Lee Sanders

Leadership to the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) engineering fraternity and business delivery. Provided strategic leadership to FAA squadron engineers, representing their interests in the headquarters, providing communication and leading on practical application of regulation and development of subordinate policy. Monitor engineering performance, develop requirements for support services, assess investment options and hold delivery agents to account for performance against requirements.

Leading a team of 80 plus multi-discipline personnel as functional Head of Department, responsible for; establishing, planning and executing training; managing equipment provision and maintenance including infrastructure upkeep; Human Resource management; leadership of occupational safety and health management including as Deputy Explosives Responsible Officer for Air Weapons.

Accountable Manager Maintenance and Quality System Owner for Military Maintenance Organisation.

Platform lead for Post Crash Management planning and execution.

Duty Commanding Officer for the ship.

As part of the Defence School of Aerospace Engineering arm of the Defence College of Technical Training, led all support and safety management of ground instructional aircraft engines, training aids and broader training support equipment. Designed, delivered and managed continuance of effective engineering and logistical support capability for all equipment. Acted as Subject Matter Expert for all procurement and contracted support for equipment, including budgetary management and timely submission of funding bids in accordance with changing MOD financial regulations. Designed and delivered 10 year training equipment plan to ensure requirements of Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and Army continued to be met, from equipment perspective. Led inaugural Technology Exposure Day for Royal Air Force Astra programme, receiving 3 Star Deputy Commander Operations commendation for outstanding leadership.

Leading a team of 20 over 2 sites, designed, directed, delivered and assured capability and safety assessment of aviation capable Surface Ships in the Royal Navy. Led development of engineering support to aviation units embarking to these platforms including delivery of innovative, digitised and regulatory compliant reporting systems to deliver significant efficiencies in approach.

As Trials Officer, completed inspections and testing to assure compliance to Regulation, Policy and Defence Standards on behalf of Aviation Duty Holders. Assessed and prioritised defect rectification to recover capability and ensure ships remained safe to operate and were able to operated safely.

As Service Subject Matter Expert, provided guidance to ship's Commanding Officers, repair agencies, contractors and Duty Holders.

Led the 40 strong Air Engineering Department's Maintenance Organisation in developing the First of Class Standard Operating Procedures to deliver Operational Capability of the ship. Worked effectively and applied effective time management techniques to meet tight deadlines, in this fast-paced environment, to prepare for First of Class Flying Trials (Rotary and Fixed Wing) and set the foundation for capability development and future operation in support of embarked aviation. Developed and led the team delivering policy compliant fire-fighting and broader incident management in the largest compartment on-board. Acted as the Commanding Officer's representative when alongside and in periods of absence, working flexible hours across night, weekend and holiday shifts, to manage the safety of the platform.

As part of a multi-purpose joint service unit, acted as the delivery and assurance manager responsible for managing the Safe to Operate and Operate Safely safety cases supporting the expansion of the operational envelope of Lynx Mk 8, Wildcat HMA Mk2, Seaking (all Mks), King Air 350 Avenger, Dauphin N2 HU Mk1 and Scan Eagle Remotely Piloted Air System. Ensured that all platform clearances, including Emergency Operational Clearances and Clearances with Limited Evidence were ALARP, Tolerable and all opportunities to reduce risk were exploited. Managed unit orders and influenced policy to ensure continued compliance changing Regulation.

Responsible to Lynx and Wildcat Team Leader and Type Airworthiness Authority (TAA) for the creation of Safety Management Plans, delivering System Safety Assessments, Failure Mode Analysis (FMEA/FMECA), maintenance of the Equipment Safety Case, development of Safety Processes including review and management of safety artefacts and promoting a Safety Culture throughout the Project Team.

Maintained and developed the Lynx and Wildcat Safety Hazard Log (eCassandra), Fault Tree modelling (FTA) and Goal Structured Notation (GSN) in support of the Safety Case. All working to deliver compliance to Military Aviation Authority (MAA) Regulation and DefStan 00-56.

Delivered a Project Team change of approach to management of safety and capability challenges; managed into service a web-enabled collaborative management system to offer a single-source tool to enable clear ownership, categorisation and progression of issues, resulting in the award of an MSc in Engineering Management.

Managed all safety activity related to the design, management and control of Service Modifications and delivered the annual Airworthiness review, to Director Helicopters, directly on behalf of the Team Leader/TAA.

ICSC(M) completed, with the award of a Merit (Higher), as part of the suite of professional Military Education courses offered by the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom. The course focus was further development of leadership skills, refinement of critical thinking and communication skills, building an understanding of the international environment and offering an in-depth understanding of United Kingdom defence management and military capabilities.

Leading a team of 120 personnel and managing up to 10 aircraft, responsible for ensuring that standards and practices were maintained to safeguard airworthiness and provide serviceable aircraft, armed in the required role and with the required fuel state, to meet agreed flying programmes. Managed squadron engineering workforce levels, supervised engineering training including assessing competence of personnel to underpin the award of authorisations, leadership to day-to-day risk management and co-ordinated the unit Safety, Health, Environment and Fire arrangements.