Lee Sanders

Lee Sanders CEng CMgr MIMechE MIIRSM is Safety Engineering Manager at L3Harris Maritime UK where he leads safety engineering activity supporting complex maritime systems and programmes. He joined L3Harris in 2025 following a 26-year career in the Royal Navy, retiring as a Lieutenant Commander Air Engineering Officer.  During his Naval career Lee held engineering leadership, development, trials and operational appointments across the Fleet Air Arm, Defence Equipment & Support and deployed maritime forces. Most relevantly, he served as Senior Air Engineer Officer in HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH, working as part of the ship’s senior engineering organisation on the Royal Navy’s largest and most highly integrated warship; that appointment provided first-hand experience of the operational demands created by platform scale, system complexity, reduced manning and the requirement to maintain effective command and situational awareness during demanding shipboard evolutions.  His previous appointments include engineering leadership within a Naval Air Squadron, roles within the Lynx and Wildcat Delivery Team organisation and deployment in support of maritime operations. He holds a BEng in Mechanical Engineering and Manufacturing and an MSc in Engineering and Management; he is both a Chartered Engineer and Chartered Manager and a member of the International Institute of Risk and Safety Managers (IRRSM).  At L3Harris, Lee combines operational naval engineering experience with systems and product safety expertise; his current work focuses on the assurance of maritime capability and delivering the organisational arrangements required to ensure that systems can be introduced, operated and sustained safely throughout their lifecycle.