Engineering Manager

As Engineering Manager, you will lead multidisciplinary, high-performing teams in the design, development, and delivery of proprietary, safety-critical components and systems for the defence and aerospace sectors. This role requires a strategic and handson leader with a strong technical foundation, accountable for the delivery of complex engineering portfolios including R&D and customer-contracted work.
You will be responsible for resource planning, budget ownership, and performance monitoring, while driving continuous improvement and innovation across the department. As a key member of the Business Management Team, you will work closely with the Business Unit Manager and other functional leaders to achieve the business unit’s operational, financial, technical and strategic objectives.

• Lead, mentor, and coach a multidisciplinary engineering team.
• Conduct regular 1:1s, develop succession plans and support professional growth through targeted training and competency frameworks.
• Promote a culture of ownership, accountability and empowerment.
• Build morale, retain talent, and create a positive team environment.

• Oversee the full portfolio of engineering projects, including R&D and customer-contracted work.
• Monitor and assess project risks, communicating issues to stakeholders to support informed decision making and risk mitigation.
• Ensure the engineering department applies the company’s NPI process and associated governance requirements, including appropriate design assurance, configuration control, verification and validation throughout the product-development and project lifecycle.
• Instil ownership and accountability into the team to ensure projects are delivered on time, within budget, and to the highest quality standards.
• Proactively identify and remove obstacles to maintain project momentum and meet delivery timelines.
• Ensure engineering activities comply with relevant defence and aerospace standards and regulatory requirements.

• Own the engineering forward load, balancing priorities and allocating resources effectively.
• Manage the engineering overhead budget, ensuring accurate cost allocation and adherence to outlook and plan.
• Strategically hire and onboard personnel to meet current and future project demands.

• Act as a key member of the Business Management Team, working closely with the Business Unit Manager and other functional leaders to develop and deliver the business unit strategy and achieve sales, EBITDA, delivery and operational objectives.
• Provide engineering leadership within the business unit, ensuring engineering priorities, resources, technical risks and delivery plans are aligned with business commitments and strategic objectives.
• Support all functions of the business by providing engineering leadership, technical expertise and cross functional collaboration to ensure the successful delivery of projects and strategic initiatives.
• Work closely with the Business Unit Manager to develop and maintain product and technology roadmaps, identifying opportunities aligned with customer needs and business objectives.
• Promote proactive customer engagement and support the identification and development.
• Foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Lead and implement data-led process optimisation initiatives to enhance productivity, engineering efficiency and delivery performance.
• Drive innovation in engineering practices and product development.
• Define, monitor and analyse engineering KPIs and performance data to support evidence-based decision making, identify trends and improvement opportunities, and drive sustained improvements in delivery, quality, cost and team effectiveness.
• Lead the engineering and technical contribution to bids and proposals, ensuring proposed solutions, estimates, risks, assumptions, resource requirements and delivery commitments are technically robust and achievable.

• Over 10 years’ experience in engineering design and manufacturing.
• Proven engineering leadership experience within the defence or aerospace sectors.
• Experience working directly with customers or end-users to gather requirements or support delivery.
• Demonstrated success in coaching and mentoring others and driving professional development.
• Strong background in New Product Introduction (NPI) and cross-functional collaboration.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Effective…