Senior Technical Designer

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.

Salary: £69,321.79 - £92,429.04

Closing Date: 25/01/2026

Location:

Prestwick and Whiteley

There are multiple vacancies within the Flight Engineering Design Team, this covers systems including iTEC, CCDS-R and NERC

Responsible for the Technology (Technical) Solution Design for a specific Service or Assets that make up the service. Leading and Managing the Technical Solution Design elements as part of the Overall Service Design Pack for the Service.

• Within the NATS SI Framework, responsible for the end-to-end Technical Design of a large-scale technology area with potential safety critical elements within the Service Design organisation to both its Programme and Service Operations customers and stakeholders.
• Leads the creation, review and maintenance of the Service Design process for operational methods, procedures, facilities and tools. Ensuring they meet the strategic requirements of the business (Enterprise & Business Arch (STPL) Level
  6).
• Responsible for Technical Design for a Service and  or Asset group supporting the Service Designer in meeting their accountabilities for their Service Design components.
• Review and approve High Level and Low-Level Technical Designs. Approve "exceptions" identified in Low Level Designs for underpinning capabilities and prepare submissions to the relevant design governance mechanisms. (Enterprise IT Governance (GOVN) Level
  5).
• Impact assess Operational Change Requests to ensure changes are within the Design Envelope and elevate through the Design Processes where not. (Business Risk Management (BURM) Level
  6).
• Provide Technology Design representation across the service and wider with a knowledge of each of the systems and assets that make up the system/thread.

• Direct Reports:Up to 8 direct line reports and up to 12 indirect tasks related activity reports as part of virtual teams.
• Total Direct and Indirect Reports:Up to 20 employees.
• Financial:No direct financial accountabilities but significantly influences the D-SESAR Programme delivery budget through cost effective and timely Design decisions.
• Complexity:The post is subject to overall guidance from the Head of Service Design and Service Designer and will involve complex Service design and stakeholder management and including internal/external customers/service providers.
• Scale: The role will be leading a large-scale Technology area but with limited Safety critical elements or taking a senior role within a Technology area with significant Safety critical elements.
• Stakeholder Management:This post will require a high degree of experience in management Senior Stakeholders from across the Business up to and including Director Level. Ability to understand their Stakeholder needs and how and when to influence them to achieve support for the Service Design decisions required.

• The ability to identify Design issues and challenges before they impact project or service delivery as well as any corrective change actions required. Be able to coordinate disparate teams to tight timescales with little or no additional support.
• Expected to apply own judgement and expertise to determine the course of action required to resolve complex Technical (Technology) Design decisions within the Design Governance processes. Determines when issues should be escalated to a higher level.

• The job of Technical Designer fits into the ITIL role for Service Design Management reporting to the Service Designer (Service Design Manager) specific roles are technical design, architecture and design authority for the technologies used in the service.

• Be able to identify short term Design decisions that can resolve Programmatic challenges in a way that does not undermine the Safety assurance or undermine the Roadmap for the…