Chief Software Engineering Leader, Electronic Warfare

Leonardo; West of England; On-site; GBP 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Time to Recharge

Pension scheme

Mental health support

Flexible working

Online courses (Coursera/LinkedIn)

Private healthcare

Job summary

Leonardo Electronic Warfare in the UK is seeking an outstanding engineering leader to shape software engineering strategy across a premier defence technology business. You will lead a community of around 180 software engineers across Luton, Lincoln and Bristol, accountable for the capability, performance and long‑term evolution of software engineering within EW.

This role extends beyond delivery: define strategy, build organisational capability, develop future leaders and drive transformational

Qualifications

• Proven track record leading software organisations through significant change.
• Experience translating engineering strategy into measurable business outcomes.
• Demonstrable success driving organisational transformation and improving engineering performance at scale.
• Strong leadership credentials with a passion for developing people and future leaders.
• Ability to influence senior stakeholders and align engineering, programme and business communities.
• Experience balancing near-term delivery with long-term capability development.
• Strong commercial awareness including workforce planning and budget management.
• Experience in complex, highly regulated engineering environments.

Responsibilities

• Lead a software engineering community of ~180 engineers across multiple sites.
• Define and execute the Software Engineering strategy for Electronic Warfare.
• Build a high-performing organisation with succession pipelines and leadership development.
• Drive continuous improvement in engineering effectiveness, quality, productivity and delivery.
• Champion modern software practices, including DevSecOps and AI-enabled engineering approaches.
• Establish a culture of technical excellence, accountability, learning and innovation.
• Shape software technology, process and toolchain roadmaps with tech and business leaders.
• Ensure the software function has capacity to meet future demand.
• Provide governance, assurance and functional leadership across EW portfolio.
• Represent EW Software Engineering within Leonardo UK and the wider engineering community.

Skills

Leadership

Strategy

Stakeholder mgmt

People development

Software leadership

DevSecOps

AI-enabled

Tools

DevSecOps

Model-Based Eng

Software architecture

Job description

Leonardo Electronic Warfare in the UK is seeking an outstanding engineering leader to shape software engineering strategy across a premier defence technology business. You will lead a community of around 180 software engineers across Luton, Lincoln and Bristol, accountable for the capability, performance and long‑term evolution of software engineering within EW.

This role extends beyond delivery: define strategy, build organisational capability, develop future leaders and drive transformational