Job Description

Purpose of the Role

You own aircraft fire protection and detection as an installed system: detection loops and sensing, extinguishing or suppression provision, discharge and distribution, and crew annunciation, across the cabin, EMS bay, equipment bays and powertrain compartments.

This role was previously combined with battery thermal runaway under the propulsion domain. That combination has been separated. Battery cell runaway propagation, containment and venting are integral to pack design and now sit with Principal Battery Systems and Qualification. You own everything else, and critically you own the aircraft-level detection and annunciation architecture into which the battery installation reports.

The interface with the battery domain is the important part of this role. A battery thermal event is the design case that fire protection exists to survive, but the containment is designed by the battery domain and the aircraft response is designed by you. Neither works without the other.

Role Boundaries

You own aircraft fire detection, protection and suppression outside the battery pack. Cell runaway containment, venting and propagation resistance inside the pack belong to the Battery domain and are not yours; you own the requirements you place on them for detection and for the aircraft fire path, and the annunciation and response once an event is detected. Battery-bay structural fire path is jointly owned with Structures. Cabin thermal and environmental control sit with Principal Cabin and ECS.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the aircraft fire detection architecture: zone definition, detection technology and placement, detection latency and false-alarm performance, and the annunciation set presented to the crew.
• Own fire protection and suppression provision by zone: agent selection where applicable, distribution and discharge, and the effectiveness case for each protected zone.
• Own the aircraft response to a battery thermal event: detection, annunciation, crew procedure inputs, and the containment of consequences outside the pack, agreed with the Battery domain.
• Own the fire protection contribution to the aircraft safety assessment, including failure condition classification for undetected fire and for false discharge.
• Own flammability and fire-resistance requirements on materials and installations, working with Structures, Cabin and ECS and the EMS mission installation.
• Own the fire protection requirements placed on adjacent domains: battery bay detection provision, powertrain compartment detection, and structural fire path and barrier requirements.
• Own the certification content for fire protection and detection, including the test and analysis evidence required.
• Define and interpret fire detection and suppression test, including battery event scenarios agreed with the Battery domain.

Required Experience: Must Have

• 10+ years in aircraft fire protection, mechanical systems or safety equipment engineering, including at least four on aircraft fire detection or suppression on a certified or equivalent programme.
• Personal ownership of an aircraft fire detection or suppression system design, including zone definition and detection performance.
• Flammability and fire-resistance requirements applied to materials and installations.
• Fire protection certification content: the analysis and test evidence required and its acceptance.
• Safety assessment contribution for fire hazards, including undetected fire and false discharge cases.
• Working across domain boundaries where the hazard originates in someone else design.

Required Experience: Preferred

• Lithium battery fire and thermal runaway response at aircraft level, as distinct from pack-level containment.
• Electric or hybrid-electric aircraft fire protection, where the hazard set differs from a fuel-based aircraft.
• EMS, medical or cabin interior fire protection and its occupant protection implications.
• Composite airframe fire behaviour and barrier design.
• Fire test campaign definition and execution.