Technical Manager – Defence - Bristol

We are working on behalf of a successful defence development, engineering and manufacturing company who are seeking a Technical Manager to support their Structural and Fluid Dynamics capability across the company.

Office based in Bristol and with hybrid working, the successful candidate will join the senior management team and will be responsible for the development and management of the Structural and Fluid Dynamics capability, ensuring that the team has the right technical capabilities and tools and processes in place to meet the various project requirements, both now and in the future. The Technical Manager is the focal point for technical excellence, resource planning for the capability and ensuring continuous improvement within the domain.

The Structural and Fluid dynamics group provides detailed analysis for loads and flight physics projects covering:

• Flight loads
• Ground loads
• Aeroelastics
• Vibration
• Test support

The group also contains the CFD capability, which conducts analysis for:

• External aerodynamic flow for support to new aircraft and aircraft modifications
• Internal aerodynamic flows
• Hydraulic flow for the support in the design of hydraulic equipment
• Thermal analysis
• Acoustics

The modelling toolsets that are currently used by the group include:

• Matlab
• Nastran
• Ansys Fluent

As Technical Manager you should have industrial experience in some of these above areas and a good appreciation and understanding of the others. You will also be expected to balance hands-on technical work and leadership together with the management activities of capability development, resource planning and line management.

Responsibilities:

The successful candidate will be responsible for the Structural and Fluid Dynamics capability, including day to day management and longer-term strategy. This is a varied role covering the below areas:

Technical

• Provide technical leadership or support on projects where required
• Ensure appropriate technical support is available for customer interactions, either through team members or personal involvement
• Manage external suppliers within the technical area, including tendering and quality audits
• Facilitate the team’s ability to deliver by ensuring the right people, tools, and processes are in place
• Act as the focal point for tools within the technical area
• Evaluate current toolsets and identify needs for new tools or upgrades, developing business cases where new tools are required and leading their implementation
• Ensure tools are used effectively to support delivery and innovation

Process

• Allocation of the Structural and Fluid Dynamics team members in line with the project requirements
• Define and manage annual budget needs for internal development of capabilities and processes in line with company objectives
• Support business development activities
• Contribute to project proposals and bids, including technical solutions and estimated quantity of work
• Hold technical checks and/or approvals for the capability area in line with the delegated authority
• Act as the process owner for the technical domain, identifying missing or outdated processes and leading updates
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives and push for process change where needed
• Own and manage bench tasks to support capability development and delivery readiness
• Collaborate with other Technical Managers to ensure cross-functional alignment and consistency
• Support the capability team members to ensure that they have continued development in line with the individual's and company's needs

Qualifications:

Educated to degree level (or equivalent) - post-graduate qualification to a Master’s degree or Doctorate in a relevant specialisation (desirable)

Membership of an Engineering Body (desirable)

Chartered Engineer Status (desirable)

Due to security restrictions on some of their projects, the successful candidate must be eligible to obtain SC (UK nationals or existing SC holders only).