Head of Systems Engineering, Bristol

Bristol (hybrid, 4 days a week in office)

We’re supporting a specialist engineering and technology consultancy delivering mission critical programmes across the UK defence sector, and they’re looking to appoint a Head of Systems to lead and grow a high performing engineering function.

At its core, they’re looking for someone who is a top tier consultant first and foremost, with experience leading and growing a function through hiring, coaching and team development, while also being commercially minded and capable of generating new business. They want someone who understands the routes to market within the defence ecosystem, is comfortable with customer engagement and presentations, can contribute to bid activity, and is confident managing and developing client relationships. This will be the primary focus of the role for at least the first 18–24 months.

The current team sits at around three people, with plans to scale to 10–15 over the next two years. It’s genuinely a fantastic opportunity for someone who wants to build and shape a capability from the ground up, with the financial backing and support to do it properly.

Importantly, we are not looking for a highly technical Systems Engineer whose long term goal is to become a Chief Engineer. This role is much more focused on strategic leadership, client engagement, business growth and people management. In simple terms, they would rather hire a top tier consultant with solid engineering credibility than a pure technical expert with limited commercial or leadership exposure.

From a working pattern perspective, most of the team are in the office four days a week and they would expect the successful person to follow a similar approach and collaborate closely with the wider business. There will also be occasional visits to customer site.

In short, do you see yourself as an out and out consultant who either has been, or wants to be, the driving force behind building and growing a team/function like this?

MUST BE A SOLE BRITISH CITIZEN AND ELIGIBLE FOR SECURITY CLEARANCE

This is an opportunity to join a highly respected organisation working at the forefront of defence capability development, supporting complex programmes across multiple operating domains.

If you’re interested in learning more, please get in touch directly.