Engineering Program Manager

Innovate; Stevenage; Hybrid; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Innovate in Stevenage is seeking an experienced engineer to move into a broader, business-facing delivery role across a multi-project portfolio. You’ll influence portfolio decisions, shape how complex products are developed, reused and supported from concept through production and in-service support.

You’ll work at the intersection of engineering, operations and commercial outcomes, using your technical judgement to drive Commonality, Modularity & Reuse (CMR) and cost-savings while delivering

Qualifications

• Significant experience in engineering with full product lifecycle.
• Background in sectors such as aerospace, automotive, rail, defence or similar complex product environments.
• Ability to manage packages of work and keep stakeholders aligned without losing technical integrity.
• Strong ability to influence senior management and customer representatives.

Responsibilities

• Lead engineering delivery across a portfolio of complex electro-mechanical products, focusing on technical risk, obsolescence and engineering commonality.
• Embed CMR principles with project teams to ensure reuse of designs is effective, secure and commercially sensible.
• Review predicted and measured benefits from an engineering perspective and challenge assumptions where needed.
• Act as a key point of contact between Functions, Equipment Teams and Centres of Excellence, coordinating responses when risks or issues arise and ensuring programme plans for dependencies exist and are maintained.
• Ensure obsolescence removal does not affect established dependencies or downstream products and platforms.
• Support supply chain and commercial discussions by understanding how engineering decisions impact cost, schedule, exportability and operational performance for the customer.
• Drive continuous improvement and new ways of working around commonality, modularity, reuse and obsolescence, reducing hardships for delivery teams.
• Provide clear, concise summaries of multi-faceted problems and lead small teams (c.5–6 people) to agreed outcomes through positive influence and empowerment.

Skills

Engineering experience

Stakeholder management

Problem solving

Engineering thinking

Influence leadership

Job description

Hybrid working (2–3 days per week on-site)

Security Clearance: British citizen or Dual UK with British citizenship, able to meet security clearance requirements (BPSS as a minimum).

About the role

We’re looking for an experienced engineer who wants to step into a broader, business‑facing delivery role, helping shape how complex products are developed, reused and supported across a multi‑project portfolio. You’ll be involved across the full product lifecycle – from early concept and design through to production and in‑service support – making sure portfolio decisions remain realistic from an engineering point of view.

This isn’t a pure project or portfolio management position. It will suit someone with a strong design/development background who can manage packages of work, understand the technical detail, and influence stakeholders to deliver Commonality, Modularity & Reuse (CMR), cost savings and schedule benefits. You’ll work at the intersection of engineering, operations and commercial outcomes, using your technical judgement to shape how the portfolio delivers value.

What you’ll be doing

• Leading engineering delivery activities across a portfolio of complex electro‑mechanical products, focusing on technical risk, obsolescence and engineering commonality.
• Working with project teams to embed CMR principles, ensuring reuse of designs is effective, secure and commercially sensible.
• Reviewing predicted and measured benefits to ensure they are realistic from an engineering perspective, and challenging assumptions where needed.
• Acting as a key point of contact between Functions, Equipment Teams and Centres of Excellence, coordinating responses when risks or issues arise and ensuring programme plans for dependencies exist and are maintained.
• Ensuring solutions for obsolescence removal do not negatively affect established dependencies or downstream products and platforms.
• Supporting supply chain and commercial discussions by understanding how engineering decisions impact cost, schedule, exportability and operational performance for the customer.
• Driving continuous improvement and new ways of working around commonality, modularity, reuse and obsolescence, reducing hardships for delivery teams.
• Providing clear, concise summaries of multi‑faceted problems and leading small teams (c.5–6 people) to agreed outcomes through positive influence and empowerment.

What we’re looking for

• Significant experience in an engineering discipline, with solid understanding of the full product lifecycle and the design/development process for complex electro‑mechanical equipment.
• Background in sectors such as aerospace, automotive, rail, defence or similar complex product environments.
• Proven ability to manage packages of work, prioritise across multiple projects, and keep stakeholders aligned without losing technical integrity.
• Strong stakeholder skills – able to work with, influence and, when necessary, challenge senior management and customer representatives.
• Flexible, solutions‑focused mindset, capable of tackling sophisticated technical problems with a high degree of uncertainty, complexity and inconsistency.
• Evidence of “engineering thinking”: asking the right questions, spotting common issues across products, and balancing reuse, security, cost and performance.
• Experience leading through influence, setting direction, empowering teams and improving how complex, multi‑project problems are tackled, even without formal line management.

Why this role might suit you

This is a great opportunity for a design/development engineer who has achieved success in hands‑on engineering and now wants to move towards the business side of engineering – portfolio delivery, financial efficiencies and strategic decision‑making. You’ll gain visibility of a broad product portfolio, be trusted to influence how products are reused and evolved, and have a clear growth path towards future head‑of or manager roles as you shape new ways of working.