Group Director Engineering

Lead the transformation of engineering across the Group, positioning it as a core driver of growth, innovation, and competitive advantage. Define and deliver a world‑class engineering strategy that enhances delivery performance, accelerates innovation, and strengthens QinetiQ's reputation as a trusted technical authority with customers, partners, and regulators globally. The role will establish engineering as a critical voice at Executive level, ensuring technical excellence, innovation, and delivery confidence are central to the Group's strategic and commercial success.

Strategic Impact of the Role o Establish engineering as a critical influence in Executive decision-making. o Enable faster, more predictable programme delivery across the Group. o Drive adoption of digital and modern engineering practices. o Strengthen external technical credibility with key customers and partners. o Build a scalable, future‑ready engineering workforce and capability. Strategy Development & Transformation of the Function o Define and drive the Group Engineering and Science Strategy aligned to growth priorities and market needs.

o Position engineering as a key enabler of revenue growth, competitive advantage, and customer value. o Lead the transformation of engineering operating models, governance, and lifecycle frameworks to improve pace, predictability, and reuse. o Champion modern engineering practices including digital engineering, model‑based systems engineering, and data‑enabled decision‑making. o Build a world‑class engineering and science capability, including early careers, skills development, and future workforce planning.

o Define principles, policies, and standards that enable high‑performance, scalable engineering delivery across the Group. o Own Product Safety policy and ensure alignment with regulatory and licence‑to‑operate requirements. Delivery Confidence, Assurance and Performance o Provide independent technical leadership and assurance to enable confident, high‑quality programme delivery. o Drive improvement in right‑first‑time delivery, reducing rework and increasing efficiency. o Simplify engineering governance to enable agility while maintaining rigour and safety.

o Align closely with Sector Chief Engineers/Scientists to ensure consistency and clarity of engineering standards. Innovation, Knowledge and Continuous Improvement o Establish a systematic, Group‑wide approach to knowledge management and lessons learnt. o Embed continuous improvement practices across the engineering community. o Enable effective transfer of innovation from concept through to delivery. Technical Community and Capability Leadership o Lead and inspire the Group engineering community, fostering a culture of professionalism, collaboration, and excellence.

o Build and sustain an engaged and productive technical community of interest. o Strengthen engineering leadership capability at all levels of the organisation. External Engagement and Influence o Act as a visible external ambassador for QinetiQ engineering capability. o Build strategic partnerships across industry, academia, and government. o Leverage external best practice to continuously enhance engineering performance and relevance., Overall accountability for the consistency, efficiency and effectiveness of technical/ engineering QinetiQ Group - specific KPIs include:

• Delivery of a clear, actionable Engineering and Science Strategy for the Group
• Measurable improvement in programme delivery performance (cost, schedule, quality)
• Increased right-first-time delivery and reduction in rework across programmes
• Adoption and impact of modern engineering frameworks and toolsets
• Contribution of engineering to business growth, win rate, and customer satisfaction
• Simp…