Head of Systems, Safety and Test

Resource Area for Teaching; Portsmouth (NH); On-site; USD 101,000 - 128,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Private Healthcare

25 days annual leave

Wellbeing Day

Pension contribution

Life Assurance

Flexible working

Inclusive culture

Job summary

SubSea Craft is actively seeking a Head of Systems, Safety & Test to lead multidisciplinary engineering teams across systems, safety and test and validation. You will own requirements capture, verification strategies and regulatory compliance for marine platforms.

The role requires a strong track record in systems engineering leadership, MBSE, and delivering complex, safety-critical projects within maritime defence, with a clear focus on data-driven decision making and stakeholder collaboration.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in systems or engineering fields is required.
• Experience in maritime defence or safety-critical systems is preferred.
• Proven track record delivering complex projects with cross-disciplinary teams.
• Familiarity with MBSE concepts and regulatory standards (marine).
• Strong communication and collaborative abilities.

Responsibilities

• Head up a department of multidisciplinary engineers across systems, safety, and test & validation.
• Oversee requirements capture, analysis, and validation with stakeholders.
• Set verification and validation strategy across system levels with evidence generation.
• Manage 3rd party assurance to meet regulatory requirements.
• Drive cross-disciplinary collaboration among mechanical, electrical, software, and control teams.
• Build and mentor high-performing teams in Systems Engineering, Safety and Test & Validation.
• Oversee budget for three disciplines and ensure local process adherence.
• Champion risk evaluation and management practices in development.
• Act as authority on 3rd party assurance for project decisions and confidence.

Skills

Systems engineering

Technical leadership

Safety-critical systems

Model-based systems engineering

Interdisciplinary teamwork

Regulatory standards (marine)

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor's degree in Systems/Engineering

Job description

• Salary: £75,000- £95,000 DOE
• Full Time
• Permanent

Who we are:

SubSea Craft is a fast growing, privately-funded, UK-based innovative maritime technology company specialising in next-generation, high-performance watercraft and systems. We operate at the intersection of advanced engineering, cutting-edge design, and user-centric innovation, delivering safe, effective, and enabling solutions for both commercial and defence applications.

What we offer:

• Annual Leave – Entitlement to 25 days of annual leave plus bank holidays
• Wellbeing Day - An additional Wellbeing Day each year to focus on personal health and wellbeing.
• Private Healthcare – Access to comprehensive private healthcare coverage to support your physical and mental wellbeing.
• Life Assurance and Critical Illness Cover – Comprehensive protection including Life Assurance (4x salary) and Critical Illness Cover for added financial security.
• Family Leave – Enhanced maternity and paternity pay
• Christmas Leave – A Christmas shutdown is typically observed.
• Professional Development – Commitment to ongoing learning and career growth, supported by training programmes and access to LinkedIn Learning.
• Pension Contribution – pension scheme with the option to contribute via salary sacrifice
• Flexible Working – Opportunities for flexible working arrangements to promote work–life balance.
• Inclusive Culture – A professional environment that values diversity, innovation, and collaboration.
• Offsite Parking available.

Responsibilities will include:

• Heading up a department of multidisciplinary engineers across systems engineering, safety, assurance along with test and validation.
• Oversee the capture, analysis, and validation of system and user requirements in collaboration with stakeholders and customers, fostering a customer-focused engineering culture.
• Establish and oversee the verification and validation strategy across all system levels, ensuring robust evidence is generated to support requirements closure and compliance.
• Manage 3rd party assurance ensuring designs are compliant with regulatory requirements.
• Drive a collaborative, cross-disciplinary approach across mechanical, electrical, software, and control systems teams to enable the development of integrated, high-performing systems, supported by robust data frameworks.
• Build and mentor a high-performing teams across Systems Engineering, Safety and Test & Validation.
• Head of Systems, Safety & Test will be responsible for budgetary control across the 3 disciplines, along with ensuring local processes are developed and maintained.
• Champion innovative risk evaluation and management practices as a core driving force in technical development.
• Act as an authority on 3rd party assurance, supporting project-level decision making and stakeholder confidence in system integrity.
• Lead the development of internal safety cases and ensure implementation into our design foundations.
• Ensure robust traceability across requirements, architecture, design, and testing, embedding systems thinking throughout the full engineering lifecycle.
• Set the strategic direction for systems engineering across projects, ensuring a consistent and rigorous approach to requirements management and system integration through data-driven interface management.

Qualifications and Experience:

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in Systems Engineering, Electrical/Mechanical Engineering, or a related field.
• Worked in a Systems Engineering role, ideally within the maritime defence sector, including technical leadership roles.
• Systems engineering experience in the context of safety-critical systems.
• Successful track record of working on complex projects with interdisciplinary teams.
• Conversant in the concepts of model-based systems engineering and confidence in applying these concepts to a range of complex engineering projects.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to work effectively in a collaborative team environment.
• Experience with relevant regulatory requirements and industry standards for marine systems and equipment. In particular, experience designing for class approval against Lloyds Register or DNV-GL is beneficial.
• Significant experience in delivering systems through the complete lifecycle, including design, development, and testing stages of maritime platforms.

Note: Due to the nature of work undertaken at SubSea Craft, the selected candidate must be capable of meeting the security requirements of the position, which would include as a minimum existing right to live and work in the UK, Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS), with UK National security clearance required for certain roles.*

Values:

Our people are our greatest asset, we continually strive to provide an excellent working environment to enable our team to do their best work. We have an agile professional workforce: weare founded on the belief that our people are valued and our business is trusted, inclusive and commercially-adept.

What we expect from you:

• Teamwork, mutual respect and collaboration
• Initiative and independent working
• Honesty and integrity
• Business and commercial awareness
• Agility, adaptability and continuous development

We are committed to building an inclusive, diverse workplace where everyone can thrive. If you require any support or adjustments to interact with us, please let us know.

*Please note that all offers of employment are conditional and subject to satisfactory DBS, driving licence and reference checks. A criminal record will not automatically disqualify candidates from employment. We will consider criminal record information alongside the wider range of evidence gathered at the application, interview, and pre-employment checking stages.

Due to the high volume of applications, we are unable to respond to everyone. If you are shortlisted, we will aim to contact you within 14 days of your application or the closing date (if stated). We may retain your details for future suitable roles unless you advise us otherwise.

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