Principal Systems Engineer

Job Description:

Your Impact

Are you looking to advance your career and work on technology that will shape the future of defence? Does working on developing systems for current and future military aircraft sound like a challenge that would be of interest? If you have skills in systems engineering and five years UK residency, we are looking for engineers to join us at Leonardo in Luton in a predominantly office and laboratory-based role.

What you’ll do as a Systems Engineer

• The Principal Systems Engineer will provide technical leadership within the concept and assessment phases of the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) and Future Combat Air System (FCAS) activities.
• Working across multidisciplinary teams and with external partners, the role will be responsible for shaping future air combat capability concepts, developing system architectures, defining and managing requirements, and conducting trade studies to inform programme decision making.
• The successful candidate will apply systems engineering principles to understand customer and operational needs, assess emerging technologies, and ensure that proposed solutions are coherent, achievable, and aligned to programme objectives.
• The role will also provide technical oversight, mentor less experienced engineers, and contribute to the continued development of systems engineering best practice across the organisation
• The role has a specific focus on aircraft survivability, supporting the development and assessment of survivability requirements, concepts, and architectures for next-generation air platforms and systems.
• The successful candidate will lead survivability-related studies and analyses, working closely with specialist teams across electronic warfare, sensors, mission systems, platform design, and operational analysis to understand threats and identify effective mitigation strategies.
• The role requires strong stakeholder engagement skills and the ability to communicate complex technical issues to customers, partners, and senior programme leadership.

Responsibilities include:

• Defining survivability measures and performance requirements

• Evaluating design trade-offs, influencing platform and system architectures, and ensuring survivability considerations are integrated throughout concept development activities.

 What you’ll bring

• A science-based Honours degree or equivalent experience
• Experience or a desire to gain electronic warfare domain knowledge
• Knowledge of the systems engineering lifecycle, particularly in the following areas:
• Problem definition
• Requirements engineering, including the use of IBM DOORS
• Systems Architecture
• Integration, Test and Evaluation
• Verification and Validation

It would be desirable if you had experience from some of the following:

• Experience of working with related specialisms such as safety, security, airworthiness or reliability
• Domain-specialist knowledge such as:
• Digital signal processing
• RF systems
• Multi-sensor data fusion and tracking
• Real time data simulation/generation
• Military Electronic systems
• Data analysis using AI or Machine Learning
• Operational Experience in Electronic Intelligence or Electronic Warfare
• This is not an exhaustive list, and we are keen to hear from you even if you might not have experience in all the above. The most important skill is a good attitude and willingness to learn

Security Clearance

This role is subject to pre-employment screening in line with the UK Government’s Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS), along with an additional range of Personnel Security Controls referred to as National Security Vetting (NSV), including meeting the eligibility requirements for The Security Check (SC) or Developed Vetting (DV). For more information and guidance please visit: https://careers.uk.leonardo.com/gb/en/security-and-vetting. Due to the nature of the work and its connections to UK Defence strategy, applicants must have five years UK Residency and hold a UK Passport.

Salary Range: 

• Senior Engineer £45,000 - £60,000
• Principal Engineer £55,000 - £70,000

Where this vacancy is being recruited across more than one grade, the successful candidate will be appointed to a specific assessed grade, and the applicable salary range will be that associated with the grade of appointment.

Leonardo UK operates a grade-based salary framework with broad bands. The salary range shown reflects the approved grade band for this role, or a narrower hiring range published within that band, and is benchmarked against the external market. Exceptions above the standard range are managed through governance controls to protect internal equity.

Why join us

At Leonardo, our people are at the heart of everything we do. We offer a comprehensive, company-funded benefits package that supports your wellbeing, career development, and work–life balance. Whether you're looking to grow professionally, care for your health, or plan for the future, we’re here to help you thrive.

• Time to Recharge: Enjoy generous leave with the opportunity to accrue up to 12 additional flexi-days each year.
• Secure your Future: Benefit from our award-winning pension scheme with up to 15% employer contribution.
• Your Wellbeing Matters: Free access to mental health support, financial advice, and employee-led networks championing inclusion and diversity (Enable, Pride, Equalise, Armed Forces, Carers, Wellbeing and Ethnicity).
• Rewarding Performance: All employees at management level and below are eligible for our bonus scheme.
• Never Stop Learning: Free access to 4,000+ online courses via Coursera and LinkedIn Learning.
• Refer a friend: Receive a financial reward through our referral programme.
• Tailored Perks: Spend up to £500 annually on flexible benefits including private healthcare, dental, family cover, tech & lifestyle discounts, gym memberships and more.
• Flexible working: Flexible hours with hybrid working options. For part time opportunities, please talk to us about what might be possible for this role.

For a full list of our company benefits please visit our website.

Be part of something bigger - apply now!

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Primary Location:

GB - Luton - Cap. Green 300

Contract Type:

Permanent

Hybrid Working:

Onsite