Systems Engineering Manager (Defense)

Location: Maidenhead, United Kingdom; significant on-site presence required

Company

Ultra Intelligence & Communications delivers advanced cryptographic, key management, and secure information exchange solutions for defense customers.

What you will do

• Lead and assure engineering delivery across concurrent defense projects, maintaining scope, budget, schedule, and governance commitments.
• Coordinate multidisciplinary engineering teams, delegate work, manage dependencies, and support project planning and scheduling.
• Apply systems engineering lifecycle practices aligned with ISO 15288 and ISO 24748, including governance, traceability, configuration management, and metrics.
• Identify and mitigate technical, resource, schedule, cost, and delivery risks while managing engineering changes and dependencies.
• Represent engineering with customers, suppliers, subcontractors, and internal stakeholders, including travel to external meetings.
• Support capability development, recruitment planning, knowledge sharing, and the growth of engineering teams.

Requirements

• Full knowledge of the systems engineering lifecycle, the V-model, and iterative and incremental development models.
• Proven engineering management, technical leadership, and mentoring experience overseeing at least 10 multidisciplinary engineers.
• Experience designing and integrating complex solutions, creating value-based work breakdown structures, and estimating costs.
• Experience with systems engineering methods, lifecycle tools, configuration management, traceability, and engineering metrics.
• Hands-on experience with command-and-control defense systems, sensors, communications, encryption, or land, maritime, or airborne capabilities.
• Must be able to travel within the UK, hold a valid driving licence, maintain significant on-site presence, and obtain and maintain SC and DV security clearance.

Nice to have

• Experience delivering regulated, legislation-aligned solutions in the UK defense or aerospace industry.
• Experience identifying project growth and development opportunities.

Culture & Benefits

• Annual bonus scheme and private medical cover.
• 25 days of holiday plus bank holidays, with the option to buy five additional days.
• Pension contributions and four times life assurance cover.
• Flexible working hours, including the opportunity for a 1 p.m. finish on Fridays.
• Flexible benefits such as a cycle-to-work scheme and will writing support.
• Security clearance allowance where applicable and subject to holding the required clearance.

Hiring process

• Applicants must be able to obtain the required security clearance and handle export-controlled material where applicable.
• SC clearance requires British citizenship and five years of UK residency; DV clearance requires ten years of UK residency.