Product Support Engineer Crawley, West Sussex, South East England, England
Job description
An exciting opportunity for a Product Support Engineer to provide both Product and CAMO support to Thales’ Watchkeeper Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Programme.
The role is essentially split into 2 parts: Product Support for Watchkeeper to the British Army and supporting the internal Continuing Airworthiness Management Organisation as CAMO Engineer.
Our Opportunity
As a Product Support Engineer, you will specifically support Watchkeeper to external customers and internal stakeholders. Day to day, your responsibilities will essentially encompass 2 roles:
Primary Role: As a Product Support Engineer on the Watchkeeper programme, you will be providing technical expertise and support for products, equipment, and systems to the British Army. This will be achieved by;
- Acting as a point of contact for engineering queries relating to any aspect of the products, following appropriate contracted KPI’s as necessary.
- Originating and implementing design changes to the products and related facilities.
- Providing technical advice and assistance to other business and engineering functions within the Watchkeeper programme and wider ISR programmes as required.
Secondary Role: As a CAMO Engineer, you will be required to provide support to the Thales UK Military Continuing Airworthiness Manager (Mil CAM) in support of Watchkeeper Test & Evaluation flying. This will be achieved by;
- Acting as a point of contact for engineering queries relating to Test & Evaluation flying
- Day-to-day management of Technical Queries from the T&E organisation
- Technical evaluation and dissemination of Watchkeeper General Messages (WGM’s) issued by the RPAS Delivery Team (DT)
- Carry out technical investigations as required
- Occasional visits to the Unmanned Air System Trials & Training Centre (UTTC) in West Wales.
The successful candidate will work as a part of an established team. After training, we will expect you to be able to;
- To have technical familiarity with the Watchkeeper Air System’ design, implementation and operation
- To be knowledgeable about the techniques and technologies used in the design and implementation of the product
- To have understanding of the domain in which the product will be used and the imperatives of the user and customer communities, and maintain compliance to safety and airworthiness requirements as applicable
- To address obsolescence, reliability and supportability issues arising in the product
- To initiate and advise on the embodiment of changes to the products to address supportability events and improve the utility (functionality, performance, and supportability) of the products
- To provide technical expertise to manufacturing, test, and repair activities which relate to the products and to effect improvements to the processes and related equipment
- To provide engineering advice and direction to subcontractors and assume responsibility for engineering aspects of procurement
- Assisting and supporting the execution of the above tasks working collaboratively with teams involved in conducting and managing the work using allocated resources
- To represent the Head of Engineering Support (Watchkeeper), and their Deputy, in technical interactions with external organisations in support of the Watchkeeper Support Contract
About You
Ideally qualifies with at least HND in Aeronautical Engineering discipline (Avionics specialist preferred) or time served. You will be able to demonstrable experience operating within the Defence Air Environment (DAE) as a technical subject matter expert, this could be from a similar role or associated role such as an aircraft maintenance engineer.
Attributes include;
- A determination to beat deadlines, control costs and achieve high quality work product.
- An ability to rapidly absorb information and apply it efficiently
- Good engineering discipline in procedural, documentation and configuration matters
- A practical, flexible and inclusive attitude, with a genuine desire to improve products and processes through collaboration with others.
- Good written and verbal communication skills, particularly in functional and procedural expression.
- Knowledge of logistic support imperatives, and an understanding of a number of engineering disciplines and manufacturing processes
- A knowledge of engineering change management and workflow management systems
In line with Thales' Baseline Security requirements, candidates will be asked to provide evidence of identity, eligibility to work in the UK and employment and/or education history for up to three years. Some vacancies may require full Security Clearance which can require further evidence to be provided. For further details of the evidence required to apply for Baseline and Security Clearance please refer to the Defence Business Services National Security Vetting (DBS NSV) Agency.
At Thales we provide CAREERS and not only jobs. With Thales employing 80,000 employees in 68 countries our mobility policy enables thousands of employees each year to develop their careers at home and abroad, in their existing areas of expertise or by branching out into new fields. Together we believe that embracing flexibility is a smarter way of working.
Thales UK is committed to providing an inclusive and barrier-free recruitment process. We will provide reasonable adjustments and support to ensure neuro-diverse applicants or those with a disability or long-term condition can be their best during the recruitment process. To request an adjustment, if you need this job advert in an alternative format or if you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact Resourcing Ops for mid to senior roles, or the Early Careers Team for graduate and apprentice roles.
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