Principal Systems Engineer

Job Title : Principal Systems Engineer

Location : Isle of Wight – Cowes, Chelmsford – Great Baddow or Portsmouth – BroadOak

Salary : Up to £75,900 commensurate with skills and experience. Part time & accruing hours available. Part time & accruing hours available’ Please let us know if you would like to discuss these options.

Put yourself into a dynamic Principal Systems Engineering role at the forefront of real world demands in the defence industry. Alongside ensuring operational excellence for our existing products, there will be the opportunity to develop next generation radar products to counter emerging threats and contribution to our strategy for new technology. Your new day-to-day will be exciting and diverse by applying the principles of Systems Engineering across the entire engineering development lifecycle as you join in developing radar systems used by those who serve and protect us.

What you’ll be doing :

Developing novel solutions to evolving technical challenges and emerging issues for complex Radar Systems that our customers and end-user communities are facing

Applying a breadth of knowledge, skills and experience of Systems Engineering principles, techniques and governance to steer and develop technical solutions and resolve engineering issues

Conducting system design analysis to manage trade-offs of system parameters to characterise and specify robust product design

Leading the decomposition of requirements to system and sub-system level and manage these in an approved toolset such as IBM DOORS Next

Be a technical focus point with a holistic understanding of a whole system solution leading analysis activities and system design decisions and providing guidance to own team

Collaborating with specialists across different engineering disciplines including electronics, electrical, mechanical and software to direct and realise overarching system design solutions

Directing and undertaking system integration, test planning and execution

Defining and articulating system acceptance strategies and acceptance evidence demonstrating system performance across a wide range of operational scenarios to internal and external stakeholders

Through these activities you will build your personal profile with senior stakeholders and grow a diverse knowledge base in engineering

Your skills and experiences :

Essential :

A good understanding in some of the following subject areas; signal processing, target track extraction, object classification algorithms, system and sensor resource optimisation

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

Demonstrates understanding and experience of Systems Engineering which could include knowledge of Systems Engineering standards (e.g., ISO 15288)

Experience of presenting both technical and non-technical information in a formal setting

Benefits :

You’ll receive benefits including a competitive pension scheme, enhanced annual leave allowance and a Company contributed Share Incentive Plan. You’ll also have access to additional benefits such as flexible working, an employee assistance programme, Cycle2work and employee discounts – you may also be eligible for an annual incentive.

The Radar Systems Engineering team :

You will be working as a Principal Systems Engineer within our close-knit multi-function radar team of inter-disciplinary engineers, evolving our radar portfolio of existing and brand-new radar products to address emerging and future threats.

This role is a fantastic opportunity to enhance your skills and invest in your career journey within a global business. You will be supported in growing your knowledge in contemporary and cutting-edge Radar techniques, with opportunities to develop your skills and responsibilities in technical leadership.

In this role, you will be able to enjoy both flexible and hybrid working arrangements.

Our workplace in Cowes is an easily accessible commute from Southampton with a regular foot passenger ferry and BAE shuttle service from the ferry terminal to site.

As the world has evolved, so has the way we work. Our working approach, will enable you to have flexibility with your working hours, depending on your role and location. This could include part time hours, accruing hours as well as flexibility around start and finish times, ensuring you can balance life at work, on site and life at home.

Why BAE Systems?

This is a place where you’ll be able to make a real difference. You’ll be part of an inclusive culture that values diversity of thought, rewards integrity, and merit, and where you’ll be empowered to fulfil your potential. We welcome people from all backgrounds and want to make sure that our recruitment processes are as inclusive as possible. If you have a disability or health condition (for example dyslexia, autism, an anxiety disorder etc.) that may affect your performance in certain assessment types, please speak to your recruiter about potential reasonable adjustments.

Please be aware that many roles at BAE Systems are subject to both security and export control restrictions. These restrictions mean that factors such as your nationality, any nationalities you may have previously held, and your place of birth can restrict the roles you are eligible to perform within the organisation. All applicants must as a minimum achieve Baseline Personnel Security Standard. Many roles also require higher levels of National Security Vetting where applicants must typically have 5 to 10 years of continuous residency in the UK depending on the vetting level required for the role, to allow for meaningful security vetting checks.

Closing Date : 10th October 2025

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

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