to us should you require advice, support or adjustments throughout our recruitment process.

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