Location: FAAM Airborne Laboratory, Cranfield
Salary: £42,149 to £50,296 p.a.
Contract length: Fixed Term (until 31 March 2026 due to external funding)
Contract type: Full Time
Closing date: Midnight on Sunday 20 March 2022

Are you highly motivated with a background in software systems design and engineering? Do you have experience of working on complex engineering projects? Would you like to develop scientific systems as part of the transformative FAAM Airborne Laboratory Mid-Life Upgrade project?

The FAAM Airborne Laboratory is a unique, highly modified 4-engine jet aircraft adapted to carry a range of unique science instruments, dedicated to supporting the UK atmospheric science community and users of atmospheric science data. The Facility is managed by a unique team of scientists, engineers, flight technicians and project managers forming a complete package of support for the scientific community. The Facility is supported by the National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS) and funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and is an environmental research infrastructure of national and international importance.

The exciting Mid-Life Upgrade (MLU) Programme aims to deliver a range of upgrades and enhancements to the scientific capabilities of the aircraft, its measurement capabilities and its research impact, extending its useful life by at least 20 years. This plans to meet the ongoing requirements for UK researchers, the Met Office, UK government bodies, commercial organisations and international research bodies.

This represents a 4-5 year project to rebuild significant parts of the aircraft systems, to carry out a comprehensive upgrading of the aircraft’s scientific and operational capabilities with a budget of up to £50m. Successful delivery will require working closely with major stakeholders, including the aircraft design organisation, engineering suppliers and the aircraft’s scientific user community. 

As a Software Systems Engineer you will be part of a multi-disciplinary team at FAAM and will lead the development of automation on the aircraft. This is a strategically important area of work and will involve designing and developing innovative communications protocols and systems for remote control of scientific equipment, developing software systems for instruments and working to develop management processes for software systems management. 

Systems Engineers at FAAM will take a multi-disciplinary approach to the life-cycle management of scientific systems on the aircraft, including input into the design, realisation, technical management, operations, and retirement of systems. 

Good innovative thinking is required along with the ability to work in a complex stakeholder environment. You will be involved in high level negotiations and decision making with scientists, engineers, the aircraft’s Design Authority and other stakeholders. The aim is to produce high quality, reliable and innovative atmospheric science instruments and systems for the FAAM aircraft.

The post will be employed by the University of Leeds and will be based within the FAAM team on the campus at Cranfield University.

Find out more and make your application.

For any queries you may have, please contact:

Stephen Devereau, Mid Life Upgrade Director, FAAM Airborne Laboratory

Email: steve.devereau@faam.ac.uk , Telephone +44 (0) 7500 973201