Life Cycle Engineer - Legacy Aero

Job Title: Life Cycle Engineer – Legacy Aerospace

Working Pattern: Full Time
Working Location: Bristol / Hybrid
Grade: SNBG 7–10

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Life Cycle Engineer to join the UK & I Mature Programmes Life Cycle Engineering – Legacy Aero team. In this role, you will provide in-service technical support to some of Rolls-Royce’s longest-serving gas turbine products, ensuring their continued safe, reliable, and disruption-free operation. Working closely with operators, MROs, and engineering specialists, you will manage issues arising from extended time in service and contribute to long-term product maturity and lifecycle planning. This is a highly technical and customer-facing position, ideal for engineers who want to work on legacy aerospace platforms still critical to global defence operations.

Why Rolls-Royce?

Rolls-Royce is one of the most enduring and iconic brands in the world and has been at the forefront of innovation for over a century. We design, build, and support systems that deliver critical power where safety and reliability are non-negotiable.

You will be joining the Defence business, working in the heart of a mature engineering team that supports legacy aerospace engines—platforms that have delivered operational excellence over decades. Your work will have real-world impact, keeping aircraft flying safely while enabling sustainable, cost-effective long-term support for vital defence assets.

As a Life Cycle Engineer in the Legacy Aero team, you’ll take ownership of in-service technical issues, leading cross-functional investigations and working closely with customers, regulators and internal engineering teams. Your day-to-day activities will involve maintaining airworthiness, resolving field reliability problems, and preserving design intent across complex and ageing engine systems. You’ll also contribute to improving lifecycle cost and influencing future support strategy through operational data and lessons learned.

What We Offer

• Excellent professional development and long-term career progression
• Competitive salary and annual performance-based bonus
• Hybrid working model with flexible on-site expectations
• Access to employee wellbeing, discount, and assistance programmes
• A collaborative environment rooted in inclusion, integrity, and innovation

What You Will Be Doing

• Deliver in-service engineering support for legacy gas turbine engines across their remaining life
• Lead root cause investigations into technical issues and implement containment or corrective actions
• Manage known and potential safety concerns (e.g. Safety Alert Reports, Red Tops), including regulatory compliance
• Prepare and approve technical documentation, reports, and service bulletins for internal and external stakeholders
• Interface with operators, MROs, airframers, and regulatory authorities to address operational issues and technical queries
• Support cost reduction, reliability improvement, and maintainability initiatives for legacy fleets
• Use in-service insights to influence the design and support strategies of future products

Who We’re Looking For

At Rolls-Royce, our behaviours guide everything we do: we put safety first, do the right thing, keep it simple, and make a difference. These qualities are essential for all roles in our organisation.

To be successful in this role, you will need:

• A degree in a STEM subject (Mechanical, Aeronautical, Electrical, or Controls), or equivalent experience in a relevant engineering environment
• Knowledge of gas turbine design, operation, and in-service behaviour—especially legacy platform challenges (training available)
• Strong problem-solving, analytical, and communication skills with the ability to interpret data and drive investigations
• Confidence working with internal specialists and external stakeholders (e.g. customers, suppliers, regulators)
• A proactive approach to process improvement, cost optimisation, and lifecycle thinking
• The ability to lead and contribute to multi-disciplinary teams delivering technical solutions in a fast-paced environment

Rolls-Royce is an equal opportunities employer. We’re committed to developing a diverse workforce and an inclusive working environment. We believe that people from different backgrounds and cultures give us different perspectives. And the more perspectives we have, the more successful we’ll be. By building a culture of respect and appreciation, we give everyone who works here the opportunity to realise their full potential.

We welcome applications from refugee and resettled candidates as part of our commitment to inclusivity and equal opportunity for all.

Learn more about our Global Inclusion Strategy

To work for Rolls-Royce Defence, you may be required to hold UK Security Clearance (SC). If you do not already have clearance, Rolls-Royce will support your application. Due to the nature of this work, UK nationality may be required for some roles.