Ground Chief Engineer

About the Role

The Engineering & Technology Director is accountable for all engineering and technology activities within a programme, programme area, or line of business. The role ensures mission milestones, technical objectives, and business goals are successfully achieved while serving as the primary technical authority and key interface with programme leadership and customers. This position provides strategic technical leadership, drives innovation, manages risk, and leads cross-functional engineering teams to deliver complex systems and products.

• Serve as the primary technical authority for assigned programmes or business areas.
• Provide technical leadership and direction across all phases of system and product development.
• Lead and direct technical execution efforts to ensure programme objectives, schedules, and performance requirements are achieved.
• Ensure technical baselines and programme plans align with programme control processes and modern engineering practices.
• Define technical priorities and guide research and development activities aligned to long-term business objectives.
• Develop and apply advanced technologies, scientific principles, and engineering concepts to create new capabilities and business opportunities.
• Contribute to long-range technology planning and recommend future technology investments.
• Act as the principal technical interface with customers, partners, and senior internal stakeholders.
• Support business development activities by ensuring proposals include credible technical solutions, achievable schedules, and affordability considerations.
• Represent the organisation as a senior technical spokesperson on significant engineering, technology, and programme matters.
• Contribute to securing and developing major business opportunities through technical leadership and credibility.
• Provide technical mentoring, coaching, and career development support to engineering teams.
• Allocate engineering resources effectively to meet programme and business priorities.
• Foster collaboration across disciplines and functions to achieve programme success.
• Makes highly significant technical and business decisions impacting programme performance, customer satisfaction, business growth, and organisational reputation.
• Operates with considerable autonomy and is recognised as a senior technical authority within the organisation.
• Decisions and recommendations have long-term implications for organisational capabilities, financial performance, and market position.

Standard Job Description

Accountable for all aspects of engineering and technology activities within a program, program area, or line of business to ensure mission milestones and business objectives are met. Serves as the primary technical authority / technical interface with internal program management and external customers. Ensures proposals have sound technical solutions and schedules and drive affordability. Leads a technical team of cross functional engineers to ensure successful proper system/product development and execution. Evaluates and ensures complex issues are resolved in a cost effective, innovative way. Champion mission success and drive a mission success culture. Directs a team into exploration of new problem solution areas with novel concepts and approaches, guiding scope definition and prioritizing problems for investigation. Determine appropriate risk posture and develop mitigation strategies for complex projects. Ensure selected designs are robust and include appropriate margins to facilitate safety, performance, producibility and operational availability/supportability. Ensures program plans and technical baselines are consistent with Program Control processes and Modern Engineering Practices. Responsible for key decision making that impact businesses, the failure to achieve the objectives result in critical impact of program capabilities. Ensures identification of lessons learned, and corrective action are initiated and implemented to improve future and ongoing programs. Provides technical mentoring and career development support of team and allocates resources effectively. Leads and directs the technical execution efforts of the program or LOB.

Required Skills, Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Science, or a related technical discipline (or equivalent combination of education and experience).
• Recognised expert in engineering, technology, or a related technical discipline.
• Demonstrated ability to lead large, complex technical programmes and multidisciplinary engineering teams.
• Extensive experience in systems development, engineering management, technical strategy, and programme execution.
• Proven track record of innovation, problem solving, risk management, and business growth.
• Strong customer engagement, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to influence senior leadership and shape long-term technical direction.