Head of Electronics & software

Here at The Exploration Company, we are building spacecrafts for humanity. HEAD OF ELECTRONICS & SOFTWARE PURPOSE We are looking for a Head of Electronics & Software to lead and develop the engineering capability behind some of the most critical systems in our spacecraft. This is a senior leadership role combining people leadership, engineering excellence, organisational development and technical breadth. You will lead a multidisciplinary organisation spanning: - Avionics, communications and electrical power systems - Flight software (FSW) - Guidance, navigation and control (GNC) - Electrical wiring and interconnection systems (EWIS), including harness engineering - Future projects and advanced electronics and software development You will be responsible for ensuring our teams have the people, skills, processes, tools and engineering standards needed to deliver ambitious space programmes today, while building the capabilities we will need for the future. This is not a role for someone looking to step away from engineering. We are looking for a leader who can engage credibly with highly technical teams, challenge constructively, develop strong technical leaders and help create an environment where exceptional engineering can happen. MATRIX ORGANISATION Our engineering teams work in a matrix organisation, combining strong functional leadership with project-based delivery. As Head of Electronics & Software, you will lead the functional organisation, developing its people and capabilities while working closely with Project Managers, Project Chief Engineers, technical authorities and engineering Leads responsible for programme delivery. You will: - Lead and develop Project Leads, discipline Leads, Principal Engineers and transversal engineering resources - Partner with project leadership to align capability, resources and priorities with programme needs - Help teams navigate competing priorities across projects - Ensure clear ownership and accountability between functional leadership and project execution - Build an organisation capable of supporting multiple programmes as the company grows Success in this environment requires collaboration, influence and sound engineering judgement rather than centralising every technical decision. ROLE BOUNDARIES This role owns the strength and effectiveness of the Electronics & Software organisation: its people, capability, engineering practices, tools, standards and functional budget. You will create the environment in which our technical teams can perform at their best, providing mentoring, challenge and access to expertise while supporting technical and project leadership in making strong engineering decisions. Project technical decisions and product technical authority remain within the relevant project and technical organisations. Your role is to ensure they are supported by a highly capable engineering organisation with the right expertise, methods and resources. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES PEOPLE, HIRING & ORGANISATION You will build and shape a high-performing Electronics & Software organisation. Your responsibilities will include: - Owning workforce and headcount planning across the function - Recruiting and retaining exceptional engineering talent - Developing clear job families, role levels and assessment standards - Partnering with Talent Acquisition, engineering Leads and hiring managers to maintain a high technical hiring bar - Leading promotion, compensation and organisational planning within the function - Building succession plans and reducing key-person dependencies in specialist areas - Creating an organisation that remains lean, scalable and aligned with current and future programme needs LINE MANAGEMENT & DEVELOPMENT Developing strong engineers and technical leaders will be a major part of the role. You will: - Lead and develop the managers, Leads and senior engineers within your organisation - Establish meaningful objectives aligned with project and company priorities - Build clear development and technical career paths - Strengthen mentoring, coaching and leadership capability across the organisation - Create opportunities for engineers to gain experience across design, integration, test and operations - Address performance challenges fairly and constructively - Build a culture where progression is based on demonstrated capability, impact and organisational need ENGINEERING PROCESSES, STANDARDS & COMPLIANCE You will help define how excellent electronics and software engineering is done across the company. This includes: - Owning and continuously improving engineering practices across electronics, software, GNC and electrical/harness engineering - Establishing practical standards for electronics design, software development, testing, modelling, reviews and verification - Ensuring teams understand and can effectively apply the relevant processes - Supporting certification readiness, audits and continuous improvement, including applicable EN9100 requirements - Working closely with Quality, Safety, Systems Engineering and the Chief Engineer organisation - Using lessons from development, testing and operations to continuously improve engineering practices Our aim is not process for process's sake. We want processes that are lean, pragmatic and proportionate to engineering risk. ENGINEERING TOOLS & WAYS OF WORKING You will ensure our engineers have the tools and engineering environment needed to work effectively and at scale. This includes capability across: - Electronics and PCB design - Harness CAD - Software development, build and configuration toolchains - Automated