Systems Engineer

Thales is a global technology leader with more than 83,000 employees on five continents. With over 7,500 people in the UK, operating across defence, space, aerospace, and digital security, we help build a future we can all trust. Thales supports the security and stability of our nation by providing extraordinary technology to our customers, as well as delivering social value to the UK with our products and services.

Systems Engineer - Testing, Support Environment & Delivery

Under Water Systems (UWS)

Our purpose is to be the leading provider of underwater sensors and decision superiority, helping navies across the world keep our friends, families and all of us safe. We cover four sectors: Mine Counter Measures, Anti-Submarine warfare, Services and Future Capabilities.

The Systems Engineer will support successful delivery of UWS/Sonar systems by familiarising themselves with testing and verification activities, building knowledge of the support environment, working effectively with Field Service Engineers (FSEs), and contributing to engineering-led delivery execution.

Key Responsibilities:

Testing familiarisation & verification support

• Familiarise with test approaches (integration/acceptance/regression as applicable), test documentation, and expected evidence.
• Support test readiness by understanding and delivering what needs to be in place (procedures, configurations, prerequisites, traceability).
• Support and co-ordinate defect/issue investigation by gathering technical evidence and relating findings to requirements/interfaces where appropriate.
• Contribute to evidence capture and issue closure.

Support environment knowledge

• Develop a working understanding of the installation/commissioning and operational support context.
• Identify how support environment constraints (procedures, tooling, operational limitations, maintenance/support expectations) can affect testing outcomes and delivery progress.
• Translate support environment findings into engineering actions and provide clear feedback to the relevant technical owners.

Handbooks / standards familiarity

• Develop and demonstrate familiarity with relevant engineering handbooks and standards.
• Apply handbook/standard expectations to your deliverables (documentation, testing evidence, configuration integrity, and governance adherence).
• Follow document/control processes appropriate to controlled engineering environments.

Skills and Experience

• Practical experience supporting testing/verification (or working in teams where testing evidence and readiness are critical).
• Demonstrable knowledge of commissioning/installation/operational support context, or comparable industrial experience.
• Proven ability to work with FSEs or equivalent field/site support teams to resolve issues and support closure.
• Experience contributing to delivery outcomes (milestones, actions/dependencies tracking, progress reporting).
• Familiarity with relevant engineering handbooks/standards, including applying them to engineering/testing work.

UK Eyes Only:

Due to the nature of the work that we do at Thales, many of our roles are subject to security restrictions. This role requires you to be a UK National and achieve Security Clearance (SC) without any caveats. It would be advantageous if currently held, however, if not currently held, it is a requirement that the successful applicant undergo, achieve, and maintain SC Clearance prior to commencing employment. If approved by the MOD, a dual national from a non-ITAR country may be considered.

To be eligible for full SC, you generally need to have resided in the UK for the last 5 years. In some circumstances, a minimum of 3 years’ residence in the UK over the last 5 years may be accepted, with additional overseas checks.

Please visit the UKSV website for further guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/united-kingdom-security-vetting-clearance-levels/national-security-vetting-clearance-levels.

At Thales, we ensure equal opportunities, pay and working conditions for all. The benefits we offer include private medical insurance, buying or selling annual leave, cycle to work schemes, employee discounts, paid volunteering day, stocks and shares, annual bonus and much more depending on the role. Read more about our benefits here.

We are committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels valued for who they are and the unique strengths they bring. Discover more about our programmes, employee networks, wellbeing policies, and inclusive features here.

If this role isn’t quite right for you, we encourage you to join our talent community where your details will be shared with our recruitment teams for other potential opportunities. Join the Talent Community here.

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