Director Technical Excellence

Thales; Reading; On-site; GBP 125,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading technology firm in the UK is seeking a Director of Technical Excellence to spearhead technical leadership and innovation. This role involves creating cross-business technical assurance systems, driving the UK Technology Strategy, and building strong technical communities. The ideal candidate will have significant experience in leading multi-discipline engineering teams and a proven record in technical governance and systems assurance. This position offers a career-defining opportunity in a highly visible and strategic role within the organization.

Qualifications

• Significant experience in leading engineering teams and developing technical strategies.
• Proven technical governance and safety-critical engineering expertise.
• Understanding of enterprise and solution architecture in multi-domain environments.

Responsibilities

• Lead technical leadership and innovation across Thales UK.
• Create systems for cross-business line technical assurance.
• Design and align the UK Technology Strategy with business needs.
• Sponsor cross-domain communities and drive knowledge sharing.

Skills

Leadership of multi-discipline engineering teams

Technical governance

Systems assurance

Deep understanding of solution architecture

Stakeholder engagement

Job description

Location : Reading, United Kingdom

In fast changing markets, customers worldwide rely on Thales. Thales is a business where brilliant people from all over the world come together to share ideas and inspire each other. In aerospace, transportation, defence, security and space, our architects design innovative solutions that make our tomorrow’s possible.

Together we offer fantastic opportunities for committed employees to learn and develop their career with us. At Thales UK, we research, develop, and supply technology and services that impact the lives of millions of people each day to make life better, and keep us safer. We innovate across the major industries of Aerospace, Defence, Security and Space. Your health and well-being matters to us and that’s why we offer you the flexibility to do what’s important to you; whether that’s part time hours, job sharing, home working, or the ability to flex your start and finish times. Where possible, we support a working pattern that suits your lifestyle and helps you reach your ambitions.

Job title : Director of Technical Excellence (UK Nationals Only)

Location : Any Thales BL location

Are you seeking a transformational role that will spearhead technical leadership, innovation and excellence across Thales UK (TUK), whilst acting as the principal lead for Thales UK technical strategy, and cross business technical collaboration and engagement?

As the Director for Technical Excellence working for the Thales UK CTO, you will play a pivotal role in enabling delivery of safe, secure, high-quality, and innovative solutions. In addition, you will be focused on unifying and overseeing cross business‑line Technical Design Authority, product and digital assurance, product safety assurance, solution innovation and engagement, technical capability strategy, intellectual property (IP) management, cross‑business line technology transfer and knowledge management / engagement. You will be leading a high calibre functional team and will also work closely with the UK CTO and Business Line Technical Directors to build a strong, coherent and joined up Thales UK community.

What does the role offer you?

This is a highly visible role for Thales UK, central to our strategic pillar of exploiting technology for the Nation’s benefit. It will provide a career defining opportunity, collaborating closely with external stakeholder groups in customer organisations, industry partners and academia, and with internal senior leaders across our Businesses, Country CTOs and Technical Assurance communities. The potential for impacting results is significant, the only limitation will be the extent of your professional ambitions.

Key Dimensions of the Role

This is a multi‑dimensional role, offering a broad range of compelling professional challenges and career development opportunities. Key accountabilities are extensive and include :

Technical Assurance & Governance

• Create a system across Thales UK for cross‑business line technical assurance, creating a systematic approach to track and manage complex bids and projects, whilst also building a strong set reusable knowledge‑base to assist with reuse across the business‑lines.
• Set and steward safety and digital assurance frameworks and secure‑by‑design principles ensuring programmes and solutions comply with internal, customer, and regulatory standards (e.g. DEF STANs, ISO, NIST, DO-178C, IEC 61508).
• Drive continuous improvement through lessons learned, audits, capability assessments, and technical reviews.

Solution Innovation & Technical Strategy

• Design the UK Technology Strategy for Thales, driving internal and external engagement on the key technical capabilities that Thales plans to invest and focus on. Establish and align the technical capability strategy (methods, tools, labs, skills) with business needs and Group Key Technical Domains (KTDs).
• Define architectural principles, reusable patterns, and technology standards; ensure coherence and interoperability across digital and physical platforms.
• Support programme teams with risk evaluation, technical decision‑making, and design assurance.
• Lead a team of Solution Innovation leads supporting the Thales Growth function driving innovative solutions into our key customer segments via our Key Account Managers.
• Build and run innovation challenges and communities that accelerate idea‑to‑demonstrator; oversee the innovation pipeline connecting R&D outputs to deployed solutions.
• Aligned to the Thales Technology Strategy, govern IP identification, protection, filing, and reuse; integrate IP strategy in product roadmaps and bids; maximise business and customer value from innovation.
• Liaise with legal and commercial on IP risk and licensing arrangements.

Technical Communities, Engagement & Professionalism

• Sponsor cross‑domain communities of practice for specialists and experts; drive knowledge sharing, capabilities growth, and standards adoption.
• Define and curate learning pathways, competency frameworks, accreditation, and mentoring programmes.
• Own shared technical facilities, ensuring safety, security, instrumentation, and accessibility, creating a network of experimentation capability to help showcase Thales cross‑business technologies.
• Facilitate technology transfer and convergence across business‑lines.
• Represent Thales in external technical, regulatory, and government‑industry forums.
• Lead the management of the Thales Specialists & Experts network in collaboration with the UK CTO.

A2IS

• Act as the “lead amongst equals” of the Technical Directors (TDs) within the A2IS business portfolio, attending A2IS meetings, and supporting the A2IS portfolio, but ensuring each TD is empowered appropriately.

About You

To be considered for this role, you must be able to demonstrate the following Minimum Valuable Experience (MVE) :

• Significant experience in the leadership of multi‑discipline engineering and / or digital teams, including the development of multi‑year roadmaps and technical capability strategies.
• Proven record in the technical governance, systems assurance, safety‑critical and digital engineering disciplines, including leading design reviews for complex cross‑domain solutions.
• Deep understanding of enterprise and solution architecture, innovation management and technology transition, in complex, multi‑domain environments.
• Familiarity with defence, aerospace or regulated engineering domains, including the alignment of external technical authorities, regulators and professional standards organisations.
• Experience of enterprise matrix organisations, with the ability to navigate and engage with complex internal and external stakeholder groups, across international regions.

Closing date for applications is 03 Jan 2026 :

1st stage assessments are planned to take place week 3 & 4 in Jan

In line with Thales' Baseline Security requirements, candidates will be asked to provide evidence of identity, eligibility to work in the UK and employment and / or education history for up to three years. Some vacancies may require full Security Clearance which can require further evidence to be provided. For further details of the evidence required to apply for Baseline and Security Clearance please refer to the Defence Business Services National Security Vetting (DBS NSV) Agency.

At Thales we provide CAREERS and not only jobs. With Thales employing 80,000 employees in 68 countries our mobility policy enables thousands of employees each year to develop their careers at home and abroad, in their existing areas of expertise or by branching out into new fields. Together we believe that embracing flexibility is a smarter way of working.

Thales UK is committed to providing an inclusive and barrier‑free recruitment process. We will provide reasonable adjustments and support to ensure neuro‑diverse applicants or those with a disability or long‑term condition can be their best during the recruitment process. To request an adjustment, if you need this job advert in an alternative format or if you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact Resourcing Ops for mid to senior roles, or the Early Careers Team for graduate and apprentice roles.

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