Head of Future Programmes - Guildford, United Kingdom - Northbridge Recruitment

Description

Head of Furure Programmes - Space Systems exp essential

Reporting to the Chief Technical Officer (CTO), the Head of Future Programmes is an exciting opportunity to work in a pioneering space company shaping future satellite mission programmes.

Working closely with the Heads of Business, Heads of Engineering and Projects, the Head of Future Programmes, is responsible for;
1) technical development of future programme solutions suitable for each new business opportunity ideas in line with strategic and technical roadmaps

2) development and ownership of the product portfolio, 3) management of a team to develop future mission / payload ideas in support to Business Development and Sales on active proposals and sales campaigns


Key Tasks

• Leading a team of Future programme engineers to deliver on daytoday business in a dynamic fast passed environment while also ensuring breath and capability to deliver on future strategic needs
• Work with the Business Development & Sales Director, relevant Heads of Business, relevant Key Account Managers and the Chief Engineers to develop a technical solution suitable for each new business opportunity to ensure that the technical solution is described in a way that maximises the chance of success
• Working closely with the technical disciplines to define the system characteristics of new solutions considering the customer requirements and the heritage design approach to shape quality and pragmatic solutions for innovative missions or payloads in the generation of proposals
• Ensure consistency across the technical offerings to customers and current mission and design activities with clear definition of system characteristics of the new solutions considering the customer requirements and the heritage design approach of the company.
• Responsible for maintaining the product portfolio ensuring each product has a clear roadmap, supporting business development & technical information, cost pack, schedule and relevant programmatic information. Own the introduction of new products aligned to the company strategy ensuring clear alignment to line roadmaps.
• Provide a smooth transition from prospect and bid activities to the subsequent project technical lead
• Participate in relevant industry technical working groups and generation of technical papers improving visibility within UK and wider space community while also acting as the voice of future programmes ensuring a close working relationship is maintained between all disciplines
• Keep track and report on competitor capabilities across the space sector, advising of changes and necessary future direction of the portfolio.
• Work with the Mission Concepts team responsible for roadmapping activities to ensure an effective handover between longterm strategy and daytoday implementation

Previous Experience

• Proven commercial experience in achieving success in a role requiring similar attributes with exposure to a wide range of space missions and technologies
• Background of proven experience in mission / payload delivery and new mission / payload development with a working knowledge of engineering concepts for missions ranging from LEO to GEO and beyond
• Solid understanding of the space market with good understanding of key primes and institutional (ESA, NASA, JAXA, etc) bodies and ways of working
• Proven experience of building relationships, working collaboratively with peers and interfacing with customers and stakeholders
• Demonstrable leadership and management experience including managing budgets
• Knowledge downstream and services markets
• Experience in mission delivery, preferably whole life cycle bid through to commissioning.

Qualifications, Knowledge & Skills

• A degree or equivalent in a technical or project management discipline with a proven mission / payload delivery
• A solid foundation of spacecraft and ground systems, mission design and verification with exposure to typical spacecraft design tools
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, able to influence, persuade and negotiate with people at all levels (externally & internally) as well as to assist in reaching compromises when there are conflicting requirements
• High degree of organisation, selfmotivation and initiative
• Good team working skills, together with the ability to interface with others at all levels
• Good presentation skills and customer facing skills
• Ability to work simultaneously on a variety of projects
• Able to work autonomously and using own initiative
• Proven ability to deliver solutions under pressure and to tight timescales
• Good knowledge of MS Office Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Microsoft Project
• Able to demonstrate company mindsets and behaviours; Be accountable, Drive & delivery, Communicate effectively, Selfmanage effectively, Work as one team
• Ability to work closely with technical teams to understand and grasp concepts and issues and translate those to schedule and cost impacts with a balanced a