Product Design Authority

Location: Templecombe, United Kingdom

Project Design Authority

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 defence mission systems solutions at land, sea, and air. Our platforms extend across the battlespace including Above and Sonar, Electronic Combat, and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance systems.

An opportunity has arisen for a Product Design Authority (PDA) to apply their experience and skills to lead a multidiscipline team in the final stage of product qualification and onward service delivery of a deployable Air Traffic Management (ATM) system. The role covers all aspects of the solution qualification and delivery ranging from verification and acceptance into service by customer regulatory authorities to supporting operational delivery of the air traffic control and management capability.

Primary Purpose:

The PDA is responsible for solution compliance of the ATM system to customer and regulatory requirements as well as established standards.

Key Responsibilities:

• Acts as the primary technical leader of the product team acting as lead technical interface with the Customer.
• Prepares the Design Validation (DVa) form and submits it to the Design Authority (DA) approval.
• Ensures the solution compliance with product policies and requirements, as well as applicable legislation & regulations (i.e. Cybersecurity, export restrictions, Environmental/HSE, safety).
• Ensures that the technical solution and choices meet customer/product requirements whilst balancing and aligning with cost-effectiveness, innovation, performance and schedule needs.
• Monitors, reviews, advises and assists with technical issues across the programme.
• Reviews and manages together with the EDM (Engineering Delivery Manager) the technical risks and opportunities and the related mitigation plans.
• Approves the main product engineering reviews and deliverables.
• Organises, when appropriate, technical meetings with architects, Subject Matter Experts (SME), the EDM and other stakeholders (industry, services, specialists), in order to perform the solution technical assessment and validation.

Essential Skills & Experience Requirements:

Experience: 7-10 years in a PDA or equivalent technical leadership role.

Systems Engineering: Comprehensive knowledge, particularly in requirements engineering and customer acceptance.

Compliance: Proven track record in ensuring technical solutions meet customer, product, and regulatory/legislative requirements (e.g. cybersecurity, environmental/HSE, safety), while balancing cost-effectiveness, innovation, performance, and schedule needs.

Engineering Lifecycle: Demonstrated experience with various engineering lifecycles, including formal solution verification, validation, and qualification activities.

Team Leadership: Proven ability to lead multi-discipline teams, interacting effectively with all levels of the organization, from executive management to project execution.

Communication Skills: Strong communication and interpersonal skills for effective collaboration with cross-functional teams and stakeholders.

Customer Management: Excellent customer and stakeholder management skills, both internal and external to the business.

Attention to Detail: Strong attention to detail, inquisitive and rigorous reviewing skills, along with the ability to analyse and synthesize data from various sources to provide insightful commentary and reporting.

Problem-Solving: Capable of generating and initiating innovative solutions to complex problems.

Strategic Decision-Making: Ability to balance strategic perspective with tactical decisions to make the most effective technical choices for the program.

Leadership: Strong leadership and influencing skills for making both technical and non-technical decisions that benefit the program and the future direction of the business.

Commercial Awareness: Demonstrates commercial awareness within the technical domain.

Technical Writing: Excellent technical writing, communication, and analytical skills, including a strong command of the English language, both written and oral.

Desirable Skills & Experience:

• ATM/C and/or Air Operations experience
• MAA / Release to service experience

Essential Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent in Science and/or Engineering

Special Requirements:

• Ability to travel in the UK and internationally.

Great journeys start here, apply now!