Job Description

Principal Engineer - Systems Engineering

Date: Jul 29, 2025

Location:Papendrecht, NL Bristol, GB Bristol, GB Bristol, GB Bristol HQ, GB Trollhattan, SE Hoogeveen, NL

Company: GKN Aerospace Careers

The role

For the Defense Engineering & Technology organization in The Netherlands, we are looking for a Systems Engineer. The Systems Engineer plays a pivotal role in the development, engineering, integration and testing of autonomous unmanned systems for Defense applications. You will be part of a dedicated, multidisciplinary project team within GKN to lead the development, integration, implementation, and verification of technical solutions and compliance documentation; compliant with all relevant customer, regulatory, and airworthiness requirements, within agreed programme, schedule, and manufacturing constraints. We are looking for a capable and flexible Systems Engineer for the Product Engineering Department within Defense Engineering & Technology to help develop the future of defence technology and products.

In this role, you will

• Lead the tasks to analyse, develop and justify requirements at all levels from system, item, components, down to hardware and software level, in cooperation with internal experts and external partners.
• Lead system-level requirements definition into a feasible solution by defining the architecture, system and component definition, and leading trade studies.
• Develop component and system specifications/descriptions as well as compliance criteria for the system, items, components, hardware and software.
• Define and approve validation plans and ensure compliance through analysis, simulation and/or test as appropriate.
• Work with other engineering disciplines to ensure that the program and customer requirements and objectives are achieved.
• Develop verification test methods and protocols. Participate in in-depth analysis of test data.
• Generate and approve technical reports and presentations, with the ability to present information in a clear and organized manner.
• Select and standardizes tools and methods.
• Technical work breakdown of program planning objectives.
• Mentor and develop systems engineering team members.
• Overseeing the transition of development hardware into series production, including robustness testing and qualification testing and design certification.
• Co-ordinate with other engineering disciplines and subject matter experts, as well as work with external and international partners.

In this role, you need

You are pro-active, self-starting, relevant experience in Systems Engineering in preferably Aerospace and have a good level of technical problem solving and you are a team player. You have worked before in a multidisciplinary environment and are familiar with Engineering and Technology Development. You are willing to learn and are able to arrange things. You will bring your passion and expertise/ talent for what you do along with the following skills, experience, qualifications and attributes:

• Bachelor or Master Degree in electrical, mechanical, or systems engineering.
• Experience specifying, defining and developing system / modular architecture.
• Experience of requirement decomposition and tools (e.g. DOORS, Codebeamer).
• Preferably working experience delivering system designs using MBSE toolbox (e.g. SysML, IBM Rhapsody) and safety assessment software/toolbox FTA and FMEA (e.g. ANSYS Medini, Isograph).
• Ability to design and set-up experiments and fixtures for testing.
• Knowledge of UAV, missile and complex weapons systems related technologies such as sensors, guidance, navigation, propulsion, datalinks, etc. is desirable.
• Understanding of Defence, Military or other aerospace standards and design assurance processes is useful.
• Excellent problem solving, analytical, and communication skills to solve cross-domain, system-wide challenges.
• Collaborative, open approach to development and have the ability to work well in a team, lead adaption of new methodologies (e.g. agile way of working) and maintain momentum during development.

What we offer

We offer a position with a great focus on improvement processes in an innovative and international environment in which we work with state-of-the-art technology within an organization with a rich history in the field of aircraft construction. Our organization exudes a passion for technology and our employees are justifiably proud of what they develop and build.

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