Customer Integration & Test Engineer (Precision Guidance)

Description

The company's Integrated Sensing and Protection line of business is looking for an experienced customer-facing engineer to support its Precision Guidance portfolio, including SAL Seeker and Compact Seeker products.

You will give specialist technical support to UK and overseas customers across integration, verification, validation, qualification and operational deployment of Precision Guidance systems.

The role is closely customer-facing and involves working with platform integrators, weapon system manufacturers and the company's engineering teams. The aim is to help customers get full value from integration and test work and to support fielding and operation of the products.

You will often sit between customers and the Precision Guidance development teams, helping resolve integration problems, supporting demanding trials and spotting ways to improve the product.

Travel within the UK and abroad is required for customer integration work, trials, demonstrations and in-service support.

Responsibilities

• Act as the main technical contact for customers integrating SAL Seeker and Compact Seeker solutions.
• Give specialist guidance during system integration, verification, validation and acceptance.
• Advise customers on seeker performance, system interfaces, environmental factors and what the systems can do in service.
• Help solve technical problems that come up during integration, qualification and operation.
• Represent customer issues, risks and opportunities inside the company so engineering teams hear them clearly.
• Help customers plan integration strategies and verification approaches.
• Support planning, running and improving laboratory, rig, ground and platform tests.
• Take part in integration reviews, test readiness reviews and customer technical reviews.
• Support data collection, analysis and assessment during trials and demonstrations.
• Help customers set useful test objectives, success criteria and evidence-based acceptance methods.
• Find ways to make integration more efficient, lower programme risk and get more value from testing.
• Provide on-site technical support at home and overseas trial campaigns, weapon integration activities and capability demonstrations.
• Help move Precision Guidance products from development into operational service.
• Explain product capabilities, limits and good practice for use to customers.
• Build and keep working relationships with UK and overseas defence customers, platform and weapon system integrators, defence primes, internal Precision Guidance engineering teams, and programme management, business development and support functions.
• Pass customer insight on to shape future Precision Guidance products.
• Support business capture with technical demonstrations and customer engagement where needed.
• Feed lessons from customer work into the company's engineering and support processes.
• Support other line of business objectives as reasonably required.

Requirements

• Hold a degree, HNC/HND or equivalent experience in Systems Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Physics or a related field.
• Have experience supporting integration, verification and testing of complex defence or aerospace systems.
• Understand systems engineering principles and the system lifecycle well.
• Have worked directly with customers and technical stakeholders.
• Analyse technical problems and explain solutions clearly.
• Be willing and able to travel extensively in the UK and abroad.
• Be able to obtain and keep the appropriate UK security clearance.
• Highly desirable: experience with guided weapons, seekers, electro-optical systems or precision guidance technologies.
• Highly desirable: experience supporting weapons integration programmes.
• Highly desirable: familiarity with verification, validation and qualification processes.
• Highly desirable: experience supporting live trials, customer demonstrations or operational evaluation.
• Highly desirable: experience with safety management and risk assessments, including work involving lasers, outdoor working, machinery or airborne equipment.
• Highly desirable: experience managing data collection, manipulation and analysis to make tests and trials succeed.
• Highly desirable: knowledge of military platforms and weapon system architectures.
• Highly desirable: experience working with international defence customers.
• The list is not exhaustive, and applications are welcome without every item above. A good attitude and willingness to learn matter most.

Conditions

Pre-employment screening to the UK Government's Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) is required. Additional National Security Vetting (NSV) may apply, which could include eligibility for the Security Check (SC) or Developed Vetting (DV). Guidance is available on the company's careers site.

Permanent contract, based in Basildon, GB.

Hybrid working.

Flexible hours. Part-time requests can be discussed for this role.

The company is committed to an inclusive and accessible workplace, and accessibility needs during recruitment can be raised.

Where the vacancy is open at more than one grade, the successful candidate is appointed to one assessed grade and paid the range for that grade.

Benefits

• Up to 12 additional flexi-days each year on top of generous leave.
• Employer pension contribution of up to 15%.
• Free access to mental health support, financial advice and employee-led networks.
• Bonus scheme open to employees at management level and below.
• Free access to over 4,000 online courses through Coursera and LinkedIn Learning.
• Referral reward for recommending a friend who is hired.
• Up to £500 a year in flexible benefits, such as private healthcare, dental, family cover, tech and lifestyle discounts and gym memberships.
• Salary is set within a grade-based band, benchmarked against the external market; exceptions above the standard range go through governance controls.
• The company has around 53,000 staff worldwide, including about 8,500 across 9 UK sites, and is headquartered in Italy.
• A full list of benefits is on the company website.