Avionics Manager

Aalto; Farnborough; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Short-term incentive plan

25 days holiday

Private medical insurance

Dental and optical cash back

Personal pension plan

Income protection

Life assurance

Discounted salary sacrifice scheme

Employee assistance programme

Perkbox discounts

Job summary

AALTO, a global leader in Stratospace based in Farnborough, is seeking an Avionics Manager to lead and motivate the avionics team and act as the technical authority for avionics.

You will oversee design, development and integration of avionics subsystems for Zephyr, manage programs and collaborate with manufacturing, systems and software teams to ensure on-time delivery.

The role offers a competitive salary and benefits package including private medical insurance and pension.

Qualifications

• Extensive avionics experience in a regulated industry.
• Significant hands-on avionics experience.
• Ability to own technical problems and drive to resolution.
• Demonstrated leadership including mentoring or guiding junior engineers.
• Ability to act with increasing autonomy and make sound decisions.
• Experience contributing to continuous improvement and engineering processes.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day activities of the avionics team and deliver goals.
• Mentor junior engineers and develop their skills.
• Recruitment involvement as the team grows.
• Oversee design, development and integration of avionics subsystems.
• Manage development programmes to ensure on-time delivery.
• Act as design authority ensuring safety and regulatory compliance.
• Coordinate with manufacturing, maintenance, systems and software teams.

Skills

Avionics experience

Hands-on avionics

Technical leadership

Mentoring

Autonomy

Process improvement

Job description

Location: Farnborough

Contract Type: Full Time, Permanent

Hours: 37 – Hybrid

Travel: No

AALTO, a global leader in Stratospace. Based in Farnborough, AALTO is an Airbus subsidiary that manufactures, operates, and delivers services with its solar-powered, stratospheric platform: Zephyr.

Zephyr’s persistence enables continuous flight for months at a time. Its current flight-time record of over 67 days in the stratosphere. From above 60,000+ft, or 20km above ground, AALTO can deliver several applications including direct-to-device connectivity and high-resolution Earth observation.

AALTO operates in a new operational layer between most of air traffic and low-Earth orbit, Stratospace. This is where high-altitude platforms led by Zephyr deliver services to commercial and government partners. We can help monitor environments, observe borders, track natural disasters and connect unconnected communities.

Join us as we create a new domain of aerospace: Stratospace. You’ll be part of a highly-skilled, innovative and passionate group of people – Team AALTO. Together, we can Unlock Stratospace.

About The Role

We are seeking an Avionics Manager to support our expanding engineering operations. You will be responsible leading, motivating and the day-to-day activities of the avionics team. Being the avionics authority and collaborating with other disciplines and managers in all areas of the business. You will support the creation and manufacture of avionics devices in-house.

Responsibilities to include:

• Team Leadership: Lead the day to day activities of the avionics team, taking responsibility for delivering the agreed goals of the avionics team.
• Skills Development: Develop the team’s personal and professional skills, acting as a mentor and coach to junior team members.
• Team growth: Be part of the recruiting team seeking new talent as the team grows.
• Technical Leadership: Be accountable for the design, development and integration of the avionics sub-systems for the high-altitude, long-endurance Zephyr aircraft.
• Programme Ownership: Manage the various development programmes within the avionics team, ensuring on-time delivery and in accordance with the company’s quality standards.
• Design Authority: Act as the technical authority for avionics, ensuring compliance with safety, performance, and regulatory requirements.
• Cross-functional Coordination: Provide the wider engineering team with clear demand to ensure that they can plan for appropriate resource provision. Collaborate with the manufacturing, line maintenance, systems and software teams to ensure seamless integration of avionics solutions.

Skills and Knowledge Required

• Extensive avionics experience in a regulated industry
• Significant hands‑on avionics experience
• Demonstrated ability to take ownership of technical problems and drive them to successful resolution.
• Evidence of growing leadership capability, including mentoring, guiding, or supporting junior engineers.
• Ability to operate with increasing autonomy and make sound engineering decisions with limited supervision.
• Experience contributing to continuous improvement activities or shaping engineering processes.

In addition to an attractive market-aligned salary, we offer:

• Rewarding Excellence: Benefit from our short-term incentive plan that rewards your hard work and dedication.
• Enjoy Your Time Off: Benefit from 25 days of holiday to relax and recharge.
• Stay Healthy: We’ve got your health covered with private medical insurance, along with dental and optical cash back.
• Secure Your Future: Take advantage of our personal pension plan to ensure a comfortable retirement.
• Peace of Mind: Our income protection and life assurance schemes are there to support you when you need it most.
• Getting around: Drive the latest vehicles with our discounted salary sacrifice scheme.
• We Care About You: Our employee assistance programme is always available to provide the support you need.
• Perks Galore: Enjoy a range of employee discounts via Perkbox, from household goods to travel!

Does this opportunity excite you but you’re not 100% sure if you meet all the requirements for the role? Or are you concerned that ‘normal’ office hours aren’t possible given your personal circumstances? Whilst we can’t accommodate every flexible working request, we’ll try to find a practical solution. So why not engage with us and find out more about this role?