Alias-Executive
Director of Engineering & Technology
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Director of Engineering & Technology
Aerospace & Defence | Safety-critical mechanical systems and structures
South West England | On-site
Alias Executive Search & Consulting is retained on a confidential basis to appoint a Technical Director for the UK operating company of an established international aerospace and defence group.
The business designs, qualifies and manufactures safety-critical mechanical assemblies and structures for civil and military aircraft programmes, supplying aircraft OEMs and Tier 1 primes internationally. Design engineering and manufacturing sit on the same site — engineering decisions here are made, owned and built under one roof, and the technical function carries real authority rather than acting as a service department to a distant parent.
The client's identity is disclosed to shortlisted candidates at first interview.
The Role
The Technical Director owns everything the business puts its name to technically: the integrity of the design, the strength of the certification and qualification evidence behind it, the manufacturability of what engineering releases to the shop floor, and the credibility of the technical case put to customers and airworthiness authorities.
Reporting to the UK Managing Director and sitting on the Senior Leadership Team, the role leads design engineering, stress and analysis, manufacturing and process engineering, and configuration management.
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This is a demanding brief by design. It asks for the seniority to shape a technology roadmap for the next five to ten years, and the technical depth to interrogate a stress report, challenge a qualification plan and hold your own with a customer's chief engineer. Engineers who have moved away from the technical substance into pure general management will not find this a comfortable fit.
What You Will Own
- Design authority — final technical sign-off on design releases, engineering changes, concessions and deviations
- Structural and mechanical integrity across the portfolio — stress, fatigue and damage tolerance, kinematics, materials selection and life substantiation
- Certification and qualification strategy under the applicable civil and military airworthiness frameworks, and the interface with authorities and customer certification teams
- New product introduction, from bid and concept through detailed design and qualification, first article inspection and transition into rate production
- Manufacturing and process engineering, including special process control to Nadcap and customer-specific requirements
- The technical content of bids and proposals, and the senior technical relationship with OEM, Tier 1 and defence customers
- The technology roadmap, R&D funding strategy and intellectual property portfolio
- Leadership, structure, resourcing and development of the engineering function, and the standards and toolsets it works to
- Technical risk — including the authority to say no when the evidence is not there
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What We Need to See
- Degree in mechanical, aerospace, materials or manufacturing engineering; Chartered Engineer status strongly preferred
- Fifteen years or more in aerospace and defence, including several years leading engineering at Chief Engineer, Head of Engineering, or Engineering / Technical Director level
- Real technical depth in safety-critical mechanical systems, structures or assemblies. This is not a role for a generalist manager
- Direct ownership of certification and qualification programmes
- Full-lifecycle exposure: concept, design, qualification, industrialisation, rate production and in-service support
- A career built inside manufacturing businesses, not design consultancy alone — machining, assembly, special processes and shop-floor reality
- Proven leadership of multi-disciplinary engineering teams at meaningful scale
- Commercial literacy: bids, estimating, make-or-buy, and the judgement to balance technical ideals against programme and margin
- Right to work in the UK and eligibility for UK security clearance
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