Senior Systems Engineer
Location: Bristol (20% onsite / 80% remote)
Duration: Initial 6-month contract with strong extension potential
Rate: £60-£65 per hour (Inside IR35)
Security Clearance: Active SC Clearance required
The Opportunity
We are seeking an experienced Senior Systems Engineer to support the development of complex defence and aerospace capabilities. This role offers the opportunity to work across the full systems engineering lifecycle, helping to shape future operational solutions through requirements engineering, systems architecture, and Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) approaches.
Working within a collaborative, multidisciplinary environment, you will engage with a wide range of stakeholders to understand operational needs, develop robust system architectures, and ensure requirements are effectively managed and traced throughout the engineering lifecycle.
Key Responsibilities
Capture, analyse and refine stakeholder needs into clear, structured requirements.
Apply Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) techniques to develop system and service architectures.
Develop use cases, operational scenarios and functional models to support requirements definition and validation.
Manage requirements and maintain end-to-end traceability across the engineering lifecycle.
Conduct functional analysis and support architectural decision-making activities.
Perform trade studies and option assessments to balance operational, technical and programme constraints.
Contribute to system-of-systems and enterprise-level thinking, considering people, process, training and infrastructure dependencies.
Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders across multiple disciplines and organisations.
Support engineering best practice through the application of industry standards, emerging methodologies and continuous improvement.
Essential Experience
Proven experience in Systems Engineering within defence, aerospace or other highly regulated engineering environments.
Strong background in requirements capture, analysis and management.
Experience applying MBSE principles and developing system architectures.
Experience generating use cases and conducting functional analysis.
Understanding of requirements traceability and verification throughout the engineering lifecycle.
Ability to perform structured trade studies and support evidence-based decision making.
Strong stakeholder engagement and communication skills.
Active SC Clearance.
Desirable Experience
Experience with SysML and MBSE toolsets such as Cameo, MagicDraw, Enterprise Architect or similar.
Experience using requirements management tools such as DOORS or DOORS Next.
Knowledge of system-of-systems engineering and defence capability development.
Familiarity with industry standards and engineering best practice frameworks.
What We're Looking For
You will be a proactive and self-motivated Systems Engineer with excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to work effectively across diverse stakeholder groups. You will be comfortable operating in complex environments, objectively exploring problem spaces and developing practical, evidence-based solutions that deliver long-term capability value