testing - GNC analysis and modelling - Software-in-the-loop and hardware-in-the-loop environments - Simulation and shared test infrastructure You will drive standardisation, adoption and good engineering practice while partnering with Digital, IT, Procurement, Quality and other engineering teams. The goal is simple: engineering work should be efficient, traceable, reproducible and ready to scale. PROJECT SUPPORT & RESOURCE PLANNING You will work closely with our projects to ensure they have access to the Electronics & Software capability they need. You will: - Mentor engineering Leads and provide senior technical guidance where needed - Support major technical and engineering reviews - Maintain visibility of capability gaps, resource constraints and significant engineering risks - Work with project leadership to resolve resource requirements through hiring, development, internal mobility or external support - Anticipate future capacity constraints before they become programme blockers - Help resolve cross-project resource and organisational conflicts - Contribute to the company-wide electronics and software strategy alongside the Chief of Engineering and CTO - Shape future capabilities, reusable technologies, R&D priorities and obsolescence strategies BUDGET You will own the Electronics & Software functional budget and forecast, including: - Headcount and personnel planning - Engineering tools and licences - Relevant shared simulation and test capability - Training and development - Functional team travel You will work closely with Finance, Procurement, Digital and project leadership to ensure investment supports both immediate programme needs and longer-term engineering capability. REQUIREMENTS We are looking for someone who combines credible engineering depth with proven organisational leadership. You should bring: - Strong hands-on engineering experience in at least one of the following: avionics, electronics, embedded systems, flight software, GNC or electrical systems - Enough technical breadth to operate effectively across several of these disciplines and understand how they interact - Experience leading multidisciplinary engineering teams in a complex product environment - Proven formal line-management experience, including developing managers and technical leaders - Experience hiring, developing and building engineering organisations - Experience with organisational design, workforce and capacity planning - Experience creating or improving engineering processes, tools, standards and ways of working - Experience operating within a matrix organisation and supporting multiple projects or programmes - Strong coaching, mentoring, communication and influencing skills - The technical credibility to challenge senior engineers while empowering the appropriate technical owners to make decisions - A pragmatic approach to engineering quality, assurance and compliance, including relevant EN9100 practices Experience in spacecraft, launch vehicles, aerospace, defence, aviation, robotics or another complex safety-critical engineering environment would be particularly relevant. We are looking for a leader who: - Leads with high standards, humility and low ego - Enjoys developing people rather than simply directing them - Empowers strong technical Leads and avoids becoming a bottleneck - Can challenge experienced engineers constructively - Makes decisions using data and sound engineering judgement - Balances immediate programme pressures with long-term organisational capability - Creates clarity where responsibilities cross organisational boundaries - Promotes transparency, accountability, collaboration and continuous learning - Believes in extreme ownership and engineering first principles - Remains close enough to the engineering to understand the challenges our teams are solving LOCATION & TRAVEL This is a leadership role with teams and stakeholders across our European organisation, so regular face-to-face engagement is important. You should expect to spend time across our main European sites, with additional travel where required for team leadership, recruitment, major engineering reviews, audits and project support. Why you should join us! What makes us special here at The Exploration Company and why we think you will enjoy working here is:   - We’re Agile - we make decisions fast whilst keeping our goals and systems in mind  - We’re Open and Collaborative - we are transparent about risks and obstacles, so that we can cooperate to overcome them   - We have a lot of Fun - we refuel our energy knowing we are democratising space. It’s a wonderful and rare opportunity, are YOU up for the challenge?   We'd love to hear from you if you wish to be a part of our journey. Please submit your CV now for immediate consideration and we will be in touch shortly.    The Exploration Company is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability status. Relocation assistance is provided for those willing to relocate including visa sponsorship where applicable.   All offers are contingent upon the successful completion of a background check, which will be subject to the country, role, and project you applied for. By submitting your application, you acknowledge and agree that any offer of employment may be conditional upon successful condition of this check. The Exploration Company partners with Zinc Work Limited located in the UK (Zinc), a third-party provider, to ensure this process as efficient and transparent as possible. If applicable, you will receive an email from Zinc upon acceptance of your offer with a link to a secure portal where you can provide the required information to Zinc.