Technical Lead; Systems Engineering

Description

Technical Lead - Systems Engineering

Location: Farnborough, or other Leidos UK Offices with flexibility to work from home dependent on business demands

Looking for an opportunity to make an impact?

Leidos is seeking an experienced Technical Lead (Systems Engineering) to play a pivotal role on a critical national infrastructure Programme, one of Leidos UK’s flagship delivery programmes supporting a high‑profile government customer.

The Technical Lead will provide hands‑on technical leadership across complex, multi‑supplier systems, applying systems engineering best practice to the design, integration, change and assurance of mission‑critical IT services. Working closely with the Chief Engineer, Architects, Project Managers, Infrastructure, Networks and Software teams, the role ensures that solutions delivered by Leidos are technically sound, secure, and fit‑for‑purpose.

This is a leadership role that combines deep technical expertise, systems thinking, and stakeholder engagement, with accountability for guiding teams through change, risk and technical decision‑making.

• Act as Technical Lead for systems engineering activities within assigned work streams or projects.
• Provide authoritative technical direction across on‑premise and cloud‑hosted systems, ensuring coherence across infrastructure, networks, applications and services.
• Lead technical decision‑making, trade‑offs, and design assurance in line with programme and customer requirements.

• Apply Systems Engineering principles across the full engineering lifecycle (V‑Model), including requirements, design, integration, verification and transition to service.
• Own and assure key engineering artefacts, including impact assessments, high‑level and low‑level designs, and technical change documentation.
• Ensure designs are aligned with programme architecture, security constraints, and operational needs.

• Lead the technical impact assessment of Requests for Change (RFCs) and new requirements.
• Clearly define technical scope, dependencies, risks and estimates for change delivery.
• Support Project Managers with technically robust inputs to planning, costing and scheduling.

• Work directly with customer technical stakeholders to elicit, clarify and refine requirements.
• Act as a trusted technical authority, able to explain complex technical topics clearly to both technical and non‑technical audiences.
• Collaborate effectively across Leidos engineering disciplines and third‑party suppliers.

• Ensure compliance with Leidos engineering standards, programme governance, and security policies.
• Identify technical risks early and define mitigation strategies.
• Support technical reviews, audits, and assurance activities as required.

• Provide technical mentoring and coaching to junior and mid‑level engineers.
• Promote good engineering practice, reuse of patterns, and continuous improvement across the programme.
• Contribute to the development of common ways of working and engineering maturity within the programme.

• Proven experience as a Technical Lead or Senior Systems Engineer on large‑scale, complex IT programmes.
• Strong grounding in Systems Engineering concepts and lifecycle management.
• Broad technical understanding across:
  • Infrastructure (compute, storage, virtualisation)
  • Networks
  • Applications and integrations
  • Hybrid and/or cloud environments
• Experience leading technical design, integration and change in a controlled, high‑assurance environment.
• Ability to assess technical risk, manage dependencies, and make sound engineering decisions.
• Excellent communication skills, with experience engaging customers and senior stakeholders.

• Experience working on UK government, defence or critical national infrastructure programmes.
• Familiarity with IT service delivery environments and operational constraints.
• Knowledge of security‑driven design and working within secure environments.
• Experience influencing technical strategy across multi‑supplier ecosystems.