Chief Engineer

Bastion Defence; Canberra; On-site; AUD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Bastion Defence is seeking an experienced and respected Chief Engineer to join our national business and lead the continued development of our technical capability. As our Principal Engineering Authority, you will set strategic direction and lead Capability Domain Managers to strengthen engineering maturity across the organisation.

You will work with the executive team on governance, assurance and long-term capability investment.

Qualifications

• Qualifications in engineering or a relevant technical discipline.
• Significant engineering and technical leadership experience.
• Chartered or equivalent professional credentials or ability to obtain them.

Responsibilities

• Set the strategic direction for Bastion Defence's technical capability.
• Act as Principal Engineering Authority and provide independent technical leadership.
• Lead engineering governance, technical standards and assurance practices.
• Mentor Capability Domain Managers and develop people and capability.
• Identify capability gaps and shape future priorities.
• Provide strategic technical advice to the executive and participate in enterprise planning.

Job description

Bastion Defence is seeking an experienced and respected Chief Engineer to join our national business and lead the continued development of our technical capability.

This is a senior, enterprise-level technical leadership role with responsibility for technical integrity, engineering governance, technical assurance and the long-term development of capability across Bastion Defence.

As our Principal Engineering Authority, you will work closely with the Executive Team and Senior Leadership Group and lead our Capability Domain Managers to strengthen technical capability across the organisation.

About Bastion Defence

Bastion is an Australian-owned, nationwide Defence consulting firm with a reputation for attracting and retaining high-calibre, practical and affable people.

We specialise in the delivery and support of Defence capability, with particular experience across the maritime environment. Our people provide expertise across engineering, naval architecture, program and project management, asset management, integrated logistics support, configuration management, commercial and procurement, cyber security and other specialist technical disciplines.

With teams operating across Australia, we are continuing to grow both the scale and depth of our technical capability.

About the Role

The Chief Engineer is Bastion Defence's senior technical leader and Principal Engineering Authority.

You will set the strategic direction for Bastion's technical capability and provide leadership across our Capability Domains, ensuring our engineering practices, technical standards and assurance arrangements remain contemporary, consistent and appropriate for the work we undertake.

A key part of the role is leading and mentoring our Capability Domain Managers and helping develop the people, knowledge, practices and technical maturity required to support both our current clients and Bastion's future growth.

This is not simply an engineering governance role. We are looking for someone who can help shape the future of Bastion's technical organisation.

Key Responsibilities

As Chief Engineer, you will:

Set the strategic direction for Bastion Defence's technical capability and its ongoing development.

Act as Bastion Defence's Principal Engineering Authority and provide independent technical leadership and engineering judgement.

Lead the development and application of engineering governance, technical standards and assurance practices across the organisation.

Lead and mentor Capability Domain Managers in building and sustaining their respective technical capabilities.

Identify capability gaps and emerging requirements and help shape future capability priorities.

Strengthen technical career development, mentoring, knowledge sharing and professional development across the business.

Encourage innovation, contemporary engineering practices and continual improvement.

Provide technical leadership and input to selected strategic pursuits, customer engagements and solution development.

Build strong technical relationships across Defence, industry, academia and relevant professional bodies.

Work with Regional Managers and project leadership to maintain the technical capability, capacity and competency required to support current and future work.

Provide strategic technical advice to the Executive Team and contribute to broader organisational planning, governance and enterprise risk management.

About You

We are looking for an established engineering leader who combines strong technical judgement with the ability to develop people, capability and organisational maturity.

You will bring significant experience in complex engineering environments, ideally within Defence or another highly regulated technical sector, together with a demonstrated ability to operate across multidisciplinary teams and influence at senior levels.

You will be comfortable moving between strategic and technical matters — from advising senior leadership and customers through to mentoring technical leaders and challenging engineering decisions when required.

You will ideally demonstrate:

Tertiary qualifications in engineering or a relevant technical discipline.

Significant engineering and technical leadership experience.

Strong knowledge of engineering governance, technical assurance and systems engineering principles.

Experience leading or developing multidisciplinary technical capability.

Demonstrated experience mentoring senior engineers and technical leaders.

Strong stakeholder engagement and communication skills.

Sound commercial awareness and an understanding of how technical capability supports business growth.

Experience within Defence, maritime, complex systems or other regulated engineering environments.

Chartered or equivalent professional engineering credentials, or the ability to obtain them.

Eligibility to obtain and maintain an appropriate Australian Government security clearance.

Why Bastion?

Bastion provides an opportunity to influence the technical direction of a growing Australian Defence Engineering company.

The Chief Engineer will have the opportunity to shape how we develop our technical capability, support our people and mature our engineering practices as the organisation continues to grow.

You will work with an experienced leadership group and a national network of Capability Domain Managers, technical specialists and consultants, while helping build the next stage of Bastion Defence's technical organisation.

For the right person, this is an opportunity to leave a genuine and lasting mark on the technical capability and culture of the business.

If you are an experienced technical leader who enjoys developing people, building capability and solving complex Defence engineering challenges, we would like to hear from you.