SDA In-Service Sonar Lead Engineer

Job summary

The Submarine Delivery Agency (SDA) is a part of the Ministry of Defence responsible for the procurement, in-service support, and disposal of the UK’s nuclear submarines. Our work is of unparalleled strategic importance nationally and internationally, ensuring the security of the UK’s continuous at-sea nuclear deterrent (CASD), and delivering some of the most technically complex programmes in defence. At least one of four nuclear-armed submarines, supported by smaller attack submarines, is on patrol at all times: 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

At the SDA, we strive to Support, Deliver and Aspire and put our values at the heart of our recruitment process. We believe that everyone should feel comfortable to be themselves and be supported to do their best work. As part of a diverse and inclusive workforce, our team will find a community to belong to. We believe that, by celebrating different backgrounds and different perspectives, together we’ll achieve the extraordinary.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.

The primary delivery location for this position is Bristol Abbey Wood.

Please note, due to the level of security, this role is reserved for UK nationals only.

Hybrid and flexible working can be considered for this post but will need regular workplace attendance due to security constraints. Candidates are encouraged to discuss options with the recruiting line manager before submitting an application.

Job description

Within the SDA, the Combat Systems Delivery Team (CSDT) is responsible for the delivery of capable, available and safe systems which power Royal Navy submarines. Within CSDT, The Sonar Team is seeking an experienced Lead engineer to manage the delivery, sustainment and development of in-service Sonar systems across existing, in build, and next-generation Submarine platforms.

In this role you will be responsible for managing a wide range of Sonar equipment to ensure platform availability targets are met. Working closely with stakeholders across Industry, the Royal Navy and other SDA departments. As the Sonar Technical Lead you will approve the design and key documentation for the Sonars used on several classes of Royal Navy Submarines. You will also lead on the resolution of emergent issues during design, build and in-service including design change, obsolescence resolution and approving concessions.

The role combines technical leadership, programme execution, stakeholder management and systems engineering expertise to ensure Sonar capability remains operationally effective, safe, and aligned to evolving Naval requirements.

Support will be provided to develop your competence within nuclear, submarines and safety through formal training and on-the-job learning. When you have demonstrated you are fully competent in the role you will be given a delegation which will give you a significant level of responsibility and authority to approve documentation, design change and concessions across submarine classes. The successful candidate will lead multidisciplinary engineering activities across the full system lifecycle, including capability upgrades, obsolescence management, integration, testing, acceptance and support to in-service operations.

If you need to contact Defence Business Services (DBS) regarding this vacancy, please indicate that your vacancy is being handled by the SDA Recruitment Team. If you experience any technical difficulties with the CS Jobs system, please contact the Support Team atcandidate@support.oleeo.com

Person specification

The successful candidate will have a strong engineering background with experience working in defence or with relevant industry partners.

Ideally you will have knowledge and experience of Royal Navy Submarines or Sonar equipment.

You will need to manage engineering activities throughout the system lifecycle, including, but not limited to:
- Requirements Management
- System Design and Integration
- Verification and Validation
- Acceptance and Qualification
- Operation support and defect resolution.

You will need to understand technical risks to make sound engineering decisions based on available information and to ensure that the impact of your decisions is proportionate. You will need to be able to work closely with others forming collaborative relationships with stakeholders within the team and across the wider enterprise to successfully deliver your responsibilities. This will include presenting complex technical information to other engineers and an ability to communicate relevant information to colleagues in other professions.

Essential Criteria

• IEng, CEng or equivalent relevant professional registration or ability to obtain within twelve months once in post.
• Relevant Level 4 (or higher) qualification or equivalent experience.
• Experience of providing technical advice and leading the delivery of successful engineering outcomes.
• Wide ranging depth and breadth of technical experience in own specialism with a broad understanding of the interdependencies between your work and related systems.
• Extensive experience working in a highly regulated industry including (but not limited to) nuclear, maritime, aerospace, oil and gas and rail
• Experience of providing technical advice and leading the delivery of successful engineering outcomes.
• This role has additional security restrictions. You must meet these requirements in order for your application to be successful.

Dersirable Critera

• Member of a relevant Professional Engineering / Science Institute or equivalent body.
• Wide ranging depth and breadth of technical experience working with safety critical sonars.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Changing and Improving
• Leadership
• Working Together

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Leadership
• Working Together

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• EFCF 3 Technical Requirements, Evaluation & Acceptance - Practitioner
• EFCF 4 Technical Decision Making - Practitioner
• EFCF 5 Technical Risk Management - Practitioner

We only ask for evidence of these technical skills on your application form:

• EFCF 4 Technical Decision Making - Practitioner
• EFCF 5 Technical Risk Management - Practitioner

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £47,600, Ministry of Defence contributes £13,789 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Discover My Benefits:

Please follow the link to visit the Discover My Benefits site which showcases the benefits and discounts offered when working as a civilian for the MOD:

https://discovermybenefits.mod.gov.uk/civilian/

This post does not offer any assistance with Relocation Allowances.

