As Head of Engineering, you ensure the reliable execution of the engineering organization. You own the processes, methods and tools, required by our engineers to deliver to a high quality at fast pace. Working closely with the CTO, engineering management and program leadership, you drive execution discipline across programs, from resource planning and milestone tracking to process assurance, change control and design-to-production handover.
What You´ll Do
- You own engineering-wide planning with resource allocation and forecast, capacity planning, and headcount across programs
- You are accountable for tracking and reporting of engineering KPIs (budget, cost, EV, schedule adherence, quality) to leadership
- You define and continuously improve engineering processes (requirements management, change control, configuration management, V&V)
- You constantly improve our engineering toolchain, infrastructure, and methods
- Manage a team of configuration managers, quality assurance, process & method engineers, as well as Engineering PMO
- Ensure compliance with applicable standards and development requirements (e.g. STANAG, DO160G/DO178C/DO254, export control)
- Support hiring, onboarding, and skills development across engineering
RequirementsRequirements
What You’ll Need
- Strong soft skills to implement the necessary processes and methods across a fast growing and changing organization.
- 10+ years in engineering or program/operations roles in aerospace, defense, or similar hardware industry, including 3+ years in a leadership position
- Degree in engineering (aerospace, mechanical, electrical, or similar); business qualification a plus
- Proven track record running engineering planning, processes, and execution across multiple concurrent programs
- Hands-on experience with PLM/PDM and ERP systems, configuration management, and engineering change control
- Strong analytical skills and comfortable building KPIs, budgets, and capacity models
- Excellent stakeholder management across engineering, production, supply chain, and executive leadership
- Eligible to work with export-controlled defense technology
- Fluent in English; German a plus
Who You Are
You thrive in fast-paced environments where ambiguity is part of the challenge, and you naturally turn it into clarity. You take ownership seriously and move things forward without waiting for perfect conditions. You are comfortable aligning strong opinions and transforming them into a shared direction that teams can execute on. You stay hands-on, stepping in whenever needed to keep momentum, and you know how to balance structure with flexibility without losing focus. Above all, you measure success by outcomes and take pride in getting things done.
Skills Required
- 10+ years in engineering or program/operations roles in aerospace, defense, or similar hardware industry, including 3+ years in a leadership position
- Degree in engineering (aerospace, mechanical, electrical, or similar)
- Hands-on experience with PLM/PDM and ERP systems
- Experience with configuration management and engineering change control
- Proven track record running engineering planning, processes, and execution across multiple concurrent programs
- Strong analytical skills; comfortable building KPIs, budgets, and capacity models
- Excellent stakeholder management across engineering, production, supply chain, and executive leadership
- Familiarity with standards STANAG, DO-160G, DO-178C, DO-254 and export control compliance
- Eligible to work with export-controlled defense technology
- Fluent in English
- German language skills
- Strong soft skills to implement processes and methods across a fast-growing organization
What We Do
Destinus is a European aerospace and defense company that designs and manufactures autonomous flight systems, including drones, strike-effectors, and counter-drone systems. They utilize a vertically integrated model, handling design, airframe engineering, propulsion, and AI software in-house. Their mission focuses on advancing aerospace technology across the speed spectrum to enhance defense capabilities and global connectivity, with a particular emphasis on scalable strike and air defense systems for European and allied forces.
