Senior Systems Engineer

Job Title – Senior Systems Engineer

Job Location – Portchester, UK

Job ID – 47276

About this opportunity and L3Harris UK

Operating at 9 sites in the United Kingdom, L3Harris supports Britain's mission to secure and strengthen the country by delivering sovereign innovation across the space, air, land, sea and cyber domains.

L3Harris in Portchester are part of our Maritime UK business - a leading global supplier of integrated marine control systems and simulation products for warships, submarines and high-end commercial marine vessels worldwide. Our Maritime UK business has four UK location and together we are powering the Royal Navy’s adoption of autonomous surface vehicle technology as well as delivering autonomous capability to UK ports, harbours and offshore energy service providers.

We are seeking an experienced Senior Systems Engineer to play a key role in the delivery of an innovative maritime autonomy programme. In this position, you will lead the engineering strategy and technical execution required to develop and deliver an autonomous vessel solution, ensuring alignment with business objectives, customer requirements, and established engineering processes.

As a Senior Engineer, you will lead a small, multidisciplinary team and drive programme success across cost, schedule, quality, and technical performance. You will work closely with Programme and Project Managers to develop new business opportunities, define technical solutions, support bids and cost estimates, and oversee delivery planning.

This is an opportunity to lead the development of cutting-edge autonomous maritime capability, working at the forefront of defence and advanced technology. You'll have the autonomy to shape technical direction, influence programme outcomes, and collaborate with experts across multiple engineering disciplines while delivering solutions that make a real operational impact.

You will act as the primary engineering interface with customers, providing technical leadership throughout the programme lifecycle while proactively managing risks, resolving issues, and communicating progress through meaningful performance metrics.

A few of our employee benefits are:

• 37.5 hour working week


• Hybrid working where possible, three days onsite per week


• Half day finish on a Friday


• 25 days holiday per year (plus bank holidays), increasing with long service and with the opportunity to buy/sell up to 5 days


• Private medical insurance with optional family cover


• Pension scheme of up to 8% employer contribution


• Life Assurance 4x salary (flexible up to 10x)


• Group income protection


• Flexible opt-in extras such as a health care cash plan, dental insurance, gym membership, critical illness cover, cycle to work scheme, travel insurance and electric car scheme


• Employee Family Assistance Program providing mental health and wellbeing support


• Professional membership reimbursement (discretionary)

What the role will involve

The responsibilities of your role will include the following:

• Lead the engineering strategy and technical delivery of a complex maritime autonomy programme.


• Manage and mentor a cross-functional engineering team to achieve programme objectives.


• Ensure compliance with engineering governance, business processes, and industry standards.


• Collaborate with Programme and Project Managers to define technical scope, delivery plans, and resource requirements.


• Support business development activities, including bid leadership, solution development, and cost estimation.


• Monitor programme performance and provide regular reporting on technical progress, risks, opportunities, and issues.


• Serve as the primary customer point of contact for engineering and technical matters.


• Drive effective systems engineering practices throughout the project lifecycle.

What you’ll bring 

The role requires the following experience and skills:

• Proven experience leading engineering teams within complex defence, maritime, aerospace, or highly regulated environments.


• Strong planning, communication, stakeholder management, and coordination skills.


• Excellent understanding of systems engineering principles, including: System context and boundaries, Interfaces and interactions, System hierarchies and decomposition and System partitioning and complexity management


• Demonstrable experience with requirements engineering, including requirements elicitation, analysis, validation, and management.


• Experience working within Defence programmes and applying Systems Engineering best practices.


• Strong proficiency in engineering tools, including: IBM DOORS (essential) and experience with System Architect and/or IBM Rhapsody would be advantageous.


• Experience leading the technical delivery of bids, proposals, or capture activities.

Desirable Experience

• Background in Software Engineering.


• Experience applying Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) approaches and methodologies.


• Knowledge of architectural frameworks such as MODAF and DoDAF.


• Broad engineering awareness with the ability to support and understand adjacent disciplines, including: Safety Engineering, Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC), Integrated Logistics Support (ILS), Verification & Validation, Systems Integration

Important to know

Applicants who accept a conditional offer of employment must meet the requirement of right to work in the UK and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information and will be subject to government security checks.

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