principal software engineer

system engineer

software engineer

mechanical engineer

project manager

BAE Systems

Senior Project Engineer
BAE Systems
September 2013 – Present (2 months)barrow-in-furness, england
Implementing a 'Learning from Experience' process and culture across Maritime Submarines, as part of a focused cost saving initiative.
BAE SystemsProject Management Graduate
BAE Systems
September 2011 – August 2013 (2 years)Barrow-in-Furness
A Project Management Graduate on a £9.1bn programme for one of the country's leading heavy engineering defence companies. I have undertaken the below roles covering many aspects of project management:

Events
* Working closely with key stakeholders at every level of the business to ensure the effective delivery of events.
* Liaising with customers to ascertain their precise event requirements.
* Developing, implementing and managing events.
* Organising open days, conferences, away days, assessment centres and recruitment campaigns.
* Working closely with exhibitors, stand owners and contractors.
* Budget & schedule management.

Graduate Recruitment 
* Delivering a successful recruitment drive across the UK for the BAE Systems Graduate and Trainee Schemes.
* Organising and delivering assessment centres, Company open days, and school, college and University recruitment presentations/events.
* Acting as Campus Manager organising and attending recruitment events at targeted Universities.
* Supporting the Learning & Development Graduate and Trainee Manager in all other aspects of the Early Careers Schemes.

Learning & Development
* Progressing training packages through the full Learning & Development lifecycle.
* Exploring the use of mixed media and various technologies as training solutions.
* Developing documentation and processes around further/higher education and supporting the business from an L&D perspective.

Legal
* Reviewing the status of all the Legal Policies within the business and creating a Legal Policy implementation plan which the business can use to implement policies effectively and efficiently.

Project Controls
* Working with the processes and tools used to plan, manage and mitigate cost and schedule issues and any risk events that may impact a project.

Site Facilities
* Investigating the availability and suitability of options for new facility solutions for the future submarine class.

Very toxic work style.  I was incorporated with just one interview by the one manager - no second interview or second opinion or thought for my skills - just needed a quick, short-term fill.  I had an impoverished onboarding, not even shown the fire escapes at work, Notwithstanding,  the offices in UK where I was based were very comfortable and modern with rest areas and kitchenette and overall pretty comfortable and well lit.  However, the gossip, banter and open office format meant that rows and meetings - if not held in rooms - were public.  In one occasion a Manager and her report were gossiping in front of me in a conspiratorial way, one then mentioned my role - a similar one to many in the UK - and immediately went into stage whisper module, ducking their heads down in front of me as if to hide the fact they saw me notice. Grown adults, the senior one supposedly an 'expert' in conflict resolution and creating safe places! For a new hire, it was appalling.  Several managers and high ranking people involved in my workstreams were off sick or not expected to return, for unexplained reasons. The backstabbing I heard was also shocking.  The first 2 weeks in the company, the specialist coordinating the project overview I was assigned to was dissed before our weekly meetings by my superior, both to myself and a colleague saying he hated these meetings and the controls and agenda did not count anyway.  This project lead left I had had 2 weekly meetings with her.  On another occasion, my superior was always joking about another member fo the team who had a name for eating all the time. He said one, in the open office  "She's always got something in her mouth, I won't say what...." Hilarious, for some.  Just gratuitous, salacious divisive if you do not feel part of the team or part of the joke. Defective example for new hires. 

Antiquated, poorly led and defective culture.  Avoid.

The Company & Product is impressive and looks good and interesting to outsiders; the pay and benefits also very good especially the Shares Scheme. 
Having come from an employment world of redundancies I worked hard in higher education to qualify myself for a career in this blue chip multi corporation. Alas once in I haven't got anywhere despite hard work and successful efforts to improvements; zero appreciation, zero recognition, zero support to improve one’s self worth, in fact the total opposite feeling deliberately held back. Same level colleagues are fantastic, some very clever hardworking and kind people within the business; we pull together very well, having to due to terribly poor middle management up to executive level who have no experience, knowledge and worse still, drive and ability to learn; often career hopping from one position to another with no loyalty to the job they took on. A real shame to know what really goes on behind closed doors. 
Ideal to coast and ride the gravy train to retirement whether you want to or not. 
Personal opinion to ultimate management failure - Project Managers, the latest fashion of the decade that could quite possibly eventually run the multinational aerospace into the ground.   


I worked at BAE Systems for a while, and at first, it seemed like a great place—good pay, interesting work, and a decent company culture. However, after a few years, it became clear that management and HR don't truly care about their employees. The company focuses more on policies, processes, and bureaucracy than the wellbeing of its staff.

I had a difficult period dealing with grief and mental health struggles, and instead of receiving support, I was met with judgment and a lack of empathy from HR and management. It felt like they were more concerned with covering their own backs and adhering to rigid rules than actually helping an employee who was going through a tough time. I was fired for things that were taken out of context, and instead of offering support they made me feel like I was just another number to get rid of.

The work environment is very corporate, and HR seems more focused on enforcing policies than addressing any real issues employees face. When I tried to address my concerns, I was met with resistance and no one really seemed to care. The toxic management culture makes it difficult to grow or feel valued.

If you value your mental health and want to work for a company that actually cares about its employees, I would suggest looking elsewhere. This company may be big and impressive on paper but it doesn't prioritise the wellbeing of its workers, especially when they are struggling.

