Senior Technical Authority

Worker Type:

Employee

Application End Date:

We are using and creating technology to transform operations at sea to enable people and the planet to thrive.

We are open-minded and fearless in our approach to innovation and don't believe in boundaries. We challenge everything and have massive ambitions to drag aging industries into the tech era.

We take safety, equality and education very seriously, and our responsibilities don't stop at our front door. Our business is built on the belief that there's definitely a more environmentally responsible way to operate at sea.

We employ people who share our core values. We expect our people to be courageous, trustworthy, and conscientious, driven by a desire to do the right thing. We strive for excellence, work collaboratively, and are genuinely excited by our work.

We offer opportunities for our people to develop beyond their role and span a multitude of disciplines.  These are open to all, regardless of background and experience level.  Working with us means being part of a team that is harnessing technology and creativity to disrupt a traditional industry.

We are not your average workplace.

Ocean Infinity is recruiting a Programmes Technical Authority to hold formal accountability for technical integrity, design assurance, and safe delivery of complex maritime and defence systems across major programmes. 

You will act as the Design Authority / Technical Authority, maintaining the approved technical baseline and ensuring all systems are fit for purpose, safe to operate, and compliant with contractual and regulatory requirements across the full lifecycle. 

The role operates independently of delivery pressures, providing objective engineering judgement and assuring that programme decisions maintain system integrity and operational effectiveness.  

Core Responsibilities 

• Act as the design and technical authority for all systems and subsystems within the programme 
• Own and maintain the authorised technical baseline, including architecture, interfaces, and configuration control 
• Ensure all design decisions are traceable to requirements and justified through engineering evidence 
• Lead integration across vessels, payloads, mission systems, and software to ensure coherent system behaviour 
• Ensure all technical deliverables are verified, validated, and accepted against defined requirements and acceptance criteria 
• Maintain end-to-end design integrity across hardware, software, communications, sensing, and autonomy systems 
• Act as the authoritative technical interface with customers, suppliers, and internal engineering teams 
• Provide independent technical input to support informed trade-offs between risk, cost, and schedule 

Engineering Assurance & Governance  

Establish and operate a formal systems engineering governance framework covering: Requirements management; Interface control; Verification & validation (V&V); Integration strategy and planning; Technical risk management; Defect management and resolution. 

Maintain and govern the engineering baseline and configuration control system 

Ensure auditability and evidence-based assurance of all engineering decisions  

Assure that systems are safe, compliant, and operationally effective across test, acceptance, and deployment phases 

Lead root cause analysis and technical investigations for significant issues 

Technical Authority, Safety & Compliance 

Serve as the senior escalation authority for technical and engineering risk 

Chair and govern design reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR, TRR, etc.) and technical decision forums.

Ensure compliance with: Defence standards and assurance frameworks; Applicable safety, security, and regulatory requirements  

Challenge internal teams and suppliers to ensure technical maturity, readiness, and compliance 

Provide oversight of technical risk acceptance, ensuring risks are understood, documented, and authorised at the appropriate level 

Stakeholder & Supplier Assurance 

Act as the technical interface to defence customers, ensuring alignment with operational requirements and acceptance expectations 

Assure supplier designs and outputs are compliant with system requirements and integration constraints  

Support programme leadership in managing technical dependencies and integration risks across the supply chain 

Technical Leadership & Capability 

• Set and enforce engineering standards, methods, and ways of working across programmes 
• Mentor engineering teams and promote systems thinking and engineering discipline 
• Support bid activities, technical strategy, and future capability development 
• Champion engineering excellence, innovation, and continuous improvement 

Who You Are  

The role is suited to a seasoned systems leader with deep technical breadth, strong systems engineering discipline, and the ability to influence across teams, suppliers, and customers. 

• Experienced in delivering complex defence or maritime systems programmes across the full lifecycle 
• Strong systems engineering background spanning hardware, software, and integrated platforms 
• Proven experience as a Technical Authority, Chief Engineer, Systems Authority, or equivalent 
• Skilled in subcontractor technical management, integration, verification, and acceptance 
• Comfortable leading multidisciplinary engineering teams and influencing across suppliers and customers 
• Calm, credible, and decisive under pressure with a strong ownership mindset 
• Excellent communicator with the ability to simplify complexity for senior stakeholders 
• Integrity driven, proactive, and comfortable operating in fast‑paced, highly regulated environments 

Desirable 

• Experience leading multi‑million-pound defence programmes 
• Background in unmanned or remotely operated maritime platforms 
• Knowledge of defence standards and assurance frameworks 
• Experience in naval, subsea, autonomy, or acoustic sensing domains 
• Familiarity with secure software and data systems 

Personal Attributes 

• Proactive and solutions-focused 
• Able to work independently and collaboratively 
• Credible senior technical leader able to influence across disciplines and suppliers 
• Calm and decisive under operational and programme pressure 
• Strong ownership mindset and accountability 
• Excellent communicator with customers, suppliers, and executive stakeholders 
• Comfortable operating in fast-paced and highly regulated environments 
• High level of integrity and professionalism 
• Growth mindset, and readiness to ‘roll-up the sleeves’ to get things done in a high accountability, flat organisation with scope for growth for high performing, high potential candidates 

Salary: The salary varies for this position as we are recruiting in multiple regional locations and job grades. The salary process is based on skills, abilities, and experience required. 

What you can expect:

At Ocean Infinity, we believe in creating equal opportunities for all, celebrating each and everyone’s differences.  We are driven by transforming the industry, through our technology, thoughts, behaviours and actions.  Being inclusive and respectful to all is fundamental to who we are.  It is the right thing to do and enables innovation and creativity to thrive.

There is more work to be done, and we know that we aren’t perfect, but our commitment to these values is unwavering. They are central to our mission and the impact we have on the industry, meaning, we cannot live without them.