Principal Engineer – Engineering Function

Job Title: Principal Engineer – Combat Systems Capability

Location: We offer a range of hybrid and flexible working arrangements – please speak to your recruiter about the options for this particular role

Salary: Competitive

What you'll be doing:

• Define and develop submarine combat system requirements, architecture, interfaces, and functional designs based on user and operational needs
• Provide specialist technical experience throughout the engineering lifecycle, ensuring compliance with contractual, regulatory, and performance standards
• Oversee design validation and proving, ensuring evidence is captured, verified, and approved through formal requirements management and acceptance processes
• Support supplier management, ensuring technical requirements are effectively flowed down, met, and validated through integration and commissioning
• Contribute to project planning and delivery, including scope definition, estimating, and resource planning for combat systems activities
• Support knowledge sharing and mentorship, providing technical guidance, documentation, and training to grow domain capability across engineering teams

Your skills and experiences:

• Experience with Combat systems from Royal Navy submarines or maritime defence
• Proven background in maritime or submarine operations
• Solid understanding of the engineering lifecycle management
• Demonstrated ability to support end users and manage change processes effectively in multi-faceted technical environments
• Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement skills, with a steadfast commitment to Product Safety and SHE standards

Benefits

As well as a competitive pension scheme, BAE Systems also offers employee share plans, an extensive range of flexible discounted health, wellbeing and lifestyle benefits, including a green car scheme, private health plans and shopping discounts – you may also be eligible for an annual incentive.

The Combat Systems Team:

This is an exciting opportunity for you to play a pivotal role in shaping the next generation of submarine combat systems. You'll apply your technical expertise and end-user insight to support the delivery of advanced systems through the full engineering lifecycle. Working closely with the Combat Systems Technical Lead and Chief Engineer, you'll influence key design decisions, support change management, and ensure solutions meet both operational and customer needs. This role offers real scope to make an impact, collaborating across multidisciplinary teams, engaging with senior stakeholders, and helping define future submarine capabilities — with travel to Bristol and Abbey Wood as part of your work.

We offer relocation support packages across all Submarines roles, subject to meeting eligibility criteria

Why BAE Systems?

This is a place where you'll be able to make a real difference. You'll be part of an inclusive culture that values diversity of thought, rewards integrity, and merit, and where you'll be empowered to fulfil your potential. We welcome people from all backgrounds and want to make sure that our recruitment processes are as inclusive as possible. If you have a disability or health condition (for example dyslexia, autism, an anxiety disorder etc.) that may affect your performance in certain assessment types, please speak to your recruiter about potential reasonable adjustments.

Please be aware that many roles at BAE Systems are subject to both security and export control restrictions. These restrictions mean that factors such as your nationality, any nationalities you may have previously held, and your place of birth can restrict the roles you are eligible to perform within the organisation. All applicants must as a minimum achieve Baseline Personnel Security Standard. Many roles also require higher levels of National Security Vetting where applicants must typically have 5 to 10 years of continuous residency in the UK depending on the vetting level required for the role, to allow for meaningful security vetting checks.

Closing Date 27th November 2025

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.