Principal Mechanical Engineer

Location: Manor Royal Crawley, United Kingdom

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.

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.

Primary Purpose of the Role:

• Be the Mechanical Engineering Lead for the UWS project, supporting product and development. To provide direction to the mechanical team and increase the capability of the Mechanical team.
• Provide support to the PDA (Project Design Authority) and PLA (Product Line Authority) in a technical capacity,  supporting in build issues/improvements/initiatives.
• Provide support to industry teams to lead problem resolutions
• Contributes and develops all mechanical elements of the UWS project, and drives future product capability
• Co-ordinates product definition, and assessment of trade-offs between aspects of cost, customer requirements and technological possibilities;
• To enable assimilation between product architecture and mechanical architecture within the UWS Portfolio.
• Support and mentor other members of the team.
• To carry out general engineering tasks as required by the business.
• With the support of other members of the team, carry out more specialised mechanical design tasks associated with design for the subsea environment.
• Provide trials and integration support as required.
• Monitors technological developments.

Principal Relationships:

• Daily working with the Lead Hardware Architects and associated tasks.
• Reporting to the Hardware Delivery Manager, keeping them informed of challenges, successes and issues.
• Liaise and inform the relevant Work Package / Project Manager for allocated tasks.
• Peer to peer knowledge sharing; learn from others and develop individual and collective experience.
• Liaise with all other Hardware disciplines including materials, systems and electronics in order to develop products to meet customer requirements.
• Reporting to the UWS PDA and PLA for approvals and roadmap execution

Key performance Indicators against Responsibilities and Tasks

The candidate is expected to monitor their agreed commitments to time, cost and quality. Performance shall be measured against individual objectives in accordance with the company appraisal system.

Skills

• Fundamental understanding of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering principals.
• Proficiency with Mechanical Engineering SW Packages 
• Understanding of Engineering Development lifecycles.
• Good interpersonal skills, and the ability to lead and develop others.
• Proactive “can-do” mentality, works autonomously.
• Ability to work in a team environment and to drive performance
• Must have Microsoft Office suite experience
• The individual will be expected to demonstrate a autonomy and the ability to lead, and influence other stakeholders.
• A logical approach to problem solving is required.

Experience:

Essential:

• Strong demonstrated experience of Mechanical Design Roles including at least a subset of the following:
• Proficient in the use of CREO & PDMLink,
• Understanding of relevant Standards, including DEF STAN, ISO etc.
• Packaging of electronics and associated cabling.
• Designing for platform installation. Ship / submarine. 
• Designing of lifting equipment.
• Producing key point manufacturing drawings in support of machine from model.
• Producing detailed manufacturing and assembly drawings.
• Providing support to the preparation of design requirements.
• Ability to use configuration management tooling to support above tasks.
• Proficient in the use of 3D CAD system.
• Ability to understand manufacturing techniques and problem solving within the industry team

Desirable:

The key areas of design undertaken for which previous experience would be beneficial will include: -

• The design of sonar assemblies and equipment for the sub-sea environment.
• The design deployment systems
• Design / specification of sub-sea cable assemblies.
• Experience working within the Defence Engineering domain.
• Awareness of Electronics packaging , EMC requirements.

Values & Behaviours:

• Collaborative and continuous improvement approach to work.
• Ability to lead mechanical team, to provide best efforts to increase TA mechanical capability for the now and future.
• Innovative mind set and embracing of new technologies and working methods.
• Able to work efficiently, both autonomously and as part of an integrated team.
• All work to be conducted in accordance with company processes.

Financial / Budgetary Responsibility:

The candidate is expected to monitor and report their activities against agreed commitments to time, cost and quality. 

Qualifications:

Essential:

• L6 Qualification (degree or equivalent in an engineering or scientific discipline) and/or proven experience within a relevant field.

Desirable:

• Chartered Engineer
• L7 Qualification (Masters or equivalent in an engineering or scientific discipline).

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.

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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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