Safety Authority - Underwater Systems

Thales is a global technology leader with more than 83,000 employees on five continents. With over 7,500 people in the UK, operating across defence, space, aerospace, and digital security, we help build a future we can all trust. Thales supports the security and stability of our nation by providing extraordinary technology to our customers, as well as delivering social value to the UK with our products and services.

Safety Authority – Underwater Systems

Bristol, Cheadle, Crawley or Templecombe – Hybrid

Thales Underwater Systems is a global leader in complex maritime engineering, delivering the ship‑wide systems that power world‑class platforms including the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers. Our portfolio spans Communications, Command Information Systems, Systems Integration, Autonomous Systems, Sonar, and Advanced Data Connectivity.

We are seeking a Safety Authority to act as the Technical Director’s trusted expert, ensuring our products are safe, compliant and assured throughout their lifecycle. This is a high‑influence, high‑visibility role shaping safety culture, governance and capability across the Business Line.

Role Purpose

The Safety Authority provides independent oversight, ensuring safety decisions remain objective and uncompromised by cost, schedule or operational pressures. You will lead safety governance, guide engineering teams, and uphold the integrity of our Safety & Environmental Management Systems.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and inspire a team of ~15 specialists across Product Safety Engineering, Environmental Engineering/Eco‑Design, Product Safety Assurance and Maritime Operations Safety Assurance.
• Assure safe delivery of products and solutions, including independent verification and validation of safety artefacts.
• Guide and mentor Safety Managers, Product Safety Engineers and the wider engineering community.
• Develop and maintain safety competence, tools, training and capability across the Business Line.
• Investigate safety occurrences, conduct root‑cause analysis and escalate concerns appropriately.
• Ensure compliance with safety management plans, customer requirements and engineering governance.
• Drive continuous improvement of Safety & Environmental Management Systems and processes.
• Support through‑life design, ensuring Design Intent is maintained and safety is embedded end‑to‑end.
• Champion a positive safety culture, working closely with the Technical Director and senior stakeholders.
• Set and track KPIs, reporting safety performance at Business Line and Thales UK level.
• Represent UWS at Safety & Environmental Committees and facilitate the UWS PSEC.

Skills & Experience

We’re looking for a recognised expert in Safety Management Systems within regulated environments (defence advantageous but not essential), with deep understanding of Life Cycle Management and through‑life engineering.

You will bring:

• Engineering degree (post‑graduate preferred), Chartered desirable.
• Proven technical and managerial leadership in product safety assurance.
• Strong people leadership and the ability to influence, challenge and guide senior stakeholders at director level.
• Experience investigating safety occurrences using formal techniques (e.g., Root Cause Analysis).
• Knowledge of Product Environmental and Product Safety legislation, regulation and standards.
• Expertise in hazard identification and assessment methods (HAZOP, SWIFT, Bow‑Tie, GSN, FTA/ETA, FMEA).
• Experience delivering or assuring safety programmes within complex engineering environments.
• Ability to work collaboratively across teams, Business Lines and Thales UK.

Security Clearance statement  

Due to the nature of the work that we do at Thales, many of our roles are subject to security restrictions. This role requires you to be a sole British National from birth and achieve Security Clearance (SC) without any caveats. It would be advantageous if currently held, however, if not currently held, it is a requirement that the successful applicant undergo, achieve, and maintain SC Clearance prior to commencing employment. Please visit the UKSV website for further guidance- United Kingdom Security Vetting - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

To be eligible for full SC, you generally need to have resided in the UK for the last 5 years. In some circumstances, a minimum of 3 years’ residence in the UK over the last 5 years may be accepted, with additional overseas checks.

What we can offer

We are committed to giving you opportunities to be your best. We believe in embracing the passion and potential of our people, and to achieve this we offer market leading training, development and experiences, along with the opportunity to be mentored and coached by some of the smartest minds in the industry. We hire from within as our first priority, so you’ll have a myriad of opportunities within our diverse, global organisation.

Our packages will include bonus, car allowance, a strong pension contribute, private healthcare, development focused targets and relocation support can be provided if required along with a variety of learning, development and career enhancement opportunities. Further support can be provided towards academic and membership attainments.

Thales is an equal opportunities employer and diversity and inclusion are integral to the success of Thales.

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At Thales, we ensure equal opportunities, pay and working conditions for all. The benefits we offer include private medical insurance, buying or selling annual leave, cycle to work schemes, employee discounts, paid volunteering day, stocks and shares, annual bonus and much more depending on the role. Read more about our benefits here.

We are committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels valued for who they are and the unique strengths they bring. Discover more about our programmes, employee networks, wellbeing policies, and inclusive features here.

If this role isn’t quite right for you, we encourage you to join our talent community where your details will be shared with our recruitment teams for other potential opportunities. Join the Talent Community here.

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