Learning, progressing, and achieving work-life balance

Janet

Job: Chief Engineer, Air

Function: Engineering

Making safety a priority

The focus of my role is safety and airworthiness for the fixed wing aircraft in the UK Military Flight Training System (UKMFTS). As part of the Air domain, I manage processes and activity to ensure aircraft within the portfolio I oversee are safe and fit to fly, and make sure that any modifications are properly certified. I look at different stages of our engineering processes, assess any elements that could go wrong, and reduce any risk associated with that.

My pathway into engineering

I joined DE&S in 1998. Straight out of school, I took a gap year to work at the Student Engineering and Training Centre in Malvern. The centre no longer exists, but it used to be a place where engineers could go and learn workshop skills and engineering management before doing an engineering degree sponsored by the organisation – mine was in aeronautical engineering. I did some really interesting placements during that time, including working on Eurofighter in Munich and at Marshall Aerospace in Cambridge. You could work in various project teams while at university too, and then join full-time via the graduate scheme.

My first role after completing the scheme was working on training system requirements for an uncrewed air system, Watchkeeper. Then I progressed to a role specifically focusing on the airworthiness aspect of uncrewed air vehicles, and then a role working with the F-35 Lightning fighter jets – Lightning and airworthiness have been common themes in my career ever since!

“The variety of work and the fascinating technology you get to see – that’s why I love my job. When you go to an air show or watch the news and can pick out the different aircraft projects that you’ve worked on, it makes you truly see how the capability you’ve worked on for the front line can make a real difference.”

– Janet, DE&S Chief Engineer

Honing my specialism through study

I went on to study two masters’ degrees at Cranfield University. The first in Military Airworthiness, followed later by one in Programme and Project Management. Both were funded by DE&S, and I was given time off to study so I could fit this around my day-to-day job and home life. This is a route a lot of people take advantage of in our Engineering function and a great way to hone your specialism.

Fascinating work supporting UK Defence

The variety of work and the fascinating technology you get to see – that’s why I love my job. When you go to an air show or watch the news and can pick out the different aircraft projects that you’ve worked on and see how effective the technology can be for different conflict zones, it makes you truly see how the capability you’ve worked on for the front line can make a real difference.

Discovering new horizons

I had an amazing opportunity to work for DE&S in Washington DC for three years, as the Delegated Airworthiness Agent for Lightning. My role involved making sure we had all of the safety and airworthiness systems in place, to bring the first UK F-35s into service.

That opportunity gave us the chance to go on so many interesting holidays too – we did RV trips all over the place, going to national parks, and taking city breaks. I’d say it was the highlight of my career!

I moved back a little earlier than originally planned, as my wife and I really wanted to have children and raise them back in the UK. I was offered a promotion and the chance to work as an Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) Manager for Apache helicopters, leading a project to assess the common processes across different air platform teams, to unify them and drive efficiency. Taking the next step up again, I was offered a role back within the Lightning team, as the Lead Engineer for the propulsion system.

I did that role for a couple of years and then became the Deputy Chief Engineer for Lightning. After that, I took on a holding role for four months as an Air Support Safety and Engineering Team Leader, before moving into my current role as Chief Engineer for the UKMFTS, which manages the service for training UK Armed Forces aircrew to operate aircraft.

“I had an amazing opportunity to work for DE&S in Washington DC for three years, as the Delegated Airworthiness Agent for Lightning. We did RV trips all over the place, going to national parks, and taking city breaks. I’d say it was the highlight of my career!”

Hitting new goals

In my role as Lead Engineer, I was proud to become a Type Airworthiness Authority (TAA). It’s always been an ambition of mine. That’s someone who holds personal accountability for aircraft design airworthiness. It’s effectively a license given by our Director Combat Air, underwritten by the Military Aviation Authority based on professional qualifications and experience. With this, you are given an official Letter of Airworthiness Authority (LoAA) to show that you’ve met this high professional standard.

There are lots of steps to take to work towards an LoAA, including gaining experience with a variety of teams and systems. You tend to start with an aircraft sub-system – like hydraulics, electrical, or propulsion – analysing the sub-system and reporting any risks, and progress from there to whole platforms, and sometimes multiple platforms. You need to hold an engineering degree and engineering chartership, and undertake courses to understand Military Aviation Authority regulations (on topics like safety and structural integrity). You’ll also participate in courses for the specific aircraft you work on as well. It sounds like a lot but it’s essential to ensure the aircraft our military use are as safe as possible, no matter what environment they’re in – whether that’s at sea, in a desert, or in a jungle. It’s a huge responsibility!

Inspiring future female leaders

As part of the Lightning team, I had an amazing boss who really inspired me. She helped me start believing in myself: she challenged me, in a good way, and never undermined my authority. At the time, I’d never had a female manager before – though it’s brilliant to see far more women in engineering management positions now! It made me want to take my experience and pass it down to the other women on my team. To be a role model for them and give them the opportunities to succeed too.

I’m involved in lots of activities as part of our Women in Engineering staff network. It’s a great place to promote the work female engineers are doing here, including an annual celebration of some of our inspiring colleagues for International Women in Engineering Day.

We know that women are still underrepresented in the engineering industry, and more so in more senior positions. For me personally, it’s important that female engineers can see themselves represented at all levels, because the more you have visibility of female engineering leaders, the more you believe you can be one yourself. That’s why I’m a STEM ambassador, because the more we encourage young women to consider engineering as an option early on, and encourage girls to keep studying science and maths subjects from a young age, the more diverse and representative the industry will become. And the more women are represented in the engineering industry, the greater parity we’ll feel.

Finding the balance with childcare

When we had our first child, it was just as Shared Parental Leave was being introduced. That enabled me to take six months off, and then my wife (who also works for the MOD) also took six months off. It was great to be able to share that leave evenly and a lovely opportunity to have that much time with our child in those early stages.

Flexible and hybrid working has also definitely helped us find our work-life balance. Having the ability to work from home or in the office as needed makes a massive difference for the parents here. And because of that flexibility, you end up being able to give more back to the organisation too, so it really is win-win.

We’ve also both been able to work a nine-day fortnight by adopting compressed hours. We both alternate in having Mondays off, originally to reduce childcare costs but now useful for catching up on life admin or doing something nice. When I moved teams, it was important to me that I could continue to do this, and the team’s been so supportive, moving key meetings to make sure I would still be able to go.

“Flexible and hybrid working has also definitely helped us find our work-life balance. Having the ability to work from home or in the office as needed makes a massive difference for the parents here.”

What’s next?

I’ve spent the last decade working towards my goal of becoming a TAA – and I’m really enjoying it. Next, I’d see myself doing the same role but for another aircraft when I’m ready for a change. I’d like to progress up the career ladder again further down the line and see what challenges might be available at our Senior Leadership level.

I’m also really interested in sustainable development and so I’d love to get more involved in how we make aviation greener through new technologies, such as new fuels, less carbon-intensive kit, and innovative propulsion systems.

Advice for aspiring engineers

Here are my tips for anyone aspiring to become an engineer:

See if there’s anyone you know, or a friend of a friend, who’s an engineer, who would be happy to chat with you about what they do
Research all the different engineering institutions to work out what type of engineering you’re interest in
Apply for a work experience placement to develop your understanding and show your passion and enthusiasm for this area, ready for completing your university application
Later on, I really recommend becoming a member of an engineering institution if you can. And if you can attend any of their lectures or conferences, even better!
Go after whatever specialism interests you – and do not think that anything is closed off to you because of your gender!