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Location: Crawley, United Kingdom

Thales people architect solutions that enable two-thirds of planes to take off and land safely. We create in-flight entertainment systems that engross 50 million fliers every year and we develop the avionics that control the world’s largest commercial aircrafts. Our simulators train the next generation of pilots for fighter jets, transporters and search and rescue helicopters. And, together, each and every member of our aerospace team makes a difference.

Together we offer fantastic opportunities for committed employees to learn and develop their career with us. At Thales UK, we research, develop, and supply technology and services that impact the lives of millions of people each day to make life better, and keep us safer. We innovate across five major industries; Aerospace, Defence, Ground Transportation, Security and Space. Your health and well-being matters to us and that’s why we offer you the flexibility to do what’s important to you; whether that’s part time hours, job sharing, home working, or the ability to flex your start and finish times. Where possible, we support a working pattern that suits your lifestyle and helps you reach your ambitions.

Job Description: Programme Design Authority for In-Service Military Avionics Solutions, Flight Avionics (FLX)

Key tasks and responsibilities; 

The purpose of the role is to support the current in-service and future next generation of Thales Cockpit and Mission System Avionics for Military Rotary and Fixed Wing Platforms. This includes:

  • Technical oversight of the Chinook HC Mk.6 in service support contract for the Cockpit & Mission System of the UK Fleet, including:
  • Leading on the technical aspects of commercial proposals and continuous improvement activities
  • Development and maintenance of the System product roadmap
  • Review and approval of system and equipment level obsolescence modifications, including oversight of supplier technical information
  • Response to customer and in-service questions
  • Development of software enhancements for the Cockpit and Mission System culminating in prototype demonstrations to System Operators
  • Technically support the Cockpit and Mission System Integration Rig, including obsolescence management, ensuring the capability is maintained to facilitate investigations, demonstrations and future prototyping and formal release activities.
  • Technical oversight of the AW159 (Wildcat) Communication and Navigation System

The successful candidate will be someone who…

  • Has the ability to achieve UK Security Clearance
  • Demonstrates behaviours that strongly align to the Thales Leadership Model; Think Big, Make it Happen, Together
  • Is a responsible, accountable and inclusive leader, willing to engage and develop a diverse, multi-disciplinary engineering team through collaborative working approaches; promotes the sharing of knowledge, and positively challenges to achieve a high quality outcome
  • Has the experience, knowledge and competence to oversee safety critical development activities
  • Is convincing and persuasive; effectively manages and works closely with internal and external stakeholders, including the customer, to negotiate on technical capabilities and requirements and drives through progressive change in a complex system and development environment
  • Is confident in their ability to help solve complex problems; asks challenging questions to develop understanding, is able to simplify and break down complex problems in order to address potential challenges, and is able to propose unique solutions that enhance product offerings and added value
  • Understands the importance of measuring engineering maturity and executing continuous improvement plans
  • Understands the underlying technical stakes and business strategies behind the different products and services offered by your scope
  • Is a self-starter, with an ability to manage their own and their teams workload and meet their agreed objectives, whilst also contributing to the delivery of wider operational goals
  • Acts as a role model; displaying enthusiasm about learning new skills and technology and takes self-development seriously

Technical Competencies

You shall have substantial knowledge of Systems Engineering, including:

  • An understanding of operational concepts of rotary and fixed wing military aircraft, and experience of performing operational analysis
  • Experience and understanding in the development, configuration and certification of complex avionics systems, including cockpit displays, navigation, communication and mission planning and execution
  • An understanding of Military Aviation Authority Airworthiness and Certification processes for High Integrity Systems (up to DAL A) and a deep understanding of the impact of safety on complex avionics systems
  • An understanding of the role of different actors involved in the programme development and sustainment, with the ability to contextualise and change perspective (political, economic, social, technical, environmental, legal...) 
  • Experience of working with the UK MOD and Military Platform OEMs (e.g. Boeing, Leonardo etc.) and international equipment suppliers
  • An understanding of operational needs, human factors and its impact on aircrew workload management
  • Experience of developing concepts, performing design, and conducting experimentation and using simulation tools, as well as modelling tools (such as MBSE), to develop new product offerings
  • Experience of defining the goals of R&T and any prototyping of system enhancements, and evaluation of fitness for purpose of the resulting output, within the boundary of the existing solution
  • The ability to adopt a holistic approach to analyse a system, focusing on the way that a system’s constituent parts interrelate, how systems work over time and within the context of larger systems
  • The ability to define a system’s capabilities and performance through functional, logical and value analytics
  • Establishing solution architectures by making trade-offs between stakeholder expectations, technical and technological solutions and costs, risks and schedule, standards and re-use policies, the technology roadmap and the business strategy; documenting the associated artefacts (architecture justification in the design and justification file, product breakdown structure, system/segment design document, interfaces) and approving the resulting lower-level specifications (internal or external)
  • The importance of requirements definition and management process
  • Deep understanding and experience of the whole Systems Engineering development lifecycle, including consideration of IVVQ (Integration/Verification/Validation/Qualification), RAMT (Reliability/Maintainability/Availability/Testability), Safety, Security, Configuration Management and Certification etc.

