Internal Only- Air Vehicle Design Team Lead X 2

INTERNAL ONLY Air Vehicle Design Team Lead    

Vacancy Reference: CLA-263

Position: Full-time (2 opportunities available) 

Location: Chilmark, Wiltshire Office

Salary: Competitive depending on experience

Application closing date: 12th April 2024 

At Callen-Lenz, we are expanding the limits of what is possible. We specialise in crewed and uncrewed aircraft operations and technology, and having recently received investment into the business we are going through a period of rapid growth and development and are looking for key roles to assist with these changes. Callen-Lenz offers innovative and customer focused UAS solutions through our 4 key business strands: technical services, products, platforms and operational services.  We are looking for individuals to help drive forward our expansion, placing you at the forefront of UAS development in the UK.

Our Values

• Teamwork
• Commitment
• Initiative
• Creativity
• Agility
• Integrity
• Enjoyment

Why Work for Us

Based in the heart of rural Wiltshire, close to the Historic city of Salisbury you will join our rapidly growing, friendly, and multi-disciplined team, working on a range of diverse and interesting projects, leading the way in this exciting field and witnessing the full lifecycle of our products. The Callen-Lenz team are passionate about what we do, and we are searching for individuals to grow with us as we expand into the aerospace industry.

Our benefits include:

• 25 days annual leave per year (plus bank holidays)

• Buy/Sell holiday policy up to 5 days either way.

• Pension Scheme via Royal London

• Life assurance scheme (6x basic salary)

• Income protection policy (75% of basic salary)

• Private Health Insurance via Vitality

• Private Dental insurance via Bupa

• Enhanced Maternity and paternity

• 1 Professional membership reimbursed per year.

• 1 paid volunteering day per year

• Access to an independent financial advisor year round

• Training & development opportunities

About the Role

Lead an Air Vehicle Design team, splitting your time between leading the team and hands on engineering activities at a senior level. The split will continuously evolve as you embed further into the role of Team Leader and take on additional people management responsibilities.

Role Scope

• Working across the following areas:
  • Cutting edge prototype air vehicle design
  • Payload integration and development
  • Design maturation and productionisation
• Provide day-to-day line management of a team of engineers
• Work with the Engineering Manager to resource project activities
• Work with the Engineering Manager to ensure consistent delivery
• Support company development and continuous improvement activities

Role Responsibilities

Day-to-day line management responsibilities:

• Performance management of individuals through the conduct of routine 1-2-1 meetings with a focus on SMART objectives / development needs

• Provide support to team members including mentoring, encouraging pan-company collaboration and resolution of emergent issues

• Management of employee related tasks via company tools such as Bamboo, including approval of absence, mandatory training, etc.

General Day to Day Activities:

• Communicate effectively with colleagues, customers and suppliers to efficiently plan and deliver tasks, identifying and resolving issues
• Capture and derive requirements, developing solutions that meet internal and external customer needs within required timescales
• Prepare material for, and lead, internal and customer facing design reviews as required, coordinating and collating inputs from colleagues
• Maintain Configuration Management of design data and written documentation to satisfy internal and external requirements
• Review engineering artifacts including design data and technical documentation, providing feedback for improvement as required
• Support supply chain with identification and technical management of suppliers, including devising packages of work for outsourcing
• Support manufacturing and build teams with engineering queries through close liaison and provision of updates to design data
• Plan and execute item, sub-system, and air vehicle-level test activities, including flight test(s), resolving issues and producing formal test reports
• Develop design concepts that remove or minimise hazards, identifying and incorporating industry good practice as a minimum
• Active participation and engagement in company development initiatives to enable successful and sustainable growth
• Be an advocate for enhancing our company culture in areas such as Health and Safety, Quality, Continuous Improvement
• Support project resourcing discussions and planning based on own team members workload and development needs
• Work with Engineering Manager to define recruitment needs, supporting candidate review, interview and onboarding activities

Additionally, perform other duties as required.

About You

Skills:

Essential

• Excellent communicator who is able collaborate effectively
• Demonstrable organisational and planning skills
• Ability to provide on-the-job mentoring of team members
• Ability to listen, reflect and positively influence a situation
• Demonstrable problem-solving ability, working to tight timescales
• Proficient in use of SolidWorks or a comparable CAD package
• Demonstrable application of design for manufacture principles
• Acting as technical interface with customers and suppliers
• Excellent technical writing and presentation skills
• Configuration Management experience in an engineering environment

Desirable

• Previous line management experience
• Structural design, analysis and test, including composite materials
• Design, integration and test of air vehicle systems, including powerplants
• Electrical and avionics systems integration experience
• Experience of 3D printing, CNC milling and composite manufacture
• Knowledge and application of civil / military aerospace standards
• Systems Engineering experience, preferably within an aerospace context

Personal Attributes

Essential:

• Commitment to leading and developing others
• Ability to delegate and achieve successful outcomes through others
• Personal resilience with ability to adapt to different situations
• Ability to resolve conflict, remaining impartial
• Self-motivating and ability to work well in a team

Other:

• Must be a British Citizen or have an existing right to work in the UK
• Ability to hold Security Clearance – 5/10 years residence in the UK
• Proficiency in spoken and written English
• Must be able to work onsite routinely, minimum 3 days per week

Ability to commit to occasional national and international travel.

Callen-Lenz is an equal opportunities employer, committed to building an inclusive working environment. We welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons regardless of their race, sex, disability, religion/belief, sexual orientation, or age. It is essential that the successful candidate must, by the start of their employment have permission to work in the UK. Proof of identity and eligibility to work in the UK will be required prior to commencement of employment.