Principal Systems Engineer

QinetiQ comprises teams of dedicated people; experts in defence, aerospace, security and related markets. We draw on our extensive technical knowledge and intellectual property to provide the know-how and support to solve some of the world’s most challenging problems.  Our people make the critical difference to customers by providing unique approaches to problem solving.  Why don’t you join some of the world’s finest scientific and technical minds and help us make tomorrow work today?

Job description/Person specification ****Please note that we have positions available in both our Malvern and Bristol sites*****

QinetiQ’s Cyber Information & Training (CIT) 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 Winning 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:
• Communications & Information Systems (particularly in the military land environment)
• Cyber and Security
• Electronic Warfare
• Research & Innovation
• Secured Navigation (particularly Global Navigation Satellite Systems – GNSS, PCB design 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
•Training Systems and supporting infrastructure
a. Distributed Secure Networks
b. Simulation and Synthetic Environments
c. Simulation and stimulator development
d. Live, Virtual and Constructive training
•Training Needs Analysis
a. Army and Naval environments
b. Customer Advice
c. Consultancy
d. Requirements and Stakeholder Management
e. 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 as a technical team leader, or part of a team delivering a portfolio of Systems and Requirements Engineering projects to support internal product development and external customers.
• Technically leading 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 and contributing to development of the Systems Engineering Discipline.
• 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 diverse groups of scientists and engineers across domains in a collaborative and collegiate way, enabling a high-performing culture.
• Has analytical and logical thinking skills.
• 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 adapting to customer requirements.
• 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.
• 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