We are currently seeking to appoint the Head of Engineering Assurance (Airworthiness). This is a key senior role in our organisation, leading on the assurance of the airworthiness and safety management for the Air environment. The role will face the front-line armed forces, the aviation regulator, industry partners and the DE&S teams delivering aviation programmes. Internally this role supports me in my role as the DE&S Engineering & Safety Authority responsible for assuring airworthiness management to comply with defence aviation regulation.

Job description

The Head of Engineering Assurance (Airworthiness) is a key member of my Engineering and Safety Authority Leadership Team and shares responsibility for the collective leadership of some 25 plus safety experts in DE&S.

To be successful you will need to have experience of operating at a strategic level in a large and complex organisation and working effectively as part of a multidisciplinary leadership team, often managing competing priorities across a range of internal and external stakeholders. The role will draw on your deep experience managing military airworthiness and safety management as a Chartered Engineer who has previously held senior airworthiness delegations and who is familiar with Defence aviation regulation. You will be a key player in the business, and your actions will enable DE&S to deliver and support safe and effective aviation systems for its mission partners. Continuous improvement is a critical facet of the role, and your success will depend on your ability to support and lead internal change initiatives..

Defence Equipment and Support delivers and sustains capability for His Majesty’s Armed Forces. We also play a major role in the prosperity of the UK by spending £8 billion every year on UK contracts, supporting more than 88,000 jobs. As a leader in the business, you will also have a pivotal role in creating a diverse and inclusive environment where everyone can flourish, supporting transformation of the business, and specifically the assurance of airworthiness for in service and new aviation systems.

This is an exciting time for DE&S, and I look forward to discussing with you how you might become part of our journey during the recruitment process.

The Head of Engineering Assurance has the following areas of responsibility:

• Providing leadership on Airworthiness and Safety assurance, ensuring coherence between Director Engineering and Safety’s Plan, DE&S Strategy, MAA regulations and effective delivery among DE&S air platform teams.
• Accountability for managing senior airworthiness delegations on behalf of Director Engineering & Safety.
• The incumbent will:
  • Represent DE&S for the Air environment to relevant regulatory bodies, at Board level, to the MOD, to expert bodies nationally and internationally
  • Provide subject matter expert advice to Director Engineering & Safety on Air environment regulatory and policy assurance.
  • Act as the custodian of the DE&S Acquisition Safety and Environmental Management System (ASEMS) for the Air environment.
  • Work closely with other regulated environment leads to cohere safety management to a common ASEMS.
• Providing 2LOD assurance to the Director of Engineering and Safety and the DE&S Safety Committee, that Acquisition Safety and Environmental Management (ASEMS) within DE&S complies with MOD Policy, Defence regulation and relevant legislation.
• Managing the continuous improvement of the Air Engineers Toolkit used to provide guidance on common ways-of-working in the Air engineer environment and foster peer-to-peer communities of interest to help tackle air engineer critical issues.
• Undertaking risk based 2LOD assurance of the Air environment to assess the ongoing performance of the safety management system and to be responsive to their concerns. If required, make recommendations for endorsement or identifying caveats.
• Supporting continuous improvement of aviation regulation, utilising Learning from Experience from 2LOD assurance activities and audits to inform improvements.
• Assuring the implementation and maintenance of compliance to regulations, policy, processes and standards in the aviation environment ensuring the protection of the organisation. To ‘red card’ activity which they deem to be unsafe or non-compliant.
• Influencing diverse and senior stakeholder communities without direct authority both internally and externally, providing subject matter expertise.

To be successful with your application, you will need to be able to demonstrate the following essential criteria:

• A proven track record of values-based leadership, including a proactive commitment to diversity & inclusion with demonstrable experience of maintaining a psychologically safe, positive and inclusive environment.
• Confident in leading people, challenging cultures and leading change.
• Proven subject matter expertise in airworthiness and safety.
• Significant experience in MOD or a comparable engineering environment working in the field of aviation.
  Significant experience of working in a highly regulated, high hazard and safety-oriented environment relevant to Defence aviation.
• Wide knowledge and experience of projects/programmes/portfolio delivery, including major projects in a complex environment.

This role requires you to have lived in the UK for the last 10 years and obtain Developed Vetting (DV) security clearance. Clearance must be obtained without any caveats that prevent you from carrying out the role you have been recruited for. If it isn’t obtained or is obtained but with caveats that prevent you from carrying out the role, any conditional offer made to you will be withdrawn. Obtaining DV security clearance can be a lengthy process. You’ll join us once Security Check (SC) clearance is obtained, and then the more enhanced DV checks will continue after you’ve started your employment. If SC clearance isn’t obtained within 12 months, we reserve the right to withdraw any conditional offer made.

For full information on the role please see the candidate pack.