Director of Mission Development

In this role, you will navigate evolving priorities, incomplete information, and shifting business needs - turning ambiguity into clarity. As the Director of Mission Development, you’ll be the driving force behind defining problems, identifying solutions, and ensuring our customers achieve their objectives.

You’ll operate with a high degree of autonomy, setting technical direction and executing with minimal oversight. This means proactively tackling challenges, developing innovative solutions, and fostering seamless communication across teams. You will lead the design and execution of mission-critical solutions, working closely with MOD stakeholders and our partners to develop innovative and resilient solutions that meet defence needs and advance national security. 

Your mission: Get Auterion software into the hands of real-world users. Identify mission groups struggling with challenges our technology can solve, then drive deployments of our software in support of their mission. 

Responsibilities and Duties

• Identify potential strategies to enhance defence capabilities, ensuring alignment with national security objectives and emerging threats.
• Collaborate with frontline commands, government agencies, and defence contractors to secure partnerships, funding, and policy support.
• Enable customers and partners to understand the technology's value. Work to help them navigate complex organizational, contracting and budget pathways to implement a pilot or project. 
• Enable MOD senior-level visibility on mission wins generated through our pilots and projects and develop a shared roadmap for converting these mission wins into larger-scale projects.
• This role influences technical decisions, drives architectural strategies at the org level, and develops solutions critical to company-wide scalability. It may also contribute to industry best practices and open-source innovation.
• Internally, the role collaborates with engineering, product, design and security to deliver robust solutions. It contributes and guides the product roadmap based on customer need.

Qualifications and Skills

• Technical expertise – Strong software engineering background, with a solid foundation in system architecture, design, and implementation. Prior experience as a System Engineer or a similar role in software development is highly valued.
• Technical pre-sales & defence experience – You’ve worked with customers and partners across defence programmes, understanding their needs and guiding them through any constraints.
• Problem solver & self-starter – You take ownership, move with urgency, and thrive in ambiguity. Challenges don’t deter you—they drive you.
• Mission domain expert – First-hand experience with MOD mission users, domain knowledge, or military service. You understand the organizational landscape because you’ve lived it.
• Versatile & adaptable – A utility player, ready to step up and do whatever it takes to propel the business forward.
• Security clearance – Existing UK security clearance preferred, or eligibility at the minimum.

Benefits

• Flexible working hours & hybrid workplace
• Stock Options
• Generous holiday allowance
• Pension plan 
• Mental health and wellbeing support
• Learning and development opportunities
• Regular team socials

About Auterion

We are building the leading software platform for AI-powered autonomous systems for enterprise and government customers. Our team is supporting the most important missions and solving the most challenging problems.

At Auterion, we bring together the sharpest minds who love to solve the hardest problems. Join a vibrant team built on innovation, openness, and excellence, where you’ll be empowered to develop ideas, collaborate across all levels, and make an impact that matters.