Chief Engineer

Role Summary

Reporting to the Site Engineering Manager, the Chief Engineer will provide technical leadership and focus on technical excellence within the Engineering Department, primarily overseeing Integrated Project Teams responsible for the development, manufacture and support of technical solutions that meet customer, business, regulatory, safety and human factors requirements.

• Act as a key member of the Engineering Leadership Team and Site Airworthiness Board, responsible for initial and continued airworthiness and serving as a Company Design Signatory.
• Provide interface with external certification authorities, approval bodies and the Site Production Organisation.
• Work with customers and certification authorities to define requirements and architecture for safety‑critical equipment, and with electronics, software and mechanical engineers to ensure equipment meets customer needs.
• Implement structured engineering solutions across the development lifecycle in accordance with regulatory, customer and business needs, delivering against agreed technical, quality, cost and schedule requirements.
• Ensure product safety and compliance with legislative, regulatory and customer requirements (including environmental and physical requirements).
• Review high‑level product documentation for compliance to process and certification demands, and sign as the accountable engineer for airworthiness, including DDPs.
• Serve on the Airworthiness Board, meeting at regular intervals and ad‑hoc as required, taking time‑sensitive actions and issuing notifications to operators and regulators where safety implications exist.
• Chair Change Control Board meetings.
• Chair and disposition Product Development Reviews, judging pass/fail versus standard business process preset conditions.
• Review Engineering Problem Reports, chair Problem Review Boards to agree resolutions and subsequent actions.
• Ensure engineering processes comply with relevant civil aviation regulations.
• Chair or co‑chair the Engineering Continuous Improvement Steering Committee.
• Coordinate training in key systems and safety industry standards.
• Support STEM activities and development of early‑career engineers towards professional registration.
• Support university engagements, both technology development and recruitment.
• Work with auditors to demonstrate compliance against AS9100.

• Knowledge of ED-79B, ED-12C, ED-80 and ability to plan a system development lifecycle.
• Knowledge of ED-135 and ability to review system safety documentation.
• Product certification experience in aerospace, acting as point of contact with UK CAA certification manager, coordinating internal and external communication, presenting certification plans and resolving certification issues.
• Knowledge of UK civil certification regulations (CS-ETSO, CS-23/25/27/29, GM and AMC).
• Knowledge of change and configuration control systems.
• Ability to assess and validate system requirements, identify conflicting demands and constraints, review in the context of product certification plans.
• Ability to apply engineering principles, analytical methods, system modelling to assess designs for strengths and weaknesses.
• Ability to critically review systems architecture documentation.
• Experience of system testing and DO160G qualification testing.
• Experience diagnosing faults and implementing corrective actions.
• 15+ years’ experience in avionics systems certification (desirable).
• Experience with product certification with regulators such as UK CAA, EASA or FAA (desirable).
• Chartered Engineer (CEng) designation (desirable).

• Funded membership of a professional body.
• Focused career development planning with opportunities to progress.
• Pension scheme with up to 10% matching company contribution.
• Income protection scheme.
• Life assurance equal to 4x basic salary.
• Share buying scheme.
• 25 days holiday, plus bank holidays, with option to buy and sell up to 5 days.
• Service‑related holiday (3 years = 1 day and increase up to max 5 days).
• Cash plan or private medical cover.
• Employee assistance programme for health and wellbeing.
• Free on‑site car parking.
• Employee referral scheme.
• On‑site restaurant and Starbucks offering subsidised food.
• Employee perks discount on a variety of goods and services.

Parker is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on grounds of age, race, religion, ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation or disability in relation to recruitment and employment.