Senior Systems Engineer

Job content

QinetiQ’s Cyber & Information (C&I) business helps our customers to respond to ever evolving threats, based on our expertise in secured navigation, training, secure communication platforms, intelligence, surveillance and cyber security. We deliver Mission-Led Innovation into global defence, security, and critical national infrastructure markets.

QinetiQ’s Systems Engineers are renowned for providing high quality, independent technical advice to a wide range of customers, in support of their major acquisition programmes, and for developing our own range of world-leading products. We are looking for people to join our growing team of Systems Engineers who are interested in applying and developing their technical expertise, across a number of domains, both military and commercial.

Opportunities to work in the following Domains and Activities:

• Radar
• Communications & Information Systems (particularly in the military environment)
• Cyber and Security
• Electronic Warfare
• Research & Innovation
• Secured Navigation (particularly Global Navigation Satellite Systems – GNSS and electronic engineering)
• Application of Systems Engineering principles across the lifecycle
• Consultancy and Business Analysis
• Product Development (full lifecycle)
• Leading engagement with customers and developing new propositions
• Service Delivery

Opportunities exist to work on and develop projects for Defence, other Government Departments, in the Commercial Sector and Internationally.

Job description/Person specification:
Key accountabilities (the balance between these will be project-dependent):

• Working flexibly, either as part of a team, singly or as a technical team leader, on projects and tasks to deliver Systems and Requirements Engineering projects, supporting internal product development and external customers.
• Technically driving the planning and management of acquisition, research or product development activity.
• Identifying, engaging and managing diverse internal and external stakeholder communities.
• Providing Systems Engineering advice to all sizes of project.
• Undertaking technical design and decision making as an SME.
• Collaborating with other members of project teams in support of project goals
• Planning verification and validation activities to ensure that evidence can be gathered in a cost-effective way to support solution acceptance.
• Anticipating and identifying potential issues such as delivery problems, lack of input information etc.
• Mentoring colleagues
• Information management
• Identifying and developing customer business opportunities

Particular skills/experience required:
A mix of some or all of:

• Understanding and applying the Systems Engineering approach across the lifecycle (‘strength in breadth’)
• Application of appropriate lifecycles to projects (including Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) Agile)
• Model Based Systems Engineering.
• Architectural Framework (e.g. MODAF, TOGAF) experience.
• Flexibility to travel as required to support project activities.
• Identifying and responding to customer needs
• Developing Architectures
• Product design and development
• Through-life Design & Management
• Business analysis and consultancy
• Flexibility of approach, ability to innovate
• Planning for trials, test and/or acceptance
• Developing outputs for customers (reports, products, services)
• Potentially working on several tasks simultaneously
• Creating and managing own work and task delivery schedules
• Managing change

Essential Personal Qualities and Behavioural Requirements:

• Able to technically lead groups of scientists and engineers in a collaborative and collegiate way, enabling a high-performing culture.
• Has analytical and logical thinking skills.
• Able to work and produce consistent results with minimal supervision.
• Good questioning, listening, influencing and general interpersonal skills.
• Well-developed oral, written communication and presentation skills.
• Can adapt and work flexibly.
• Content to work on several projects simultaneously.
• Content to lead some tasks and be a team member on others.

Challenges:

• Applying the emotional intelligence necessary to work successfully with diverse stakeholder groups.
• Identifying and delivering propositions, and solutions to customers’ real, unstated needs as well as those directly expressed.
• Moving at times from high uncertainty towards a clear problem definition.
• Differentiating problem definition from solution design.
• Rapidly assimilating information and gaining a good understanding of the problems and issues associated with new tasks.
• Thriving in a varied, complex, and frequently changing work environment, often with demanding timescales.

Experience and qualification:

• Degree or equivalent in a relevant engineering or technical discipline, or proven experience working in an equivalent engineering role. (Typ. Aerospace / Mechanical / Electronics / Systems Engineering, Physics).
• Professional qualification, or working towards one.

Why join QinetiQ?

As we continue to grow into new markets around the world, there’s never been a more exciting time to join QinetiQ. The formula for success is our appetite for innovation and having the courage to take on a wide variety of complex challenges.

You’ll experience a unique working environment where teams from different backgrounds, disciplines and experience enjoy collaborating widely and openly as we undertake this exciting and rewarding journey. Through effective teamwork, and pulling together, you’ll get to experience what happens when we all share different perspectives, blend disciplines, and link technologies; constantly discovering new ways of solving complex problems in an diverse and inclusive environment where you can be authentic, feel valued and realise your full potential. Read more about our diverse and inclusive workplace culture here .

Joining QinetiQ offers you an opportunity to work on a broad range of interesting defence-based projects with vast career progression across a global organisation in addition to competitive personal and professional benefits. You’ll receive a highly competitive salary and benefits package: our basic salaries are very attractive as we constantly review what’s happening in the market. The range of benefits that we offer include, adaptive and flexible working, generous holiday entitlements, Health Cash Plan, Private Medical Insurance and Dental Insurance and much more.

About QinetiQ

As a company of over 6,000 dedicated professionals, we are a world-centre of excellence in research and development and act as a catalyst for fast-track innovation, offering outstanding experimentation facilities, and technical, engineering and scientific expertise. QinetiQ is made up of dedicated experts in defence, aerospace, security and related markets, all working together to explore new ways of protecting what matters most. Being part of QinetiQ means being central to the safety and security of the world around us. Partnering with our customers, we help to save lives; reduce risks to society; and maintain the global infrastructure on which we all depend. Come and find out how you can play a role.

Please note that many roles in QinetiQ are subject to national security vetting. Applicants that already hold the appropriate level of vetting may be able to transfer it upon appointment, subject to approval. A number of roles are also subject to restrictions on access to information that mean factors such as nationality, previous nationalities held and the country in which you were born may have an effect on the roles that you can be employed in.