Safety & Assurance Lead Engineer

 NATS is the UK’s leading air navigation service provider, handling over 2.4 million flights each year. We provide air traffic control services from two control centres and at airports around the UK. We also provide a wide range of commercial products and solutions internationally. Our people are at the heart of our purpose to advance aviation and keep the skies safe. 

Closing Date: 16/10/2025

Salary: £62,278.99 - £83,038.65

Job Purpose/Overview

To support the delivery of the safety and assurance activities to support the successful implementation of changes into service. Demonstrate compliance with the NATS Safety Policy such that the accountable roles have the required confidence that the change can be implemented and operated safely.

Other Duties Include 

• Is responsible for the preparation of the Safety & Assurance plans, arguments and collating the evidence for the Change Assurance documentation covering the Safety Management and Business Continuity / Service Resilience assurance and risks.
• This includes the contributions from Systems / Software Assurance, Human Factors and Cyber Security. Resulting in changes being implemented with the required safety assurance.
• Facilitation of workshops to identify safety hazards and the elicitation of mitigating, functional and non-functional requirements that together form the safety & assurance requirements for a project change. Ensure all standards of work conform to best practice and are proportionate to the level of risk.
• Adopt a pro-active approach to ensure that any issues affecting the safety, business continuity, human performance and cyber security of NATS services or its interfaces are identified and resolved. 

Autonomy

• Works independently to deliver assurance evidence as directed by the Safety & Assurance Manager. The post holders will routinely refer to their line manager for guidance on high-risk assurance issues and large resource/time commitments. 

Job Scope

Assurance documentation (both those for existing Operations and new Project Change assurance) including Operational Safety and Technical Assurance documents are key to enabling NATS and Regulatory acceptance and approvals to be achieved.

It is the job holder’s responsibility to deliver the assurance documents required to achieve these goals; the scope of the job encompasses:

• Application of the relevant Safety Management Procedures. Specifically SP400, SP401, SP403, SP406 and SP409.
• Compliance with the appropriate NMS/BMS processes.
• Working with the relevant stakeholders to define the Assurance Requirements for the change, resulting in requirements for Safety, Integrity, Software Assurance, Human Factors, Training, Business Continuity / Resilience and Security.
• Supporting the development of assurance arguments that are reasonable, proportionate, well-constructed and as such provide the required level of confidence for the Programme and Project change.
• Creating the assurance documentation, supported by the evidence, to address the derived requirements.
• The job holder is also expected to support the continuous improvement of safety and assurance processes by providing suggestions/ideas to the appropriate BPE/BPO. 

Essential Skills and Experience

• The job holder is expected to hold, as a minimum, a degree in a STEM or assurance‐related discipline.
• As an alternative to the required qualification, the job holder may have completed structured engineering or technology training equivalent to the required qualification and have extensive experience relevant to the job. 
• An understanding of NATS ATC/Engineering Operational Services and Procedures, such that the job holder can understand the scope and potential safety impacts of project changes is desirable. 
• Working knowledge of the principles and practices for providing assurance (such as those applied for safety, security, business continuity, human factors, software development) as applied to the design and development of systems and services to support the delivery of the NATS Operation.
• Working knowledge of the NATS Business and Safety Management Systems.
• Knowledge or experience in the use of the principal tools, techniques and method of the assuring changes to NATS Operational Services. [E.g. Goal Structuring Notation, Hazard Analysis, Failure Analysis, Failure Analysis].
• The ability to communicate difficult technical and/or operational concepts clearly and concisely, both verbally and in writing.
• The role holder is also expected to be highly motivated and actively work on personal and professional development.
• Work package management knowledge, including the mechanisms and application of Earned Value Management.
• A passion for the Safety or Air Traffic Management and a willingness to learn, develop and take on different tasks under the guidance of their line manager. 

Additional Vacancy Information 

We are proud to offer a fantastic total reward package to help you thrive both personally and professionally - for more information on what NATS can offer you please visit - Why NATS? 

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