Thales is a global technology leader with more than 83,000 employees on five continents. With over 7,500 people in the UK, operating across defence, space, aerospace, and digital security, we help build a future we can all trust. Thales supports the security and stability of our nation by providing extraordinary technology to our customers, as well as delivering social value to the UK with our products and services.
Interdisciplinary Engineering Group Manager - Cheadle/Stockport
Primary Purpose of the Role:
To serve as the strategic leader and advocate for the entire [Insert JF Lvl2] craft across UWS Hardware. This role is responsible for ensuring UWS has a reliable, high-quality supply of talent (permanent, contingent, and external partners) and that the working environment (tools, processes, and standards) is optimal for professional excellence and well-being within the dual-reporting matrix structure.
Key Areas of Responsibility
A. Talent Strategy and Resource Supply Management
- Total Talent Supply Owner: Own the strategy and delivery for all forms of tradecraft supply. This includes managing permanent headcount, defining requirements for contingent workers, and vetting specialist external partners to ensure quality and continuity of the [JFLvl2] craft.
- Capacity Planning: Work closely with Sector/Portfolio Engineering Leadership to forecast future demand for [JFLvl2] skills. Ensure the Group's talent mix (permanent, contingent, external) is appropriately scaled and skilled to meet anticipated project needs across all UWS sites.
- Contingent/Partner Quality: Support, Influence & enforce quality standards and onboarding processes for all non-permanent practitioners to maintain the integrity of the craft.
- Recruitment and Retention: Lead the recruitment lifecycle for permanent employees and implement targeted retention strategies, leveraging development and pastoral care to make the functional group the employer of choice for the trade.
B. Craftsmanship and Technical Enablement
- Tooling Advocacy and Influence: Act as the key driver and influencer for tooling and infrastructure budgets. Proactively define the UWS needs in addition to Group strategy, building strong business cases to secure necessary funding for software, hardware, and infrastructure.
- Fit-for-Purpose Assurance: Responsible for ensuring the deployed tools and infrastructure remain fit for purpose for the [JFLvl2] craft. Identify gaps, manage stakeholder expectations under existing constraints, and drive positive outcomes regardless of Group strategy potential limitations.
- Craft Standards and Quality: Define, maintain, and continuously improve the [JFLvl2] Craft Standard (best practices, technical specifications, and quality gates) in accordance with the Thales Engineering Fundamentals. Ensure compliance through the Technical Leads across all sites.
C. People Leadership and Development
- Career and Professional Development: Own and manage the long-term career development and formal training for all permanent employees. Partner with Hw Delivery Leads to ensure project assignments support individuals development action plans (DAPs).
- Pastoral Care and Well-being: Provide dedicated support, mentorship, and pastoral care to employees navigating the complexities of the matrix structure. Act as the primary escalation point for personal and structural conflicts, prioritizing employee well-being and psychological safety.
- Functional Performance Management: Conduct formal performance reviews focusing on craftsmanship competency, adherence to standards, and professional growth (as distinct from project delivery performance).
- Technical Leadership: Direct, coach, and support the site-based Technical Leads in their daily roles of coaching, mentoring, and quality assurance, ensuring consistency of the craft across all geographical locations.
Key Success Measures (KSMs)
- Employee Development: Achievement rate of Individual Development Action Plan goals; Engineering Fundamentals competency level maturity.
- Talent Supply: Time-to-fill and quality scores for permanent roles; Supply reliability/fulfilment rate.
- Well-being & Retention: Employee engagement scores [JFLvl2]; [JFLvl2] voluntary turnover rate.
- Enablement: Quantifiable success in influencing budget decisions; Adoption and compliance rates for Group's tools and standards.
Principal Relationships:
- Head of Hardware Engineering
- Hw Delivery Managers
- Heads of Engineering Delivery
- Head of Engineering Operations
- Hardware Architects
Travel Percentage:
Up to 10%
Role Reports To:
Head of Hardware Engineering
No. Direct Reports:
Up to 40
Additional Information:
Requires UK Government Security Clearance
#LI-DM1
At Thales, we ensure equal opportunities, pay and working conditions for all. The benefits we offer include private medical insurance, buying or selling annual leave, cycle to work schemes, employee discounts, paid volunteering day, stocks and shares, annual bonus and much more depending on the role. Read more about our benefits here.
We are committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels valued for who they are and the unique strengths they bring. Discover more about our programmes, employee networks, wellbeing policies, and inclusive features here.
If this role isn’t quite right for you, we encourage you to join our talent community where your details will be shared with our recruitment teams for other potential opportunities. Join the Talent Community here.
Join Thales in the UK – Innovate with us and shape the future!
Skills Required
- UK Government Security Clearance
- Proven experience in engineering talent strategy and workforce planning (permanent, contingent, external partners)
- Experience leading and managing engineering teams/groups and technical leads
- Experience defining and enforcing engineering craft standards and quality gates
- Experience influencing tooling, infrastructure and budget decisions
- Experience managing recruitment, retention, career development and performance processes
- Experience managing contingent workforce quality and onboarding processes
- Ability to provide pastoral care, mentorship, and handle escalations in a matrix environment
- Willingness to travel up to 10%
Thales Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Thales and has not been reviewed or approved by Thales.
-
Retirement Support — Retirement plans with employer contributions and matches, profit sharing, and share purchase opportunities are emphasized across multiple regions. These elements are positioned as competitive components of total rewards.
-
Leave & Time Off Breadth — Generous PTO that increases with tenure, paid holidays, and paid military, maternity, and paternity leave are described. This breadth supports work–life balance across locations.
-
Flexible Benefits — Hybrid work options, flexible schedules, and parental supports such as childcare benefits and leave for sick children are available in several markets. Flexibility is presented as a core part of the employee experience.
Thales Insights
What We Do
Thales is a global high technology leader investing in digital and “deep tech” innovations – connectivity, big data, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and quantum technology – to build a future we can all trust, which is vital to the development of our societies. The company provides solutions, services and products that help its customers – businesses, organisations and states – in the defence, aeronautics, space, transportation and digital identity and security markets to fulfil their critical missions, by placing humans at the heart of the decision-making process.
.jpg)
