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MPS Deputy Chief Engineer – Platform Design Authority
Location: Farnborough (Hybrid) – Primary Work Base with UK Travel Required
About the Role
Leidos is collaborating with Hackajob to hire an experienced Deputy Chief Engineer with a Platform Design Authority (PDA) responsibility. This hybrid role ($million-pound, national infrastructure project) seeks a strategic leader to support a complex hybrid cloud-hosted delivery programme while enhancing professional technical leadership skills.
You’ll report to the Chief Engineer, act as a bridge between strategic vision and technical execution, and ensure the seamless operation and evolution of the Hybrid Cloud Platform while adhering to industry standards (ISO 9001, ISO 27001, DPA 2018).
Key Responsibilities
Programme Leadership & Technical Governance
- Deputise for the Chief Engineer and Delivery Lead to maintain programme stability
- Own the Platform Transition to Operations (TTO), coordinating complex handover procedures with customer and Leidos teams
- Ensure quality, risk surveillance, and issue resolution align with strategic design standards
- Provide technical mentorship, leadership, and line management (for a minimum of 2 staff)
- Liaise between multi-disciplinary teams (Security, Cloud, Solutions Architects) to refine design trade-offs
Platform Design Authority (PDA) Responsibilities
- As design authority, ensure the Hybrid Cloud Platform (COTS products) is delivered and sustained as originally designed
- Conduct technological horizon scanning and roadmap planning (18+ month horizon) to anticipate industry shifts
- Lead the development of greenfield/cloud-hosted barn applications with strategic risk focus
- Collaborate with the Delivery Lead to mitigate resource contention and balance operational vs. new capability demands
- Maintain a Low-Level Design (LLD) hierarchy, recording technical dependencies and change impacts
- Escalate technical issues to senior stakeholders and drive remediation or mitigation planning
- Serve as incident post- root cause analysis leader and contribute to Systems Concept of Operations
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Customer & Stakeholder Engagement
- Present design solutions to customers and technical workflows to senior leadership
- Report/identify delivery progress, blocker risks, and dependency issues to inform strategic choices
- Contribute to cost estimates and influence supplier/customer negotiations (with commercial awareness)
Security & Compliance
- Demonstrate expertise in IT security controls, ensuring platform integrity via Zero Trust, Secure by Design, and collaborative governance
Who You Are
Essential Experience & Qualifications
- 10+ years in technology leadership, specifically platform & infrastructure engineering roles
- Proven track record in Enterprise IT/Service Management for critical infrastructure
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in Engineering/Computer Science
- Experience with:
- Hybrid/Cloud environments (cloud-native architecture)
- Agile, Waterfall, and incremental methodologies
- Full SDLC (V-model frameworks from requirements to acceptance)
- Design trade-off discussions and Solution Architecture development
- Estimation, scheduling, and Basis of Estimates documentation
- Delivering secure software development (DevOps, cyber and CISO-compliant)
Technical & Leadership Competencies
- Hands-on expertise in:
- Handling production systems scaling & evolution
- Multi-disciplinary platform LLD transition processes
- Integrating security/ops (armouring against zero trust & DPA risks)
- Leadership experience with 15+ person technical teams, including mentoring/monitoring
- Exposure to infrastructure tools (AWS/DevOps-to-Azure), automation pipelines, and DevOps best-practice
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Soft Skills
- Bauerite bric-à-brac love for structured analytics, documentation, and complex communication (vertical and cross-functional)
- Strong stakeholder management, Karen commercial negotiation, and disaster recovery coordination
- Proactive, minimal-handholding attitude with self-driven initiative
Location & Security Considerations
- Hybrid: 2 in-office days per fortnight (Farnborough), remainder remote/from home
- Travel: Regular programme increments (offsite – typically Farnborough/Glasgow, 5x every 3 months) + routine trips to customer sites (London-area)
- Security Clearance to be obtained:
- Metropolitan Police Service NPPV2 clearance (mandatory)
- ADV Mod DV clearance (advantageous)
What We Offer
Leidos supports purposeful careers with: 🔹 Flexible benefits: 33 days annual leave, childcare subsidies, or work-from-home alignment 🔹 Healthcare: Comprehensive private medical insurance 🔹 Investment in growth: Technical academies, mentorships, and transparent career paths 🔹 Inclusion: World-class diversity initiatives offering ADA accommodation during hiring
Leidos’ Vision
"To make the world lighter...by disrupting stagnant defences through AI, cyber security, genomics, etc." Can you delight the future?
Ready to shape tomorrow’s infrastructure? Apply now. 🚀
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