Location: Belfast, United Kingdom

Thales people architect solutions that are relied upon to deliver operational advantage at every decisive moment throughout the mission. Defence and armed forces customers rely on us to deliver the full range of defensive systems for land, sea, and air. From early warning, to threat neutralisation, our platforms cover all levels from very short-range systems, to extended protection across the entire battle-space including Airspace Mobility Solutions, Vehicles and Tactical Systems and Missile Defence, Optronics, and Radar.

Together we offer fantastic opportunities for committed employees to learn and develop their career with us. At Thales UK, we research, develop, and supply technology and services that impact the lives of millions of people each day to make life better, and keep us safer. We innovate across the major industries of Aerospace, Defence, Security and Space. Your health and well-being matters to us and that's why we offer you the flexibility to do what's important to you; whether that's part time hours, job sharing, home working, or the ability to flex your start and finish times. Where possible, we support a working pattern that suits your lifestyle and helps you reach your ambitions.

Integration, Verification, Validation & QualificationManager

Our growing business has given rise to an opportunity for an Integration, Verification, Validation & Qualification (IVVQ) Manager. The successful candidate will be a talented Systems Engineer with experience of conceptual design, integration and delivery, coupled with a proven capability of delivering system programmes.

Each role will be based at the Thales UK Belfast site. Depending on the specific projects, specific roles may require periods of time to be spent at Customer sites and/or integration facilities.

As a People 1st Employer, we are passionate about providing you with opportunities to advance your engineering career and are committed to giving our employees the support they need to reach their professional goals. This includes support in submission of Chartership applications, funding membership of a professional body, and access to a wide variety of learning resources through our comprehensive e-Learning Engine. Training courses such as our hugely successful Front-line Leaders Programme (for employees demonstrating leadership potential), coupled with our established mentoring and coaching programmes, offer fantastic opportunities for people committed to professional development to enhance their skill set. For people with ambition to attain greater levels of responsibility, either in a Technical or Managerial capacity, we also offer development pathways towards roles such as Solutions Engineering Manager, Product Design Authority (PDA), Solution Architect, or a recognised Thales Specialist or Expert.

The successful candidate will have demonstrable experience of systems engineering in the defence and/or transportation and/or aerospace domain and will ideally have experience interfacing with external customers as well as internal stakeholders.

Primary Purpose of the Role:

Due to expansion we are recruiting for a IVVQ Manager who can undertake both front-end lifecycle System Requirements tasks, but who is equally capable of undertaking back-end Integration, Verification and Validation activities. With the opportunity to work across multiple projects at varies stages of the lifecycle including new and existing projects this is truly a varied role.

Principal Relationships:

The job-holder will work closely with all members of the Bid/Product/Project team, especially the Engineering Delivery Manager (EDM), PDA, Architect and Systems Engineers, as well as potentially the customer and end user communities.

Key Responsibilities and Tasks:

As part of a large Systems Engineering department the Integration, Verification, Validation & Qualification (IVVQ) Manager will be responsible for a wide range of systems engineering across Integrated Airspace-protection Systems (IAS).

Tasks will include:

• Definition of IVVQ strategy and generation of associated estimates and schedule,
• IVVQ work package planning, management and leadership (planning, defining and estimating IVVQ resources and activities; managing these to plan and budget),
• Define IVVQ testing methods, acceptance criteria and manage their implementation,
• Clear and timely communication of design non-compliances to the team and wider internal/external stakeholders,
• Lead IVVQ activities either on-site or at the customer's premises to deliver the evidence of requirements compliance,
• Prepare System Integration Verification Validation & Qualification activities,
• Analyse test results and/or data and produce technical reports,
• Be responsible for testing, collating results and evidence,
• To provide input into project Engineering Reviews,
• Highlights any technical risk associated with the IVVQ phase to the EDM and PDA, proposing any suitable actions to mitigate and manage IVVQ risks,
• Liaises with the PDA and Architect to ensure that IVVQ is in line with the design and is compliant with all requirements,
• Liaise with test houses and customer ranges to conduct system level V&V and Acceptance,
• Responsibility for supporting PDA and EDM to achieve Customer Acceptance,
• Able to present clearly and confidently to internal & external stakeholders.

Skills:

• Experience in an IVVQ role on complex systems development / integration
• Good understanding of IVVQ strategies and philosophies
• Detailed knowledge of the various system lifecycles.
• Experience of continuous integration and test activities
• Experience of formal verification, validation activities
• Experience of Acceptance Testing for UK Defence suppliers and customers - sell off against requirements, Compliance Matrix...etc.
• Good technical writing skills, excellent communication and analytical skills; excellent command of the English language, both written and oral
• An effective team player who can interface at all levels across the organisation. Able to operate successfully in a multi-cultural environment, working effectively with teams distributed across different sites/countries.
• Self-starter, must be able to perform job responsibilities with minimal direction
• Strong organisational and team working skills.
• Excellent customer relationship skills.
• Use of DOORS, JIRA and Vivaldi or Other Test Tools

The successful candidate will be someone who...

• Is a team player with a "can-do" attitude that performs effectively in a multi-disciplinary team environment and promotes the values of inclusiveness and diversity
• Is confident in their ability to help solve complex problems, asks challenging questions to develop their understanding, and suggests new ideas to further our product offering and increase our added value
• Is a self-starter, with an ability to manage their own workload and meet their agreed objectives, whilst also contributing to the development and delivery of wider operational goals
• Displays enthusiasm about learning new skills and technology, and takes their own self-development seriously

Essential Qualifications:

• Minimum of a Bachelor Degree (BEng, BSc) in a Numerate, Scientific or Engineering subject or Higher Education/equivalent training and experience
• Experience of leading a technical team
• Excellent communications skills, both verbally and written, with the ability to present and explain technical and complex problems, tailored appropriately for the audience
• An understanding of System Engineering and System Engineering Processes and Practices, including knowledge of Systems Lifecycles
• Understand and work with combinations of technologies, to integrate and verify them in a logical and structured way into a system in order to fully satisfy a Customer's requirement
• PC Literate: Windows, MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Visio
• Experience of requirements capture and management (e.g. in DOORS)

Special Requirements:

• Ability to travel in the UK and internationally if required.

Values & Behaviours:

• Customer trust
• One Team, One Thales
• Develop our People
• Accountable and committed to excellence
• Agile and Innovative

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In line with Thales' Baseline Security requirements, candidates will be asked to provide evidence of identity, eligibility to work in the UK and employment and/or education history for up to three years. Some vacancies may require full Security Clearance which can require further evidence to be provided. For further details of the evidence required to apply for Baseline and Security Clearance please refer to the Defence Business Services National Security Vetting (DBS NSV) Agency.

At Thales we provide CAREERS and not only jobs. With Thales employing 80,000 employees in 68 countries our mobility policy enables thousands of employees each year to develop their careers at home and abroad, in their existing areas of expertise or by branching out into new fields. Together we believe that embracing flexibility is a smarter way of working.

Thales UK is committed to providing an inclusive and barrier-free recruitment process. We will provide reasonable adjustments and support to ensure neuro-diverse applicants or those with a disability or long-term condition can be their best during the recruitment process. To request an adjustment, if you need this job advert in an alternative format or if you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact Resourcing Ops for mid to senior roles, or the Early Careers Team for graduate and apprentice roles.

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