Senior Test Engineer

L3Harris Technologies; Brighton; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Half day finish on a Friday

25 days holiday per year

Private medical insurance

Pension scheme 8% employer

Life Assurance 4x salary

Group income protection

Flexible opt‑in extras

Employee Family Assistance Program

Job summary

L3Harris Technologies in Brighton is seeking a Senior Test Engineer to lead test activities for certification and airworthiness. You will develop test plans, create fixtures and run validations, mentoring junior engineers to ensure on-time delivery.

You'll work in a development environment advancing test facilities, contributing to risk analyses and ensuring compliance with customer specifications and industry standards.

Qualifications

• Hons degree in Mechanical Engineering and 5+ years' experience in related industry.
• Experience in electro‑mechanical test environments and instrumentation.
• Knowledge of high pressure pneumatics and 400 bar systems is advantageous.
• Familiarity with LabVIEW data acquisition and hardware integration.

Responsibilities

• Create and execute test plans to satisfy certification requirements.
• Develop detailed Qualification Test procedures and reports.
• Support Airworthiness Certification activities and design reviews.
• Analyze test results and provide actionable feedback.
• Develop and implement hardware/software test programmes.
• Lead and mentor junior engineers to ensure timely delivery.
• Improve test facilities and capabilities over time.
• Coordinate interface control and first article production tests.

Skills

Test system design

Test fixture design

Electro‑mechanical test

LabVIEW/DAQ

Sensors (accelerometers)

High speed cameras

Hoists lifting equipment

Environmental testing

Education

Bachelors/Masters in Mechanical Eng

Tools

LabVIEW

DAQ hardware

SolidWorks

Job description

L3Harris is dedicated to recruiting and developing high‑performing talent who are passionate about what they do. Our employees are unified in a shared dedication to our customers’ mission and quest for professional growth. L3Harris provides an inclusive, engaging environment designed to empower employees and promote work‑life success. Fundamental to our culture is an unwavering focus on values, dedication to our communities, and commitment to excellence in everything we do.

L3Harris is the Trusted Disruptor in defense tech. With customers’ mission‑critical needs always in mind, our employees deliver end‑to‑end technology solutions connecting the space, air, land, sea and cyber domains in the interest of national security.

Job Title – Senior Test Engineer

Job Location – Brighton, UK

Our Brighton business is moving to a new location in 2027 and will be within a 15‑minute drive of our current site.

Operating at 11 sites in the United Kingdom, L3Harris supports Britain's mission to secure and strengthen the country by delivering sovereign innovation across the space, air, land, sea and cyber domains. L3Harris in Brighton are part of our Release Systems & Antennas division operating in the Aerospace domain. For over 70 years, L3Harris has designed and developed industry‑leading carriage and release systems for fighter, rotary‑wing and unmanned platforms and we design, manufacture and test a large portion of our release systems portfolio in our Brighton facility which offers 48,500 square feet of manufacturing space. Our mission‑critical release systems equipment is on most major airborne fighter platforms worldwide, including the F‑35, along with other aircraft like the Gripen and Typhoon.

As this is a senior role the expectation will be to guide, mentor and lead less experienced Engineers to achieve efficient completion of tasks and on time delivery. At this level the role will involve contributing to higher level project scheduling as well as developing very detailed schedules and plans to ensure on time delivery of test results. Although Safety is everyone’s responsibility at this level guidance and instruction to less experienced team members will be expected.

In a development environment design assurance testing is critical. This will involve creating test hardware and fixtures to test components and sub systems under accelerated test conditions.

A few of our employee benefits are:

• Half day finish on a Friday
• 25 days holiday per year (plus bank holidays), increasing with long service and with the opportunity to buy/sell up to 5 days
• Private medical insurance with optional family cover
• Pension scheme of up to 8% employer contribution
• Life Assurance 4x salary (flexible up to 10x)
• Group income protection
• Flexible opt‑in extras such as a health care cash plan, dental insurance, gym membership, critical illness cover, cycle to work scheme, travel insurance and electric car scheme
• Employee Family Assistance Program providing mental health and wellbeing support
• Professional membership reimbursement (discretionary)

What The Role Will Involve

• Create Type Approval Test Plans to satisfy the certification requirements of Customer Specification and related standards (usually distilled from verification compliance matrix).
• Develop detailed Qualification Test procedures.
• Conduct the required tests and prepare Qualification Test Reports to support Airworthiness Certification (DDP/Certificate of Design).
• Support Internal and Customer Design reviews throughout the Development Life Cycle.
• Provide analysis of the test results.
• Support for trade studies.
• Verification of interface control documents, compatibility of physical and functional interfaces and first article production integration.
• Investigate and implement solutions to products, process or test problems.
• Analysis of requirements for integration and/or testability.
• Develop and implement both hardware and software system level test programmes.
• Designing, developing and implementing cost effective procedures for testing and troubleshooting subassemblies, assemblies and systems.
• Enhancing and developing test facilities and capabilities.

What You’ll Bring

• Test system design and implementation.
• Test fixture design.
• Electro‑mechanical test.
• High pressure pneumatics (400 bar) derived from bottled inert gas, compressors and boost pumps.
• LabVIEW software and data acquisition (DAQ) equipment.
• Sensors — accelerometers, load cells, pressure transducers, LVDT.
• High Speed Cameras.
• Hoists & lifting equipment (2000kg).
• Environmental testing: Temperature, Humidity, Vibration.
• Diagnosis of faults/issues.
• Feedback of test results into design process.
• Standard laboratory test equipment (multimeters, verniers).

Desirable

• Automated test cell design/creation.
• Hydraulic and electrical actuators.
• Electrical/electronic design.
• Vibration Rigs (LDS V8900).
• Diadem - data analysis.
• Environmental testing: Sand/Dust, Salt Fog, EMC/EMI, ESS.
• CAD (Solidworks).
• Reliability & FMECA.
• MIL-STD 810 & DEF STAN 00-35.

Education / Training / Qualifications

• Hons degree in Mech Eng. And 5+ years’ experience in related industry.

Competencies

• Analytical, methodical, organised.
• Communication and credibility.
• Attention to detail.
• IT proficient.
• Team Player.
• Calm under pressure.

Important to know

Due to the nature of our work many of our roles require a UK nationality and the ability to obtain a security clearance. Applicants who accept a conditional offer of employment must meet the requirement of right to work in the UK and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information and will be subject to government security checks.

L3Harris Technologies is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to maintaining a workplace that is free from unlawful discrimination and offers equal opportunities for all. Applications from individuals are encouraged regardless of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, and marriage and civil partnerships.