Project Engineering Manager

Expleo is seeking a Project Engineering Manager to support the growth and delivery of our Marine Defence business. The successful candidate will provide technical and administrative leadership to a team of engineers and technicians, with responsibility for delivering engineering activity to agreed budget, schedule, quality and risk targets.

Working within a multi-disciplinary engineering environment, you will oversee day-to-day team activity, support project planning and execution, and ensure effective integration with wider engineering functions and stakeholders. Depending on the assignment, the role may include the management of projects, services, contracts, suppliers or engineering workstreams while retaining technical accountability for team outputs.

The role is based at Broad Oak and requires onsite attendance for a minimum of three days per week. Candidates must be eligible to obtain and maintain the required level of UK Security Clearance.

Provide technical and administrative leadership to assigned engineers and technicians, setting clear priorities and maintaining delivery focus.

• Manage the day-to-day performance and delivery of assigned projects, work packages, subcontracts, vendors and/or accounts.
• Plan, allocate and supervise engineering work to achieve project objectives and agreed technical outcomes.
• Direct work assignments, scheduling and reviews of work in progress, taking action where delivery is at risk.
• Monitor engineering delivery against budget, schedule, quality and risk targets, escalating issues and implementing recovery actions where required.
• Review the technical feasibility and suitability of proposed solutions to engineering problems.
• Provide hands-on support to resolve complex or particularly challenging technical issues.
• Ensure engineering outputs are appropriately reviewed, assured, controlled and integrated with the wider programme.
• Coordinate with project management, engineering disciplines, suppliers and customer stakeholders to maintain alignment on scope, priorities, dependencies and acceptance expectations.
• Support resource planning, capability development, mentoring and effective deployment of engineering team members.
• Promote compliance with applicable engineering processes, governance, safety, security and quality requirements.
• Contribute to continuous improvement, lessons learned and the development of robust engineering delivery practices.

Essential

• A degree, HNC/HND or equivalent technical qualification in an engineering, software, systems or other STEM-related discipline.
• Demonstrable competence at Senior Engineer level or equivalent.

Desirable

• Chartered Engineer status, or evidence of actively working towards professional registration.
• Relevant project, engineering management or leadership qualification.

The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate:

• Strong technical leadership, with the ability to provide direction, coordination and support to engineers working across multiple activities.
• Effective planning, prioritisation and organisation of engineering work within delivery constraints.
• The ability to assess technical feasibility, challenge assumptions and support sound engineering decisions.
• Clear written and verbal communication with technical, project and customer stakeholders.
• Confident stakeholder management and the ability to influence across disciplines and organisational boundaries.
• A practical approach to managing delivery risk, dependencies, issues and change.
• The ability to balance technical integrity with programme, cost and schedule requirements.

•  Sound judgement, accountability and a collaborative leadership style

Ideally candidates will be able to demonstrate one or more of the following:

• Knowledge of systems and software engineering within complex defence programmes.
• Understanding of marine training and simulation systems or comparable mission-critical environments.
• Familiarity with engineering lifecycle governance, technical reviews, configuration management and assurance.
• Experience coordinating suppliers, subcontractors or externally delivered engineering activity.
• Coaching, mentoring and capability development of engineers and technicians.

Required experience

The successful candidate will have experience of:

• Engineering management, technical leadership or work package leadership in a complex engineering environment.
• Leading and influencing engineers to deliver defined technical objectives.
• Planning and supervising engineering activity, including assignment of work and review of progress.
• Managing delivery against agreed scope, schedule, cost, quality and risk expectations.
• Working with multi-disciplinary teams and a range of internal and external stakeholders.
• Reviewing and resolving complex engineering problems.

Desirable experience

Ideally candidates will possess experience in one or more of the following:

• UK Defence, maritime, naval or other safety-critical engineering programmes.
• Marine training and simulation projects, systems or services.
• Management of small projects, services, contracts, departments, suppliers or subcontracted work.
• Customer-facing technical delivery in a regulated or secure environment.

This role supports UK Defence and safety-critical programmes. Applicants should be comfortable working within highly regulated engineering and assurance environments.

• Candidates must be eligible to obtain and maintain the required level of UK Security Clearance.
• The role requires onsite attendance at Broad Oak for a minimum of three days per week.
• Some assignments may require attendance at customer, secure or classified sites.