Test Design Engineer

Thales Group; Manor Park; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working options

Performance-related bonus

Private healthcare

Pension scheme

Life cover

Annual bonus

Job summary

Thales Group in the United Kingdom is seeking an experienced Test Design Engineer with a focus on Test Solutions to define and deliver robust test architectures for aerospace and defence systems.

You will work across Crawley, Reading, or other UK Thales sites, shaping test systems from concept to in-service support and guiding multidisciplinary teams while engaging with customers to meet MOD standards and programme needs.

Qualifications

• Experience as a Systems Architect or Systems Engineer.
• Strong background in test system design and architecture.
• Experience integrating hardware, software and COTS into test.
• Good stakeholder management and customer interfacing.
• Proven ability across the full system lifecycle.

Responsibilities

• Define test strategies, frameworks, and architectures to support product development, verification, qualification, and in-service support.
• Translate system and customer requirements into effective test system requirements and architectures.
• Ensure test solutions integrate seamlessly with hardware, software, and system environments.
• Work closely with design engineers, test engineers, and programme managers to ensure traceability and compliance throughout the lifecycle.
• Provide technical leadership, mentoring, and guidance to multidisciplinary engineering teams.
• Contribute to bid and proposal activity, providing technical input to estimates, schedules, and solution concepts.
• Engage directly with key stakeholders to ensure alignment with defence standards, policies, and best practices.
• Drive innovation in test methods, including automation, digital twins, and model-based test approaches.

Skills

Systems Architecture

Systems Engineering

Test system design

Hardware integration

Software integration

COTS integration

Stakeholder mgmt

Lifecycle experience

Tools

Test automation tooling

Job description

Job Overview

We are seeking an experienced Test Design Engineer with a focus on Test Solutions to join our engineering function. In this role, you will define and deliver innovative, robust, and scalable test architectures to support the development, verification, and validation of complex aerospace and defence systems. As a key member of the engineering team, you will ensure that our test strategies align with customer requirements (including MOD standards), programme needs, and long-term product sustainment. You will shape the technical direction of test systems across the product lifecycle, working at the interface between design engineering, integration, and our customers.

Location(s): Crawley or Reading or Cheadle or Bristol or Glasgow or any other Thales site in the UK.

Key Responsibilities

• Define test strategies, frameworks, and architectures to support product development, verification, qualification, and in-service support
• Translate system and customer requirements into effective test system requirements and architectures
• Ensure test solutions integrate seamlessly with hardware, software, and system environments
• Work closely with design engineers, test engineers, and programme managers to ensure traceability and compliance throughout the lifecycle
• Provide technical leadership, mentoring, and guidance to multidisciplinary engineering teams
• Contribute to bid and proposal activity, providing technical input to estimates, schedules, and solution concepts
• Engage directly with key stakeholders to ensure alignment with defence standards, policies, and best practices
• Drive innovation in test methods, including automation, digital twins, and model-based test approaches

Qualifications

• Proven experience as a Systems Architect / Systems Engineer
• Strong background in test system design and architecture
• Experience of integrating hardware, software, and COTS solutions into test
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills, with the ability to interface with customers
• Demonstrable ability to work across the full system lifecycle - from concept through to in-service support

Desirable Skills

• Experience with test automation
• Knowledge of safety, security, and information assurance in defence systems

Benefits

• Hybrid and flexible working options.
• Performance-related bonus
• Half day every Friday, usually finishing around 13:00
• 28 days annual leave (plus bank holidays) with opportunity to buy up to 40 hours/year (pro rata)
• 24 hours volunteering paid for
• Private healthcare
• Pension scheme
• Life cover
• 24/7 Employee Assistance Program and access to mental wellbeing app
• Employee discount shopping schemes on major brands and retailers
• Gym membership discounts
• Private medical insurance
• Buying or selling annual leave
• Cycle to work schemes
• Employee discounts
• Paid volunteering day
• Stocks and shares
• Annual bonus
• Professional development support, including chartership and advanced training

Security Clearance Requirement

Due to the nature of the work that we do at Thales, many of our roles are subject to security restrictions. This role requires you to be a UK National and achieve Security Clearance (SC) without any caveats. It would be advantageous if currently held, however, if not currently held, it is a requirement that the successful applicant undergo, achieve, and maintain SC Clearance prior to commencing employment. If approved by the MOD, a dual national from a non-ITAR country may be considered.

To be eligible for full SC, you generally need to have resided in the UK for the last 5 years. In some circumstances, a minimum of 3 years' residence in the UK over the last 5 years may be accepted, with additional overseas checks.

Please visit the UKSV website for further guidance.

At Thales, we ensure equal opportunities, pay and working conditions for all.

We are committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels valued for who they are and the unique strengths they bring.

Location: Glasgow, United Kingdom

Summary Location: Glasgow; Crawley; Reading; Templecombe; Cheadle; Belfast

Type: Full time