Role Purpose

To provide strategic and technical leadership to the Air business within UK Defence in order to meet business objectives and deliver growth safely and securely. The successful candidate will fulfil the role of respected leader and senior technical expert ensuring delivery and providing technical vision and direction at a strategic level for the Managing Director Air.

They will work with business and technical leads across the company to develop the technical strategy for the Air business and act as the key interface between customer derived requirements and the proposed QinetiQ solutions and services. They will engage at director level to understand customers’ business and commercial issues and contribute key insights.

This will involve interpretation of business goals and drivers, translation of business strategy and objectives into practice, the strategic assessment of current capabilities, the identification of required changes in capabilities; and the description of inter-relationships between people, processes, technologies, tools, and facilities and the external environment.  They will oversee technical work and be forward leaning, shaping the solutions for the future.  

Business travel between Air sites will be required.

Key Accountabilities

1. Strategy: Set the technical/capability/solution strategy for the area(s) and deliver against challenging objectives in line with the Integrated Strategic Business Plan (ISBP).
2. Strategic relationships: Build and retain strong relationships with customers, partners and colleagues at senior management levels to support the growth agenda.
3. Leadership: Form and lead a team of experts from across the company. Success will depend on your ability to forge strong intra and inter-company collaborative working relationships to develop great solutions for new and existing customers.
4. In Year Accountabilities:
   1. To provide effective technical leadership and support to the Air business.
   2. Provide technical assurance, ensuring that all deliverables (which includes bids) meet appropriate technical standards, comply with statutory, regulatory, company and project specific processes and procedures, as appropriate. 
   3. Collaborate extensively across businesses and functions, aligning to Sector, Campaign and Domain strategies and drawing on all relevant technical resources and activities across the Group.
   4. To understand the customer requirements and future technology developments and to lead the Air business in the development of strategies for new capabilities and areas for business growth.
   5. To support the development of aligned staff in the Engineering and Operations Disciplines and support resourcing decisions, including both long term and short term planning, informing competency and capacity requirements, investment priorities and critical make/buy/partner decisions.
   6. To support the development of key facilities required to support business and capability areas to meet our customer’s requirements now and in the future.
   7. Ensure that the tailoring of process at project level is appropriate and recommend changes to improve processes as they become apparent.
   8. To support Business Development and Sales activities.
   9. Provide support to IDT Leads, Campaign Leads, Capture leads, Programme leads and Capability Area leads to ensure the safe and efficient delivery of the business objectives.
   10. Support QinetiQ-wide strategic planning.

Key Capabilities

• Rigorous approach to the development and implementation of technical strategies.
• Excellent interpersonal/communication skills.
• Ability to set and manage budgets.
• A scientist/engineer/leader with a background of working on a range of project types.
• Possess the leadership skills required to engage and motivate the team to contribute to the growth and success of the business.
• To be recognised as a major initiator and supporter of positive cultural change.
• Knowledge and experience reflecting a broad business understanding, with pace-setting skills in order to establish and enhance QinetiQ's standing in the market place.
• Exceptional capabilities, be a respected expert in their field with a record of outstanding technical contributions in one or more specialties, sustained high performance in previous appointments (or in an equivalent external technical environment), and technical leadership in one or more business streams e.g. research, product development.
• Takes active account of the aims and objectives of colleagues and customers to motivate, mentor and encourage team members to develop their careers.
• Stimulates creative ideas and integrates their contributions into compelling solutions.
• A respected technical leader who can perform complex engineering/technical assignments developing creative, yet practical solutions to customer problems, challenging conventional or traditional methods or procedures where required.
• As well as serving as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) for customers, is also skilled in working with customers to open up new business opportunities.
• Responsible for problem definition, in conjunction with customers, users and colleagues, and capable of scoping out and assembling high quality written project documentation (e.g. proposals, reports etc).
• Ability to shape, describe and deliver whole or parts of projects and exercise considerable discretion on a variety of complex assignments, influencing strategy (and budgets) across a number of skill groups.
• Responsible for setting the quality standards (e.g. Independent Design Reviews) and assurance against such, over a number of areas.

Experience & Qualifications

• A first degree in Science or Engineering, or an equivalent, nationally recognised, professional qualification, with typically over 15 years of further on the job experience and growth of key skills, working in the Air domain and backed up with a tangible track record of achievement.
• Strong systems engineering skills with a track record of application to a variety of projects in the Air domain.
• Good commercial awareness; with practical knowledge of how engineering contributes to the business and a good understanding of competitors.
• Contributes to the technical / professional direction for engineering skills groups in the Air domain.
• Uses conceptual and innovative thinking; evaluates situations using multiple sources of information; makes complex judgements based on advanced analytical thought.
• Has highly developed communication skills with an ability to negotiate internally, externally and often at higher levels.
• Knowledge and experience reflects either a deep and widening knowledge of technical or functional capability and will have led to recognition as one of the technical shapers in the field, and is considered a “seasoned professional”.
• Training is aimed at developing the ability to manage a team of technical experts within a technical or professional area coupled with expertise as an SME within the team.
• CPD continues, aiming towards a higher class of professional membership or similar accreditation, and once achieved, actively using it to benefit the role holder and QinetiQ.

Why join QinetiQ?

As we continue to grow into new markets around the world, there’s never been a more exciting time to join QinetiQ. The formula for success is our appetite for innovation and having the courage to take on a wide variety of complex challenges.

You’ll experience a unique working environment where teams from different backgrounds, disciplines and experience enjoy collaborating widely and openly as we undertake this exciting and rewarding journey. Through effective teamwork, and pulling together, you’ll get to experience what happens when we all share different perspectives, blend disciplines, and link technologies; constantly discovering new ways of solving complex problems in an diverse and inclusive environment where you can be authentic, feel valued and realise your full potential. Read more about our diverse and inclusive workplace culture here.  

Joining QinetiQ offers you an opportunity to work on a broad range of interesting defence-based projects with vast career progression across a global organisation in addition to competitive personal and professional benefits.  You’ll receive a highly competitive salary and benefits package: our basic salaries are very attractive as we constantly review what’s happening in the market. The range of benefits that we offer include, adaptive and flexible working, generous holiday entitlements, Health Cash Plan, Private Medical Insurance and Dental Insurance and much more. 

About QinetiQ

As a company of over 6,000 dedicated professionals, we are a world-centre of excellence in research and development and act as a catalyst for fast-track innovation, offering outstanding experimentation facilities, and technical, engineering and scientific expertise. QinetiQ is made up of dedicated experts in defence, aerospace, security and related markets, all working together to explore new ways of protecting what matters most. Being part of QinetiQ means being central to the safety and security of the world around us. Partnering with our customers, we help to save lives; reduce risks to society; and maintain the global infrastructure on which we all depend. Come and find out how you can play a role.

Please note that many roles in QinetiQ are subject to national security vetting. Applicants that already hold the appropriate level of vetting may be able to transfer it upon appointment, subject to approval. A number of roles are also subject to restrictions on access to information that mean factors such as nationality, previous nationalities held and the country in which you were born may have an effect on the roles that you can be employed in.