Chief Engineer, Defence Systems — Hybrid/Poole

Fortress Recruit Limited; England; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus scheme

Training and development

Job summary

Fortress Recruit Limited is recruiting a Head of Engineering for a leading defence engineering business. You will provide functional leadership across the engineering organisation, ensuring capability, resources and output align with programme and business requirements.

You will lead Team Leads across mechanical, electrical, electronics and systems/software, managing workload, priorities, and governance to deliver milestones while driving continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• Significant engineering leadership experience.
• Experience leading engineering teams across multiple disciplines.
• Proven ability to manage resources to meet programme delivery requirements.
• Experience in a complex manufacturing, defence, aerospace or regulated environment.
• Structured and process-driven approach with focus on clarity and accountability.

Responsibilities

• Take overall responsibility for day-to-day leadership and performance of the engineering function.
• Lead and coordinate engineering Team Leads across mechanical, electrical, electronics and systems/software.
• Align engineering resource to live programmes, customer requirements and business priorities.
• Prioritise workload and allocate resources across concurrent programmes.
• Support programme delivery and achieve key milestones; drive continuous improvement.
• Interact with PMO, Operations, Production and Quality to maintain alignment and delivery.
• Ensure governance, DFMA, FMEA and best practice are applied consistently.

Skills

Engineering leadership

Cross-disciplinary knowledge

Resource management

Defence/aerospace familiarity

Job description

Fortress Recruit Limited is recruiting a Head of Engineering for a leading defence engineering business. You will provide functional leadership across the engineering organisation, ensuring capability, resources and output align with programme and business requirements.

You will lead Team Leads across mechanical, electrical, electronics and systems/software, managing workload, priorities, and governance to deliver milestones while driving continuous improvement.