Principal Mechanical Systems Engineer

BAE Cowes – Principal Mechanical Systems Engineer – V06459

Rate: £81.05 per hour Umbrella

Location: Cowes, PO31 8PF

Length: 6 months initially

Time onsite: TBC (usually 4 days per week)

IR35 status: inside

Headcount x 3

Role Description

• A highly experienced professional engineer with a depth and breadth of knowledge in Mechanical Systems Engineering. Applies the principles of Mechanical Systems Engineering to Radar system development across the entire engineering development lifecycle from requirement definition to system integration and customer acceptance into system support and disposal.
• This role entail analysis of performance data collected from both modelled and real world systems, and development of a system or sub-system design to meet functional and performance goals. It provides lead technical support for the evolution of existing products extending their functionality to meet new and evolving requirements, and for development of entirely new Radar products.
• Employs a depth and breadth of expertise relating to Mechanical Systems Engineering to complex engineering problems, challenges, and issues associated with the domain. Designs and develops solutions and resolves engineering issues and problems for a range of products and engineering scenarios at the system or sub-system level, with interaction at the system of systems level.
• Provides technical guidance to others relating to area of expertise. May have Design Authority, Technical Authority or Engineering Authority responsibilities.

Typical duties include (but are not limited to):

• Develop novel solutions to evolving technical challenges and emerging issues for complex phased array Radar Systems that our customers and end-user communities are facing
• Conduct system design analysis to manage trade-offs of principle system parameters in order to characterise and specify robust product design
• Demonstrate, with significant experience, detailed and comprehensive understanding of concepts and principles relating to Mechanical Systems Engineering and supporting governance, and be able to apply knowledge to a wide range of engineering issues within own discipline and other engineering disciplines
• Apply and champion the Mechanical Systems Engineering principles of ISO 15288 to the design and build of complex Radar systems through the entire engineering lifecycle from requirement definition to system integration and customer acceptance into system support and disposal
• Support a Radar Product System Design Authority in product engineering development & customer engagement as directed
• Lead the decomposition of requirements to system and sub-system level and manage these in an approved toolset such as IBM DOORS Next, and create and/or facilitate production of associated design requirement specifications
• Develop, review and adhere to specifications in accordance with stakeholder requirements
• Direct and undertake system design decomposition and architectural modelling to subsystem level, including associated external and internal interface definition & manage architectural models in an approved toolset such as CATIA Magic (Cameo) or Enterprise Architect
• Direct and undertake system integration, test planning and execution
• Define and articulate verification and validation acceptance strategies to demonstrate the adherence of modelled algorithmic solutions to system & performance requirements across a wide range of operational scenarios, supporting production of customer acceptance evidence
• Lead technical reviews, verification and approval of engineering technical design and documentation, ensuring compliance with customer, legislative and business requirements
• Facilitate the production of estimates to support the engineering development of products
• Be a technical focus point for development and analysis activities, including preparing and presenting technical aspects to required stakeholders and providing guidance to own team and beyond
• Maintain a good working knowledge of contemporary Mechanical and Systems Engineering practices including Model Based Engineering, digital threads, cyber security and safety procedures

Key skillset

Essential

• Expert in principles and approaches underpinning design and development activities and demonstrates expert understanding, knowledge and experience of Mechanical and Systems Engineering, with systems thinking and the application of holistic approaches to complex problems
• Be well versed in appropriate Systems Engineering standards (e.g. ISO 15288, ISO 24641)
• Experience of requirements management (e.g. IBM DOORS Next) and configuration management
• Experience of working with and leading large scale complex system designs
• Experience of all aspects of an engineering lifecycle and expert knowledge of lifecycle models (e.g. Waterfall, Agile) and associated tools (e.g. JIRA)
• Experienced in presenting both technical and non-technical information in a formal setting
• Good level of IT literacy
• Achieved or be in the final stages of achieving Chartered Engineer status or equivalent level of capability and be working towards relevant professional accreditation e.g. INCOSE UK CSEP certification
• Higher education (or equivalent experience) in a relevant Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) discipline

Desirable

• A good understanding of some of the following subject areas; mechanical engineering , general systems engineering like signal processing or target track extraction
• An understanding of how the above techniques can be employed on contemporary real-world radio, satellite, radar or sonar systems
• A good understanding of factors that can affect the real world performance of sensing systems and how these can impact the accuracy and timeliness of measurements in order to meet challenging design objectives and requirements
• Experience of using a high level design methodology (e.g. UAF, NAF, TOGAF, SysML, UML)
• Experience of working with contemporary technologies and concepts e.g. MBE, MBSE, digital twins, autonomous systems, AR/VR, AI/ML, IoT, etc.
• Experience of mathematical simulation tools/languages (e.g. Mathworks MATLAB, Simulink, Perl, Python, MathCAD)
• Knowledge of the defence industry, including geopolitical influences and current UK government strategy
• Performs analysis, evaluation and resolution of complex engineering issues and specifications
• Develops innovative and creative solutions to challenging engineering problems and issues
• Is required to make judgements based on own knowledge & experience of similar situations