About the job

We welcome applications from every part of the community, and we don’t discriminate against any gender identity. We’re especially interested to hear from underrepresented groups in the DfT such as gender diverse, ethnic minority, LGBT+ and disabled candidates.

Are you an experienced engineer who is ready to take the next step in your career?

Do you want to work with some of the biggest names in the automotive industry?

And are you looking for an opportunity to build on the experience you’ve gained working in the automotive industry, and develop your leadership and management skills?

If so, we would love to hear from you!

The Vehicle Certification Agency is an Executive Agency of the Department for Transport. We exist to improve vehicle safety and environmental protection by providing robust testing and certification to internationally recognised standards.

We approve most categories of new vehicles from locations in the UK and overseas.

Internally this role will be referred to as a Principal Engineer. 

Job description

The role of the Senior Engineer builds upon the experience of the Homologation Engineer (Type Approval Engineer) to introduce increased levels of leadership, responsibility and focus upon quality, customer satisfaction, business development, programmes management, financial control, and efficient delivery by the VCA’s operational resources. Each Senior Engineer will have responsibility for a number of major and minor clients, with opportunities to travel locally and overseas to meet with key stakeholders. The Senior Engineer will line manage a team of Type Approval Engineers.

Person specification

In this role you will be expected to:

• Deputise as Technical Manager for VCA Midlands Centre (MC) for ISO17020.
• Take full responsibility for programme worst case review, planning, resourcing, testing, reviews of technical work, certification and commercial completeness of transaction.
• Take responsibility for managing a team of type approval engineers.
• Work with internal stakeholders to co-ordinate certification planning and, in line with the client’s needs/expectations, give due consideration to the most appropriate certification issue strategy (e.g. on job or in VCA office) and the overall certification timing requirements.
• To be an excellent communicator with the client (at all appropriate levels) and across the VCA’s associated branches will be critical to effective leadership and customer satisfaction.
• Regular review meetings and liaison will be required. Support the wider operational team in the development of internal standards and processes.

About You

To be successful in this role you will possess experience within an automotive regulatory or testing role.

You will possess experience of managing budgets and will be skilled in working within a customer-orientated environment.

You will also possess project management skills, specifically line management and stakeholder management.

You must hold a full UK driving licence and have a willingness to travel.

Additional Information

The main location for this role will be Nuneaton in Coventry. Due to the nature of the role the successful candidate will be required to work flexibly as certain requirements of the role will need to be carried out on site.

There is an expectation for travel within the UK and overseas. You’ll have opportunities for short term (1-4 weeks) and long term travel (2-3 years) and we actively encourage our engineers to gain valuable experience in fully supported overseas postings. We have offices in Europe, U.S.A, Japan, China, South Korea, India and Australia.

Qualifications

Possess a mechanical, automotive, or electrical engineering degree (or suitable equivalent qualification supplemented with relevant experience within a vehicle testing/approval environment).