I worked at BAE Systems as a Quality Engineer for 10 years, and unfortunately, my experience was not positive. While there were some positives, such as occasional visit off site to visit Suppliers, the overall work environment left much to be desired.

The workplace culture was often toxic, with a lack of respect for employees' ideas and contributions. Constructive feedback was rarely welcomed, and the leadership often dismissed employee concerns without meaningful action. This created an atmosphere of fear and mistrust, which negatively impacted morale and productivity.

Management consistently failed to address unprofessional behaviour and lacked transparency in their decision-making processes. Expectations were often unclear, and resources needed to succeed in the role were not readily provided. High turnover rates seemed to reflect these systemic issues.

To improve, I believe the company should focus on fostering open communication, holding leadership accountable, and providing more opportunities for employee growth and development. Leadership training and initiatives to promote a healthier, more inclusive culture would make a significant difference.

While there are undoubtedly individuals at the company working hard to make improvements, my overall experience was disappointing. I hope future employees find a more supportive and professional environment than I encountered.

If you are confused about the differing opinions across the other reviews an important thing to know is that the culture, workload and attitudes vary greatly depending on what function you work in, and what bit of the business you are sat in. Truly different sections of a single building floor can have a very different culture.

I've worked in finance at Warton in a variety of roles across a number of programmes over the last 15 years or so and you can pretty much toss a coin each time you move to decide whether it's going to be great or unrelenting misery - this is usually determined by the chain of management you will fall under.

Some management are great, will try and shield you from all the internal politics and let you do your job. Some will throw you under a bus. Or take kudos from how much work they can squeeze out of the smallest number of people. Bad managers get reassigned, not pushed out the door so one teams rescue is another teams downfall.

To work here in the finance function and survive you need to be very sure of yourself, very emotionally robust and able to cope with middle management firmly entrenched in internal politics. The weak or sensitive struggle to survive. If you can cope with all that it can be great.

Staff quote: "we achieve great results despite everything the company does to try and stop us".

a typical day at work is to provide pipes for the ships day in day out as the ship are always calling for pipes, I've learnt a lot from my time at the docks from pipe materials to pipe size to what pipes get fitted onto to what it has been a successful 2 and half years as we managed to build 3 ships over these years. the management there wasn't all professional but was never behind on work always on top of everything, the team I was working with were very good people we had are laughs now and then but always got the work done no matter what so I really looked forward to working at this as the banter and team were 10/10!, the hardest part of my work was helping out on the ship on overtime at weekends to help fit pipes but soon got the hang of it so you nothing was really hard as you learnt everything quite quickly, having banter with the guys was what made my day and was the most enjoyable part of my job as you never fail to laugh. as you may know I was one of 940 employees to be laid due to lack of work as all the rest of the work has all be given up to Scotland so it was kind of hard losing my job so close to Christmas I am a very reliable person when it comes to work and I am so ready to get started right away.

I generally begin my day at 06.30 and after the usual morning admin of adjusting the previous days timesheet to account for the time I finished working I usually run through my emails and decide what can be thrown, what can be filed and what needs prompt action.

I have learned that although the company is very positive in its attitude to the workforce, there is no structured promotion scheme and it appears to be really a face fitting procedure for advancement.

My co-workers are all of a similar background in engineering with similar attitudes to life, so I find them all very easy to get on with and work with, it is easy to source the information I need to do my work from them.

Probably the most difficult and frustrating part of the job has been sourcing information from external companies that we work with, but this is more to do with the contracts with us that they are working to, other than a desire to be helpful.

The company now has a flexible working programme that means we actually get paid for the time that we give to the company and any overtime (within a limit) can be taken as paid time off.

The only reason I am looking for a new position is the current instability now that the Type 45 program is coming to the end and the future is not clear.


Having worked for this comany since 2001 I have worked on the shop floor as a fabricator of units which make up sections of the ship under construction. In 3yrs I was asked to be a leading hand within the area I was working which my requirements was to attend daily meetings and also be first point of contact if any issues with the workscope from other employees on the shop floor. I also worked closely with the area teamleader and report to him of any issues that was raiseded from the shop floor. This position I held for 4yrs and during those 4yrs I enjoyed being part of a trusted management team. In 2008 I applied for a team leaders role within the same area and was successful and am still currently doing this role. I take safety as my main object of every day that I work and always make sure that the workforce that I'm controlling follow all H&S rules also making sure that if they find something unsafe that they do not complete task until its safe to do so. All projects that I have worked on have always been completed to the best of our abillity and was all on time and to budget which was always our focus on completing the work.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Whilst doing my 3 week placement at BAE systems my favourite part was working with individuals who showed me what a day in the life as an aerospace engineer is like and getting a real understanding of how all aspects of the company work.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
There wasnt really anything stressful about the company however BAE systems is big on security so if you forget your id card at home you will find it hard to enter the building even though you work there

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The work enviroment and culture was great all the people i spoke to were nice and knew what they were talking about. I was in 4shed and my mentor there for the placement week was matthew cunnife who worked in procurment and helped me out whenever i was stuck

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
A typical day starts of in the office going through what I would be doing for the day weather it be in logistics, procurment or something like SHE (safety health and enviroment) as well as other things.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Principal software engineer 321 salaries reported	£58,657 per year
System engineer 49 salaries reported	£40,519 per year
Software engineer 39 salaries reported	£41,760 per year
Mechanical engineer 177 salaries reported	£54,466 per year
Project manager 22 salaries reported	£48,258 per year

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