Future Technical Authority - RAF Mission Systems

Develop into the recognised Technical Authority for a critical Typhoon avionics capability used by the Royal Air Force.

The Opportunity: This is a rare opportunity to become the future Technical Authority and SME for a mission-critical avionics system supporting the RAF Typhoon fleet. Working directly alongside the current Chief Engineer ahead of his planned retirement, you'll receive structured mentoring and knowledge transfer while leading technical investigations, integration activities and stakeholder engagement across the defence aviation community, providing a unique pathway into a future Chief Engineer role.

You'll be supporting a sophisticated airborne targeting and sensor system deployed on the RAF Typhoon aircraft, ensuring the equipment continues to deliver operational capability across the fleet. As part of a small, specialist team, you'll work closely with military users, aircraft manufacturers and industry partners to investigate technical issues, assess system performance and support continuous improvement activities.

This role provides the opportunity to develop in-depth product knowledge and ultimately become the engineering lead and recognised authority for the capability.

Key Responsibilities:

• Investigate complex in-service technical and operational issues.
• Conduct fault analysis, root cause investigations and technical assessments.
• Support aircraft integration and system performance activities.
• Act as a key engineering interface with customers, suppliers and partner organisations.
• Support airworthiness, safety and technical governance activities.
• Assess and resolve unusual or complex issues beyond routine maintenance and repair activities.
• Provide technical guidance and support to internal and external stakeholders.
• Participate in customer meetings, reviews and technical presentations.
• Support equipment upgrades, modifications and capability enhancements.
• Travel to RAF bases and customer locations as required.

You'll regularly engage with:

• RAF personnel and operational users
• Aircraft maintainers and engineering teams
• Programme leadership
• Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs)
• Key defence supply chain partners
• Strong communication skills are essential, as you'll often act as the technical focal point between multiple stakeholders.

Essential Experience:

• Systems Engineering background within a complex engineering environment.
• Ability to investigate and resolve technical problems.
• Experience working with multiple stakeholders and customers.
• Strong communication and relationship-building skills.
• Ability to understand system-level behaviour and performance.

We're interested in engineers who combine strong technical capability with excellent stakeholder engagement skills -Particularly Attractive Backgrounds:

• Defence aviation systems engineers.
• Avionics engineers looking to move into a broader systems role.
• Aircraft integration engineers.
• Ex-RAF engineering personnel.
• Aerospace engineers with experience supporting military or complex airborne systems.
• Engineers with Typhoon, fast jet or targeting system experience.

Why Join? This is a rare opportunity to develop into the recognised technical authority for a critical RAF capability, working closely with the current Chief Engineer while gaining exposure to frontline military aviation operations, key defence stakeholders and future capability development.

Career Progression: Long-term technical development pathway into Chief Engineer / Technical Authority status.

Important: Due to security clearance requirements, applicants must be eligible to obtain SC clearance, which typically requires having resided in the UK continuously for at least the past five years.

Working Pattern: Hybrid role with an anticipated 3 days onsite, including regular UK travel to RAF and defence customer sites and occasional European travel, with trips potentially lasting up to one week depending on programme requirements.

For more information, please get in touch!

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