{"id":1520445,"url":"https://alion.io/job/mbda-careers-rf-systems-lead-engineer","title":"RF Systems Lead Engineer","company":{"id":1963464,"name":"MBDA UK","domain":"mbdacareers.co.uk","url":"https://alion.io/company/mbdacareers","size_band":"1001-5000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Workday","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":77,"open_postings":36,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.917,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":34,"computed_at":"2026-10-29T05:49:05Z"}},"role":"Hardware","role_family":"Hardware","seniority":"lead","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"hybrid","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Bristol, United Kingdom","United Kingdom"],"countries":["GB"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":57500,"max":null,"currency":"GBP","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":75992},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Verification & Validation","optional":false},{"name":"MATLAB","optional":true},{"name":"SysML","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-08-14T00:00:00Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-08-14","last_verified_at":"2026-10-29T17:27:34Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":76,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":76},"description":"At MBDA, we are continuing to grow our Data Link Systems organisation, providing a world leading missile data link capability. A fantastic opportunity has arisen for an RF Systems Lead Engineer. You will be responsible for leading data link systems engineering work on a new weapons system programme, interfacing with both suppliers and customers, and providing technical leadership for junior RF systems engineers.\nSalary: Circa £57,500 depending on experience\nDynamic (hybrid) working: typically 3 days per week on-site due to workload classification\nSecurity Clearance: British Citizen or a Dual UK national with British citizenship.\nRestrictions 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.\nWhat we can offer you:\n Company bonus: Up to £2,500 (based on company performance and will vary year to year)\n Pension: maximum total (employer and employee) contribution of up to 14%\nOvertime: opportunity for paid overtime\nFlexi Leave: Up to 15 additional days\nFlexible working: We welcome applicants who are looking for flexible working arrangements\nEnhanced 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\nFacilities: Fantastic site facilities including subsidised meals, free car parking and much more…\nHealthcare Cash Plan: The Healthcare Cash Plan benefit provides the option to claim cash back on everyday healthcare expenses such as optical, dental, health and wellbeing and more.\nThe opportunity:\nAs RF system lead engineer, you will be the main Data Links technical point of contact for a weapon system project. You will be responsible for coordinating the systems engineering aspects of the project, including supporting bids, defining the system architecture, and managing development activities such as requirements management, system modelling management, and system proving plans (V&V). You will lead a small team of RF systems engineers.\nWhat we're looking for from you:\nYou will have an understanding of RF technologies, and system level design considerations for RF communication system. Ideally, you will be degree qualified in a STEM subject. You will have a strong background in systems engineering across the full product life cycle together with experience of managing suppliers. Customer facing skills are also highly desirable.\nWe’re looking for you to have an ability to work autonomously within a multi-skilled team with a good understanding and commitment to achieving project goals. You should also be able to perform technical investigations, provide problem assessments, and propose design solutions within a culture of innovative thinking.\nWe are looking for some of the following skills:\nManaging internal suppliers, and external suppliers\nWork package management\nTechnical leadership of junior engineers\nSystems design methodologies\nRequirements definition and management\nLeading design reviews across the product lifecycle\nOverseeing the transition of development hardware into production\nLeading technical investigations\nExperience with proving and validation\nConfiguration management\nAwareness of simulation tools: Architecture (SysML) / performance modelling (MATLAB)\nExperience working within an international team\nUnderstanding of RF communication principals and design\nOur company: Peace is not a given, Freedom is not a given, Sovereignty is not a given\nMBDA 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.\nWe are proud of our employee-led networks, examples include: Gender Equality, Pride, Menopause Matters, Parents and Carers, Armed Forces, Ethnic Diversity, Neurodiversity, Disability and more…\nWe 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.\nFollow us on LinkedIn (MBDA), X (@MBDA_UK), Instagram (MBDA_UK) and Glassdoor or visit our MBDA Careers website for more information.","description_format":"text","description_chars":4364,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Flexible schedule","Parental leave"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United Kingdom","iso":"GB","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Military","Professional Services","Missiles"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-30T11:33:47Z"}],"visa":[{"country":"GB","licensed_sponsor":true,"evidence":"Licensed UK visa sponsor (Senior or Specialist Worker, Skilled Worker)","filings_12m":null,"filings_prev_12m":null,"green_card_filings_12m":null,"median_offered_wage_usd":null,"route":"Global Business Mobility: Senior or Specialist Worker; Skilled Worker","cap_exempt":false,"checked_at":"2026-10-29T06:20:15+00:00","sources":["UK Home Office: register of licensed sponsors (workers)"],"filings_for_role_12m":0}],"liveness":{"score":13,"band":"cold","label":"Long shot","p_open":1,"p_active":0.465,"p_room":0.28,"age_days":76,"expected_fill_days":34,"reasons":["conf:4","stale_co","velocity","win:tail","crowd:brand"],"computed_at":"2026-10-29T05:49:05Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":75992,"is_top_pay":false},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/mbda-careers-rf-systems-lead-engineer","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/mbda-careers-rf-systems-lead-engineer.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-29T19:30:19Z","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":28976,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-30T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"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":1963464},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=1963464"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fmbda-careers-rf-systems-lead-engineer"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"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%2Fmbda-careers-rf-systems-lead-engineer"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"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%2Fmbda-careers-rf-systems-lead-engineer"},{"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/mbda-careers-rf-systems-lead-engineer\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fmbda-careers-rf-systems-lead-engineer"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":1520445}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"mbdacareers.co.uk","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":1520445},"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. Docs: https://alion.io/developers"}}