Job Title: Chief Engineer
Location: Plymouth, Devon or Stoke Gifford, Bristol or Faslane, Helensburgh or Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria + Hybrid Working Arrangements
Compensation: Competitive salary + Benefits
Role Type: Full time / Permanent
Role ID: SF67717
Lead the Future of Defence Engineering
At Babcock we’re working to create a safe and secure world, together, and if you join us, you can play your part as the Chief Engineer in the submarine build programme.
The role
As a Chief Engineer, you’ll have a role that’s out of the ordinary. You’ll utilise your expertise to provide strategic engineering leadership across the Nuclear Sector within your defined Authority, ensuring integrated, efficient solutions and end-to-end support throughout the full engineering lifecycle. Specific to this role you will be expected to participate as a member of the joint design authority with our partners within the next SSN delivery programme.
Day to day, you’ll drive engineering leadership across the Nuclear Sector, championing excellence and integrity in delivery teams while cultivating transparent collaboration across the wider sector and global business.
- Lead the local execution of the Independent Technical Authority (ITA) responsibilities, aligned with Group and Sector Engineering Manuals
- Ensure engineering delivery within your remit complies with all relevant Group and Sector policies, practices, and procedures.
- Assure the technical integrity and quality of all engineering outputs within your scope of accountability.
- Oversee and validate the Suitably Qualified and Experienced Personnel (SQEP), capacity, and capability across the Sector Engineering Function
- Provide expert guidance and share lessons learned from the wider business.
This role is full time, 35 hours per week and provides hybrid working arrangements with 2 days in office/onsite and can be based at any of the Devonport, Bristol or Clyde Babcock sites or at the Barrow shipyard. There is a requirement to be flexible to travel and work across a range of Babcock sites as the business needs with frequent travel to Barrow and Bristol.
Essential experience of the Chief Engineer
- Extensive inclusive leadership experience in the Nuclear or other safety-critical industries.
- Proven track record of engineering leadership and stakeholder management, preferably with nuclear sector exposure.
- Skilled in managing engineering across multiple lifecycle phases in high-hazard environments, in particular a knowledge of submarine in-service support and it’s deployment at Clyde and/or Devonport is essential.
- Strong executive-level communication, stakeholder engagement and inter-personal skills.
- Inquisitive, open-minded, and pragmatic approach to leadership and problem-solving.
Qualifications for the Chief Engineer
- Degree (or equivalent) in Engineering or a related field.
- Member of a recognised professional engineering institution.
- Chartered Engineer status (or equivalent professional standing).
Security Clearance
The successful candidate must be able to achieve and maintain Security Check (SC) security clearance for this role.
Many of the positions within our company are subject to national security clearance and Trade Control restrictions. This means that your eligibility for certain roles may be affected by your place of birth, nationality, current or former citizenship, and any residency you hold or have held. Further details are available at United Kingdom Security Vetting: clearance levels - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
What we offer
- Generous holiday allowance
- Matched contribution pension scheme, with life assurance
- Access to a Digital GP, annual health check, and nutritional consultations through Aviva DigiCare+
- Employee share scheme
- Employee shopping savings portal
- Payment of Professional Fees
- Reservists in the armed forces receive 10-days special paid leave
- Holiday Trading is a benefit that allows UK Babcock employees to buy additional leave or to sell up to one working week of annual leave from their annual entitlement. There is an annual Window to request this benefit. ‘Be Kind Day’ enables employees to take one working day's paid leave a year (or equivalent hours) to undertake volunteering work with their chosen organisation or registered charity
Excellent development opportunities and benefits package including an employee assistance programme supporting physical, mental and financial wellbeing.
Babcock
We’re Babcock — a global FTSE 100 organisation with over 26,000 people working together to make a difference.
Here, you’ll be part of something bigger. From initial design to final decommissioning, your work will contribute to products and services that are essential to national security and public infrastructure. Together, we’re building a future that lasts — not just through the impact we make, but through meaningful careers that respect your work-life balance.
We call that lifetime engineering.
Join us and see how far we can go, together.
We are a disability confident committed employer. If you have a disability or need any reasonable adjustments during the application and selection stages, please email careers@babcockinternational.com with the subject header ‘Reasonable adjustments requirement’. We’re committed to building an inclusive culture where everyone’s free to thrive. We are happy to talk about flexible working – please ask about alternative patterns of work at interview.
Closing date: 15/05/2026
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