{"id":3251021,"url":"https://alion.io/job/marss-uk-lead-systems-engineer-autonomous-systems","title":"UK - Lead Systems Engineer – Autonomous Systems","company":{"id":2490548,"name":"MARSS","domain":"marss.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/marss-com","size_band":null,"is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"BambooHR","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":81,"open_postings":4,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.75,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":null,"computed_at":"2026-11-09T06:03:00Z"}},"role":"Industrial Engineering","role_family":"Industrial Engineering","seniority":"lead","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"inferred","locations":[],"countries":[],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"FMEA","optional":false},{"name":"IBM DOORS","optional":false},{"name":"MATLAB","optional":false},{"name":"MBSE","optional":false},{"name":"Simulink","optional":false},{"name":"SysML","optional":false},{"name":"Verification & Validation","optional":false}],"status":"closed","first_seen_at":"2026-08-17T00:00:00Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-08-17","last_verified_at":"2026-11-04T17:24:33Z","board_verified":false,"closed_at":"2026-11-04T17:24:33Z","days_open":79,"trust":{"level":"not_scored","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":79},"description":"Job Title: Lead Systems Engineer\nReports to: Head of Engineering\nLocation: Bristol (hybrid)\nType: Full time - permanent\nSecurity Clearance requirement: Applicants must be eligible to obtain UK Security Clearance (SC).\nRole Overview\nWe are looking for a Lead Systems Engineer to support the development, integration and verification of an advanced Interceptor UAV system. This role is equivalent to a ‘Principal or Senior-Principal’ position in most traditional defence/aerospace companies and is hands-on not a managerial position.\nThe role will ensure the Interceptor operates as a coherent system across air vehicle, avionics, GNC, autonomy, sensors, communications, software and ground systems.\nThe Systems Engineer will manage requirements, architecture, interfaces, system performance and verification, working closely with specialist engineering teams throughout the development lifecycle.\nThis is an opportunity to take ownership for and shape Systems Engineering on the project - from the tools we use to the methods and processes. If you’re a passionate systems engineer who’s interested to work in an agile team environment, shape the products we develop and how we develop them then this could be the role for you.\nKey Responsibilities\nLead the project Systems Engineer effort starting from an almost blank page\nCapture, develop and manage system and subsystem requirements.\nDevelop and maintain the UAV system architecture and functional decomposition.\nDefine and manage key hardware, software, electrical and communications interfaces.\nMaintain requirements traceability and support configuration/change control.\nDevelop system performance budgets covering areas such as mass, power, endurance, communications, processing and sensor performance.\nConduct system-level trade studies and identify technical risks and dependencies.\nSupport integration of GNC, avionics, sensors, communications, autonomy and payload systems.\nDefine and support Verification & Validation (V&V) activities across simulation, laboratory, ground and flight testing.\nSupport SIL, HIL and system integration testing.\nAnalyse system-level issues and coordinate resolution across engineering disciplines.\nSupport technical design reviews, test readiness reviews and qualification activities.\nWork with Simulation, GNC, Software, Electronics and Flight Test teams to assess and improve overall UAV performance.\nSupport field testing and customer demonstrations - travel required.\nRequired Skill & Experience\nDegree in Systems, Aerospace, Electronic or Mechanical Engineering, Physics, or a related technical discipline.\nExperience applying Systems Engineering to complex multidisciplinary products, ideally within UAVs, aerospace, robotics, autonomous or mission-critical systems.\nExperience across the full V-model engineering lifecycle, or a substantial proportion of it, from requirements definition through integration, verification and validation.\nStrong experience in requirements capture, decomposition, allocation and traceability.\nExperience developing system architectures and defining/managing subsystem interfaces.\nGood understanding of hardware/software integration, system integration and testing.\nPractical experience of Verification & Validation (V&V), including SIL/HIL and ideally flight-test activities.\nExperience with MBSE/SysML and requirements-management tools such as DOORS, Jama or Polarion.\nFamiliarity with MATLAB/Simulink and modelling/simulation environments.\nUnderstanding of system safety, FMEA/FMECA and technical risk management.\nExperience integrating AI/ML-enabled perception or autonomous functionality is desirable.\nAbility to support customer bids and proposals, including interpreting and responding to new customer requirements.\nExperience using AI-based engineering tools, such as LLMs and agent-based systems, to improve analysis, documentation or engineering productivity.\nStrong analytical, technical communication and problem-solving skills.\nFull driving licence.\nApplicants must be eligible to obtain UK Security Clearance (SC) due to the nature of the work and projects involved.\nAttributes & Mindset\nStrong systems-thinking and ability to see the wider impact of engineering decisions.\nComfortable working with multiple engineering disciplines in a small tight-knit team.\nStructured and analytical, but pragmatic in a fast-moving R&D environment.\nProactive and hands-on, particularly during integration and testing.\nAble to challenge assumptions and drive technical issues to resolution.\nStrong communicator capable of working effectively with engineers, suppliers, leadership and customers\nAdaptable & Resilient: Stay calm and focused under pressure, maintaining a positive attitude that motivates others, adapting approach as challenges arise.\nComfortable working with multiple engineering disciplines in a small tight-knit team.\nWe believe in the value of working together in person and expect team members to be office-based for the majority of the working week. At the same time, we take a flexible pragmatic approach to working patterns, including start and finish times and remote working, to support a healthy work-life balance while meeting the needs of the team and project.\nWe are committed to building an inclusive and diverse team where everyone is treated with respect and has the opportunity to contribute and succeed. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and are focused on creating a working environment where different perspectives, experiences and ideas are valued.","description_format":"text","description_chars":5533,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Artificial Intelligence","Information Technology","IoT Platforms & Solutions"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-25T21:26:54Z"},{"event":"close","at":"2026-11-04T17:24:33Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":null,"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/marss-uk-lead-systems-engineer-autonomous-systems","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/marss-uk-lead-systems-engineer-autonomous-systems.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-11-09T11:24:03Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":13243,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-11-10T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.1,"usd":0.01,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":2490548},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=2490548"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fmarss-uk-lead-systems-engineer-autonomous-systems"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":2,"usd":0.2},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fmarss-uk-lead-systems-engineer-autonomous-systems"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.1,"usd":0.01},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fmarss-uk-lead-systems-engineer-autonomous-systems"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/marss-uk-lead-systems-engineer-autonomous-systems\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fmarss-uk-lead-systems-engineer-autonomous-systems"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":3251021}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"marss.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":3251021},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. 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