Chief Engineer / Technical Lead

We're supporting an ambitious and well-funded aerospace and defence start-up developing next-generation air vehicle capabilities for the defence sector.

Having secured funding and established a clear programme vision, the business is entering an exciting growth phase and is looking to appoint a Chief Engineer to lead the technical delivery of a flagship programme from concept through to testing, certification, and operational deployment.

This is a rare opportunity to join at an early stage and become one of the most influential leaders within the organisation. You'll help shape not only the product, but also the engineering culture, team structure, processes, and long-term technical strategy of the company.

For the right individual, there is also the opportunity to participate in the future success of the business through an equity package, providing genuine ownership and influence as the company grows.

The Role

As Chief Engineer, you will be the senior technical authority across the programme, responsible for defining the technical vision and leading the multidisciplinary engineering team to deliver it.

You will work closely with company founders, leadership, customers, partners, and investors, balancing technical excellence with programme delivery, commercial objectives, and customer requirements.

This position will suit someone who enjoys operating in a fast-moving start-up environment, is comfortable making key decisions, and thrives on building teams and products from the ground up.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as the overall technical authority for the programme.
• Define and own the technical strategy, roadmap, and system architecture.
• Lead and develop a multidisciplinary engineering team covering systems, software, electronics, mechanical design, integration, test, and platform engineering.
• Establish engineering standards, processes, governance, and best practices.
• Drive technical decision-making across performance, cost, risk, schedule, and manufacturability.
• Chair design reviews and provide technical oversight throughout the product lifecycle.
• Ensure successful delivery from concept development through design, integration, verification, validation, and testing.
• Manage technical risk and implement mitigation strategies.
• Act as the primary technical interface with customers, suppliers, partners, and key stakeholders.
• Support future growth, business development activities, and strategic customer engagements.
• Work closely with company leadership to align technical delivery with business goals and programme milestones.

Essential Experience

• Degree qualified in Aerospace Engineering, Systems Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, or a related discipline.
• Significant experience developing complex aerospace, defence, autonomous systems, UAV, guided weapon, or safety-critical products.
• Previous experience operating as a Chief Engineer, Head of Engineering, Technical Director, Programme Lead Engineer, or equivalent senior technical leadership role.
• Proven track record leading multidisciplinary engineering teams and delivering complex programmes from concept through to deployment.
• Strong systems thinking with experience in requirements management, architecture development, integration, verification, and validation.
• Ability to make programme-level technical decisions balancing performance, affordability, and delivery risk.
• Experience engaging with senior stakeholders, customers, suppliers, and executive leadership teams.
• Strong leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills.

Desirable Experience

• Defence, aerospace, UAV, missile, autonomy, or advanced technology programme experience.
• Experience working within a start-up, scale-up, or high-growth technology environment.
• MOD or defence customer experience.
• Flight test, certification, or airworthiness experience.
• Experience growing and mentoring engineering teams.
• Current or previous SC clearance.

What's on Offer?

• Opportunity to join a well-funded defence technology start-up at a pivotal stage of growth.
• Significant influence over product development and company strategy.
• Leadership of a highly capable and growing engineering function.
• Direct access to founders, investors, and key decision-makers.
• Competitive salary and benefits package.
• Equity opportunity for the right candidate, providing a genuine stake in the future success of the business.
• The chance to build a market-leading product and leave a lasting impact on both the organisation and the wider defence sector.

This is an exceptional opportunity for a technically credible engineering leader who wants to move beyond managing programmes and become instrumental in building a company.