Head of Software

Our client is a fast-moving Defence-Tech organisation developing software-defined unmanned aircraft, edge video systems and mission tools for demanding Defence and Security users. They are seeking a Head of Software to establish a durable software organisation, consolidate existing products and lead the delivery of reliable, field-ready capabilities across flight, ground, data and mission systems.
This is a permanent, player-coach leadership role reporting to the Head of Product Engineering. The successful individual will remain technically hands-on while shaping architecture, building an initial team of approximately five or six people, improving engineering standards and ensuring software can move safely from code to aircraft and back to evidence.

• Set the software architecture and technical direction across flight software, ground and mission systems, edge computing, video, data, security and applied machine learning.
• Translate validated operator and customer needs into prioritised delivery plans, fieldable increments and controlled releases.
• Consolidate existing applications into a coherent operator experience with clear system status, sensible defaults and effective recovery paths.
• Recruit, organise and develop the initial software team across flight software, mission systems, embedded products, platform engineering, data, security and machine learning.
• Establish a repeatable code-to-flight process incorporating automated testing, static analysis, simulation, recorded-flight replay, hardware-in-the-loop testing, signed releases and evidence capture.
• Give every software product clear ownership, reproducible builds, support standards, release processes, rollback routes and traceable evidence.
• Work closely with flight-test teams to ensure development aircraft and reference hardware configurations are reliable, repeatable and ready for integration.
• Develop secure, traceable data ingestion, evaluation and operational support processes using proven infrastructure and proportionate assurance.

• Significant experience delivering and supporting complex software that interacts with real hardware, where configuration, latency, fault recovery and release quality are important.
• Experience building, leading and shaping a high-performing software engineering team, including recruiting strong technical specialists.
• Strong software engineering and IT software knowledge, with the technical credibility to contribute to architecture, code reviews, debugging, logs, packet captures and hardware-in-the-loop testing.
• Understanding of modern engineering delivery practices, including version and configuration control, reproducible builds, automated testing, continuous integration, release signing, observability, rollback and incident learning.
• Ability to work directly with operators and users, identify genuine operational needs and turn them into practical software products.
• Pragmatic judgement when deciding whether to build, adopt open-source foundations, buy commodity capability or work with specialist partners.
• Strong security awareness, including secure development, threat modelling, dependency management, supply-chain control, access separation and vulnerability handling.
• Clear communication skills and the confidence to work with software and hardware engineers, flight-test teams, customers, founders and senior stakeholders.

• Unmanned aircraft, robotics, autopilots, ground-control software, MAVLink, Ardu Pilot, PX4 or comparable vehicle-control systems.
• Full-stack mission-planning or ground-control products, including user interfaces, backend services, deployment and field support.
• Embedded Linux, edge computing, real-time or near-real-time video, streaming, codecs, radio systems or constrained onboard deployment.
• Simulation, recorded-data replay, hardware-in-the-loop testing, test instrumentation or configuration management for complex machines.
• Secure-by-design development, Defence, export-controlled work, safety-critical systems or regulated engineering environments.
• Operational data pipelines, machine-learning deployment, model evaluation, shadow-mode trials or traceable dataset and model lineage.
• Human factors, mission-system user experience or designing tools for use under time pressure and cognitive load.

• An independently supported mission and radio-navigation capability is operating in controlled customer use.
• Operators can complete defined workflows through a coherent,…