Test Systems Engineer

Job Title: Test Systems Engineer

Location: Christchurch, BH23 6NW

Salary: Competitive

Job Type: Full time, Permanent

About us:

Averna powered by Spherea designs, manufactures and supports complex test systems for aerospace, defence and other regulated industries.

The role:

You will connect customer needs with the technical solution, translating operational and test objectives into clear requirements, architectures, interfaces and verification strategies for hardware, software, mechanical and production teams. The role spans customer workshops, system design, technical reviews, laboratory integration, acceptance testing and commissioning. Regular in-person work alongside engineers and physical equipment is required; UK and international travel, including some overnight stays, may be required.

Key responsibilities:

• Work with customers and stakeholders to understand products, test objectives, operating environments, constraints and acceptance expectations. Plan and lead requirements workshops, resolve unclear or conflicting needs, define concepts of operation and use cases, and translate needs into structured, verifiable system and subsystem requirements.
• Establish requirements baselines and traceability; identify assumptions, dependencies, constraints, exclusions and customer obligations; control changes and assess their technical, cost and schedule impact.
• Develop system concepts and assess feasibility. Define functional and physical architectures, decompose requirements across hardware, software, mechanical and operational elements, and document internal and external interfaces.
• Lead or contribute to technical trade-off studies and evidence-based recommendations. Work with specialists to select technologies, instruments, interfaces and design approaches, balancing performance, safety, reliability, maintainability, obsolescence, cost and schedule.
• Ensure solutions can be manufactured, integrated, tested, commissioned and supported throughout their intended life. Identify technical risks and mitigation actions, support modular and reusable solutions, and maintain technical coherence as detailed design develops.
• Support the full engineering lifecycle: stakeholder-needs analysis, concept of operation, feasibility, requirements, architecture, preliminary and detailed design, manufacture, integration, verification and validation, factory/site acceptance, commissioning, warranty and in-service support.
• Prepare for and contribute to system requirements, preliminary design, critical design and test-readiness reviews. Define evidence needed to demonstrate design maturity, coordinate specialist inputs and ensure decisions, deviations, concessions and changes are controlled.
• Develop verification and validation strategies, define methods such as analysis, inspection, demonstration and test, maintain requirements-verification traceability, and produce or coordinate test plans, specifications, procedures and acceptance documentation.
• Support integration testing, debugging, technical investigations, factory acceptance, customer demonstrations, installation and site commissioning. Coordinate resolution of cross-discipline problems and ensure evidence is complete and controlled.
• Work closely with hardware, software, electrical, mechanical, production, quality and project-management colleagues, customers and international delivery partners. Communicate technical status to the Project Manager and escalate unresolved issues affecting delivery.

About you:

Essential skills and experience:

• Degree, HNC/HND in electronic, electrical, aerospace engineering or a related discipline.
• Relevant systems engineering experience or equivalent practical experience in a related engineering discipline.
• Ability to work directly with customers to elicit, clarify and manage technical requirements and acceptance expectations.
• Experience translating needs into system requirements, architectures, interfaces and verification approaches.
• Understanding of multidisciplinary engineered systems and the lifecycle from concept and design through integration, verification, acceptance and support.
• Ability to analyse technical trade-offs, manage requirements traceability and change, identify risk and maintain alignment between requirements, design and verification evidence.
• Experience contributing to technical reviews, test planning, integration, fault investigation or acceptance activities.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, clear communication, collaborative working and the initiative to pursue missing information and resolve uncertainty.
• Comfortable working alongside engineering teams and physical test equipment, with willingness to travel occasionally in the UK and internationally. Right to work in the UK.

Desirable experience:

• Aerospace, defence, space, rail, energy or another regulated sector; automated or special-to-type test equipment.
• Electronic, electrical, software-controlled or electromechanical systems; data acquisition, instrumentation, control or test-system integration.
• Requirements-management tools, formal design reviews, verification and validation, factory/site acceptance and commissioning.
• Legacy-system modernisation, obsolescence, maintainability and long-life equipment support.
• Working with international teams, customers or delivery partners.

Security requirements:

Applicants must be eligible to obtain and maintain the level of UK national security clearance required. Some programmes may have additional nationality, residency or export-control restrictions.

Working arrangements:

The role may be based in Bournemouth or elsewhere in the UK where the arrangement supports effective delivery. Regular on-site engagement is essential.

Benefits include:

• Competitive salary
• Pension
• Family healthcare and health cash plans
• 27 days' annual leave plus UK bank holidays
• Cycle-to-work scheme
• Professional development

Please click the APPLY button and to submit your CV and Cover Letter.

Candidates with experience of: Test Hardware Engineer, Electrical Test Equipment Engineer, ATE Hardware Engineer, Hardware Engineer, Hardware Design Technician, may also be considered for this role.