Systems Engineering Lead

Description

Ready to make your mark in motorsport? The company has been running the world's biggest sports and entertainment spectacle since its first Grand Prix in 1950, and it leaves a positive legacy wherever it races.

Innovation has shaped the sport for more than 75 years, and it still develops technology that reaches well beyond the track.

Everything fans see on screen or at an event depends on a large group of people across engineering, broadcast, legal, logistics, security, event management, commercial, media rights, marketing and communications.

The team is hiring a Systems Engineering Lead to set up and lead systems engineering practice across the company's operational technology.

Responsibilities

• Build, keep up and steadily improve systems engineering processes, standards and ways of working across the engineering teams.
• Serve as the in-house expert on systems engineering, giving technical leadership and assurance on projects and programmes.
• Grow systems engineering skills across the organisation through mentoring, coaching and sharing knowledge.
• Encourage structured systems engineering use at every stage of the project lifecycle.
• Set the standards and governance for writing requirements and specifications, and make sure they are high quality and usable by engineers and delivery partners.
• Maintain requirements traceability from concept and design through to implementation, validation and operational acceptance.
• Make the final technical call when business and operational needs must be turned into engineering requirements, settling unclear or disputed points.
• Define how telemetry, interface and data dictionaries are managed across engineering systems, and keep them aligned with the requirements and interface baselines.
• Work with engineering teams and suppliers to adopt common data standards for integration, diagnostics, performance monitoring and future development.
• Lead technical oversight of system architecture, interface management and subsystem integration.
• Set the standards and governance for producing, maintaining and controlling interface definitions and specifications.
• Define architecture principles and integration frameworks for complex engineering systems.
• Work with software, electronics, infrastructure, networking, broadcast and operations teams to achieve a joined-up end-to-end design.
• Support engineering decisions through system analysis, trade studies and technical assessments.
• Oversee integration, verification, validation and acceptance work so systems meet operational and performance goals.
• Own the design reviews, technical challenge and sign-off that check work against the systems engineering framework.
• Define and maintain review processes that confirm consistency, traceability and technical assurance across projects.
• Work closely with the QMO team to keep engineering standards, quality processes and design review practice aligned.
• Run technical, architecture and design reviews, and challenge designs independently where needed.
• Drive ongoing improvement in engineering documentation, configuration management, change control and governance.

Requirements

• Communicate well, turning complex technical ideas into clear, practical guidance for engineers, leaders and operational stakeholders.
• Focus on delivery and work collaboratively, balancing live operational demands with engineering rigour.
• Be confident enough to challenge decisions constructively and influence both internal and external teams.
• Essential: strong grasp of systems engineering principles, lifecycle management and systems thinking.
• Essential: experience writing and reviewing technical requirements, specifications, interface documentation and engineering artefacts.
• Essential: experience managing requirements traceability, configuration management and change control.
• Essential: strong technical leadership and communication, with the ability to influence multidisciplinary teams, suppliers and technology partners on complex operational systems.
• Essential: experience running technical reviews and giving engineering assurance across several projects.
• Essential: knowledge of verification, validation and system acceptance methods.
• Essential: knowledge of Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE), SysML and modelling tools such as Cameo Systems Modeler or Enterprise Architect.
• Essential: background in motorsport, broadcast, telecommunications, aerospace or another high-performance technology field.
• Essential: one of the following: a bachelor's degree with 15+ years' systems engineering experience, a master's degree with 12+ years, or a PhD with 10+ years.
• Essential: whichever route you take, at least 5 years defining, implementing or maturing systems engineering governance frameworks at organisation level.
• May also have: a degree or advanced degree (MSc, MEng or PhD) in systems engineering, electronic, software or aerospace engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• May also have: training or certification in MBSE, SysML or recognised architecture frameworks.
• Desirable: experience developing telemetry, command structures, data dictionaries or Interface Control Documents (ICDs).
• Desirable: experience in live operational, safety-critical or mission-critical environments.
• Desirable: experience in regulated or quality-driven engineering environments.
• Desirable: experience supporting complex distributed systems across several locations and time-critical environments.
• Desirable: experience setting up systems engineering capability in a new or maturing team or function.

Conditions

Based at the Biggin Hill site.

Equal opportunities: applications are welcome from all backgrounds.

Benefits

• Private healthcare scheme and dental care.
• Four Grand Prix paddock passes per season.
• Enhanced maternity and paternity leave, plus other family planning policies.
• Free staff shuttle to and from nearby train stations near Biggin Hill.
• Free healthy snacks in the offices.
• Subsidised canteen in Biggin Hill serving breakfast and lunch.
• 25 days annual leave, 8 bank holiday days, and a Christmas closure period.
• Training requests through the in-house Learning and Development team.
• Discounts on merchandise and on the company's arcade and driving experiences.
• Access to an online benefits portal.
• The company values innovation, collaboration and personal growth, and staff ideas are heard and make a real difference.