Head of Safety and Certification

Date Posted:

2026-09-22

Country:

United Kingdom

Location:

Harlow, Essex

Position Role Type:

Hybrid

At RTX, the world's largest aerospace and defense company, 185,000 great minds are united by purpose and inspired to make a difference solving the world’s most complex problems. With our three market leading businesses, world-class operations and investments in research and development, we offer capabilities and opportunity no one else can. Together, we push the boundaries of known science and find new ways to connect and protect our world. 

Raytheon brings the strength of more than 100 years of experience and renowned engineering expertise to meet the needs of today’s mission and stay ahead of tomorrow’s threat. We deliver solutions that help our nation and allies defend freedoms and deter aggression, creating a safer, more secure world. Join us and help shape the future of aerospace and defense.

Role Overview

The Head of Safety and Certification is an engineering leadership position responsible for leading a team of System Safety, Certification and Environmental specialists working across the portfolio of Raytheon UK’s products and services.

You will be the System Safety, Product Safety and Environmental discipline lead, providing expert guidance to the team and programmes. The role ensures that products and services are designed, developed and delivered in accordance with applicable regulatory requirements, industry standards and company policies.

Responsibilities will include:

SYSTEM SAFETY

Maintain the System Safety policies and procedures in line with relevant standards, legislation and RTX/Raytheon policy.
Manage the System Safety resources to meet the requirements of the businesses and to cost and schedule.
Oversee functional assurance activities and the allocation of integrity levels.
Lead and provide guidance in System Safety workshops and assessments.
Review and approval of System Safety documentation.
PRODUCT SAFETY

Maintain the Product Safety procedures in line with relevant standards and legislation.
Engage with Product Safety Managers and Product Safety Advisors to support the needs of the business.
Work with Heads of Engineering to ensure Product Safety resource is available.
Review and approval of Product Safety documentation.
CERTIFICATION

Review and approval of certification documentation (Certification Plans, Declarations of Design and Performance, Certificates of Design, etc).
Maintain Certification policies and procedures in line with relevant standards and legislation.
Ensure company records are kept up to date, including certification documentation and approved signatories.
Manage the Certification resources to meet the requirements of the business.
Support Certification Board activities.
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

Maintain environmental policies and procedures in line with relevant standards and legislation.
Manage the environmental specialist resources to provide timely specialist advice to the programmes.
Lead and provide guidance in environmental workshops and assessments.
Review and approval of environmental documentation.
GENERAL

Champion adherence to engineering best practice and carry out audits and reviews as appropriate.
Engage with relevant forums and initiatives to maintain an awareness of domain developments and best practice.
Conduct audits of safety and environmental programmes and support external audits as required.
Lead technical input into bids and proposals, identifying risks, opportunities and execution strategies.
Represent Raytheon UK as a senior technical authority with customers, suppliers, and internal stakeholders.

Key Characteristics

Degree in Engineering, Physics or other relevant subject.
Chartered Engineer or working towards Chartership.
Track record of developing safety and environmental cases in compliance with applicable standards including Def Stan 00-056, 00-055 and 00-051.
Proven experience of leading specialist engineering teams in mission-critical product development, with deep understanding of design assurance and military standards.
Broad technical expertise across all engineering functions.
Experience of assessing and assuring products, particularly with safety-related functions implemented in software.
Strong track record in coaching, mentoring and developing engineering talent.
Strategic thinker with a structured approach to problem solving and decision-making.
Highly dependable, autonomous and results-driven.
Eligible for SC clearance, with potential requirement for DV clearance.

Candidates will learn more about role type and current site status throughout the recruiting process. For onsite and hybrid roles, commuting to and from the assigned site is the employee’s personal responsibility.

Requires broad management and leadership knowledge to lead project teams.

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RTX adheres to the principles of equal employment. All qualified applications will be given careful consideration without regard to ethnicity, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or identity, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.  

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