Where business needs allow, some roles may be suitable for a combination of office and working from home as part of a non-contractual hybrid working arrangement. All office-based employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in office, subject to site capacity and any required workplace adjustments. Requirements to attend other locations for official business, or work in another MOD workplace, will also count towards this level of office attendance. Applicants can request further information regarding how this and other flexible working arrangements may work in their team from the Vacancy Holder (see advert for contact details). Defence Business Services cannot respond to any questions about working arrangements.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

At Sift, you will be assessed on your;

Personal Statement - This should be a maximum of 1000 words that sets out your motivation for applying and shows how your skills, experience, job history and qualifications meet the essential requirements for the role.

Behaviours:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Leadership
• Working Together

Technical:

• EFCF 4 Technical Decision Making - Practitioner
• EFCF 5 Technical Risk Management - Practitioner

At Interview, you will be assessed on;

Personal Statement/ Experience - The panel will ask questions about your personal statement. Exploring your Past Experiences, Key Achievements or Qualifications.

Behaviours:

• Changing and Improving
• Leadership

Technical:

• EFCF 3 Technical Requirements, Evaluation & Acceptance - Practitioner
• EFCF 4 Technical Decision Making - Practitioner
• EFCF 5 Technical Risk Management - Practitioner

Please refer to the Civil Service Behaviours here and the Technical Skills Framework and Success Profile documents attached.

The sift will be completed within 10 working days of the vacancy closing date. Interviews will be held on a date to be confirmed.

Requests to work flexibly and/or part time will be considered, taking into account business needs. Please note the salary will be pro-rata where part time hours are undertaken.

All employees joining Ministry of Defence who are new to the Civil Service will be subject to a 6-month probation period (unless otherwise advised) effective from the employment start date.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check.

As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came into effect on 1 January 2021, the Ministry of Defence will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa under the points-based system, where a role has been deemed to be business critical. This role does not meet that category, and we will not sponsor a visa. It is therefore NOT open to applications from those who will require sponsorship under the points-based system.

Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected, and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn.

The post does NOT offer relocation expenses (move of home, excess fares or temporary transfer). Non-Standard move applicants will be eligible for the full package, subject to eligibility.

This vacancy is part of the A Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative. Making the Civil Service a Great Place to Work for Veterans - GOV.UK

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. There is a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

If you need to advise us that you need additional help or reasonable adjustments for the recruitment process, please contact DBSFPCP-SRMResourcingSDA@mod.gov.uk

SDA Reward Offer - Working for SDA - Submarine Delivery Agency - GOV.UK

The Ministry of Defence requires all candidates who are successful at interview to declare any outside interests. These declarations will be discussed with successful candidates following the interview process and before a formal offer of employment is made, as some outside interests may not be compatible with MOD civilian roles. This will not, in the majority of cases, prevent employment in MOD, but it is a measure that must be taken to ensure that appropriate mitigations can be put in place to manage any potential, perceived or actual conflicts of interest from the first day of employment.

The Ministry of Defence adopts a zero-tolerance approach to unacceptable behaviours, which includes bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination, and victimisation. You will not be eligible and will not be considered for this post if you have been dismissed from a role for such unacceptable behaviours within the last five years. This will also apply if you resign or otherwise leave a role but, because of an adverse decision, would have been dismissed for gross misconduct had you continued in that employment. Pre-employment checks will be carried out.

The Ministry of Defence is committed to providing a safe and healthy working environment for its staff which includes educating them on the benefits of not smoking, protecting them from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke and supporting those who want to give up smoking. Under the Smoke-Free Working Environment policy, Smoking and the use of all tobacco products (including combustible and chewing tobacco products) will not be permitted anywhere in the Defence working environment. The policy is Whole Force and includes all Defence personnel, contractors, visitors and other non-MOD personnel. All applicants seeking, considering, or accepting employment with the Ministry of Defence should be aware of this policy and that it is already in place at a number of Defence Establishments.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

Open to UK nationals only.

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : SDA Workforce Plans Team
• Email : SDA-HR-WorkforceResourcePlanning@mod.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : DBSFPCP-SRMResourcingSDA@mod.gov.uk

Further information

Please see Further Information document.

Attachments

EN_ENG_E_20240927_Professional Engineer_PII_SDA Success Profiles_FINAL-O (2) Opens in new window (pdf, 140kB)20250918-SDA-Engineering-Technical-Competences (2) Opens in new window (pdf, 613kB)20241009 - Further Information - External (1) Opens in new window (docx, 38kB)Terms and Conditions (TACOS 2014) Opens in new window (docx, 55kB)