General Experience and Qualifications

  • Minimum of a Bachelor Degree (BEng, BSc) in a numerate, scientific or engineering subject or higher education/equivalent training and experience
  • Excellent communications skills, both verbally and written, with the ability to present and explain technical and complex problems, tailored appropriately for the audience
  • Experience across the Systems Engineering lifecycle, from bid through to acceptance, in the development of complex systems or products
  • Experience of requirements capture and management (e.g. in DOORS)
  • Experience of system architectural modelling (inc. SysML), formal architectural methods and frameworks, or simulation (e.g. in MatLab or Simulink)
  • An ability to work with combinations of technologies, to integrate and verify them in a logical and structured way into a system in order to fully satisfy a Customer’s requirement
  • Knowledge of Systems Engineering toolsets, with the ability to learn quickly to understand the purpose and use cases for each of the individual software applications and how they interface (e.g. for Systems; DOORs, Cameo, Capella, Mozart, Reqtify, Enterprise Architect etc.)
  • Experience of line management, including; setting objectives, holding appraisals and development discussions, performance management and staff recruitment
  • PC Literate: Windows, MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Visio

About Flight Avionics UK (FLX)

Our engineering teams undertake the development, delivery and support of avionics products to a wide variety of customers in the aerospace sector; covering both the civil and military domains. This includes:

  • The development of our next generation Tactical Mission Management System or Secure Information System, TopSIS X, for military helicopter platforms
  • The development of our next generation SATCOM Terminal, FlytLink
  • The continuing support and sustainment of our in-service products, including; Avionics Mission Systems, Secure Intercom Systems, SATCOM Systems, and Air-to-Ground Connectivity Systems
  • Supporting one of the several studies we are undertaking for the Integrated Module Communications (IMC) programme, to shape the future of aircraft communication systems

Key Stakeholders

  • Customer
  • Equipment Suppliers
  • Programme Management
  • Design Authority
  • Head of Aeronautical Connectivity Systems
  • Head of Connectivity Competence Centre

About the Aeronautical Connectivity Systems Department in Flight Avionics (FLX)

Our mission is to define, develop and deliver safe, cyber-secure and certifiable connected products, applications and end-to-end services to our customers in civil and military markets within cost, time and quality requirements of our stakeholders with the overall objective of providing the infrastructure and services that enable single pilot operation, and autonomous flight.

Career Development

As a People 1st Employer, we are passionate about providing you with opportunities to advance your engineering career and are committed to giving our employees the support they need to reach their professional goals. This includes support in submission of engineering chartership applications, funding membership of professional bodies, and access to a wide variety of learning resources through our comprehensive e-Learning platform. Training courses such as our hugely successful Let’s Lead Programme (for employees demonstrating leadership potential), coupled with our established mentoring and coaching programmes, offer fantastic opportunities for people committed to professional development to enhance their skill set. For people with ambition to attain greater levels of responsibility, in either a Technical or Managerial capacity, we also offer development pathways towards roles such as Solutions Engineering Manager, Product Design Authority, Solution Architect, or a recognised Thales Specialist or Expert. 

The Work Environment

At Thales, we believe in flexible SMART working. Therefore this position will be delivered through a combination of remote and office based collaborative working with the option of either Manor Royal (Crawley), or Green Park (Reading) as a home site. As the majority of the FLX Engineering team is located at the Manor Royal site, a level of onsite work is required and will be agreed with the Head of Aeronautical Connectivity Systems.

Flight Avionics (FLX) is predominantly based at the largest Thales UK site, Manor Royal Crawley, featuring access to a wide variety of resources including manufacturing, environmental and electromagnetic test facilities and specialised laboratories. The modern site includes a subsidised restaurant, a café, break out spaces, bicycle storage facilities and more. Our environment is designed to encourage collaborative working, and you will be surrounded by many specialists with extensive knowledge of their fields.

Proactive individuals will find that there are many opportunities available in such a large and multi-disciplinary organisation, which makes Thales an excellent career choice.

In line with Thales' Baseline Security requirements, candidates will be asked to provide evidence of identity, eligibility to work in the UK and employment and/or education history for up to three years. Some vacancies may require full Security Clearance which can require further evidence to be provided. For further details of the evidence required to apply for Baseline and Security Clearance please refer to the Defence Business Services National Security Vetting (DBS NSV) Agency.

At Thales we provide CAREERS and not only jobs. With Thales employing 80,000 employees in 68 countries our mobility policy enables thousands of employees each year to develop their careers at home and abroad, in their existing areas of expertise or by branching out into new fields. Together we believe that embracing flexibility is a smarter way of working.

Thales UK is committed to providing an inclusive and barrier-free recruitment process. We will provide reasonable adjustments and support to ensure neuro-diverse applicants or those with a disability or long-term condition can be their best during the recruitment process. To request an adjustment, if you need this job advert in an alternative format or if you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact Resourcing Ops for mid to senior roles, or the Early Careers Team for graduate and apprentice roles.

Great journeys start here, apply now!

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Confirmed 14 hours ago. Posted 30+ days ago.

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