Bristol

MBDA UK is looking for an experienced team leader to support delivering a ground breaking Laser Directed Energy Weapon system into service. The candidate will lead the functional integration and proving activities required to demonstrate to the customer that the weapon system is ready for rapid deployment to theatre.

Salary: Circa £60,000 depending on experience

Dynamic (hybrid) working: 2 days per week on-site due to workload classification

Security Clearance: British Citizen or a Dual UK national with British citizenship.

Restrictions and/or limitations relating to nationality and/or rights to work may apply. As a minimum and after offer stage, all successful candidates will need to undergo HMG Basic Personnel Security Standard checks (BPSS), which are managed by the MBDA Personnel Security Team.

What we can offer you:

• Company Bonus: Bonus of up to 21% of base salary
• Pension: maximum total (employer and employee) contribution of up to 14%
• Flexible working: We welcome applicants who are looking for flexible working arrangements
• Enhanced parental leave: offers up to 26 weeks for maternity, adoption and shared parental leave -enhancements are available for paternity leave, neonatal leave and fertility testing and treatments
• Facilities: Fantastic site facilities including subsidised meals, free car parking and much more…

The opportunity:

DragonFire is a boundary pushing weapon system development programme that, as a result of several highly publicised successful trials activities, has been accelerated to deliver a deployable Laser Directed Energy Weapon capability to the Royal Navy.

MBDA UK is looking for dynamic and motivated candidates to develop DragonFire into a world class, deployable air defence system. Our ambitious plans involve parallel and interleaved streams of cutting edge technology experimentation and rapid weapon system development. An exciting opportunity has arisen to join the Integration and Systems Validation (ISV) team supporting the DragonFire project. The ISV team has successfully delivered three demonstration trials of this technology. Now there is an opportunity to join the team to support on-going demonstration, platform integration and qualification trials.

The role of DragonFire Head of Functional Integration & Proving will be required to lead a team of engineers to develop, refine and implement the DragonFire System Proving Strategy. The candidate will be responsible for ensuring the equipment is tested to a level suitable for release to the customer whilst balancing their need for an urgent "minimum deployable capability". Strong linkages with internal and external subsystem Design Authorities and the MBDA Manufacturing team will be required to ensure a suitable holistic proving approach is adopted that balances schedule, cost and risk.

In addition, the candidate will be responsible for maintaining and preparing the current generation of experimental hardware for ongoing data gathering trials that will be used to inform the future equipment design.

The wider ISV team, reporting to the DragonFire Chief Systems Proving Engineer, is made up of engineers with backgrounds in both experimental/concept weapon system development and conventional weapon/missile system delivery. You will be joining a team that is passionate about delivering cutting edge technology into our customers' hands and regularly pull together to overcome the technical challenges we encounter. The ongoing live firing trials activities will require a significant level of support across the team therefore there will be opportunities to participate in these ground breaking events.

What we're looking for from you:

The candidate should have experience of defining and delivering complex system proving activities. This would ideally be in the naval domain. In particular demonstrable experience of the following is highly desirable:

• Production of strategy, top level planning and schedule documentation.
• Functional chain based proving techniques.
• Team leadership and management experience.
• Coordination of multi-organisational integration activities.
• Management of technical and schedule risks.

Experience of LASER systems is highly desirable but not essential.

Our company: Peace is not a given, Freedom is not a given, Sovereignty is not a given

MBDA is a leading defence organisation.  We are proud of the role we play in supporting the Armed Forces who protect our nations. We partner with governments to work together towards a common goal, defending our freedom.

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We recognise that everyone is unique, and we encourage you to speak to us should you require any advice, support or adjustments throughout our recruitment process.

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