Chief Technology Officer — Space-Systems Division

The mandate

A space-systems division is redesigning its technology and supply architecture after component scarcity, foreign-dependency review and customer restrictions exposed single points of failure. Programme teams respond locally, creating duplicate redesign and inconsistent provenance. The board has planned a new CTO role to make trusted supply and design resilience part of the enterprise architecture.

Approximately 2,200 employees and material partners span systems, hardware, software, cyber, component engineering, test, manufacturing and suppliers from London. The CTO owns technology strategy, architecture, engineering standards, research, technical partners and design assurance, reporting to the Group Chief Executive or nominated sponsor. Design, safety, security and export approval remains with authorised authorities.

The first deliverable is a critical-technology map. Components, algorithms, tools, materials and processes should connect to missions, programmes, suppliers, rights, provenance and alternatives. The CTO will distinguish commodity availability from technologies whose qualification or security conditions make substitution difficult.

Design resilience starts before shortage. Architectures should expose interfaces, critical dependencies and replaceability. The CTO will establish modularity and alternate-design principles where mission, mass, power and assurance permit. Resilience cannot be retrofitted cheaply after production freeze.

Component engineering needs enterprise governance. Obsolescence, counterfeit risk, radiation tolerance, screening and lot traceability require common evidence. Lifetime buys must include demand, storage, test and change risk. Broker purchase without trusted provenance is prohibited.

Supplier technical exchange will remain controlled. External partners need sufficient design context to deliver but not unrestricted programme data. Interfaces, data packages, licences and intellectual-property rights should be explicit. The CTO will create approved collaboration patterns and monitor exceptions.

Digital thread ambition must respect classification. Requirements, models, configuration, analysis and test evidence should connect where authorised. Cross-domain transfer will use approved methods and minimal data. An executive desire for end-to-end visibility cannot justify an insecure integration.

Engineering tools and models require assurance. Version, access, validation, libraries and computing environments affect conclusions. The CTO will ensure teams know which artefacts are authoritative and prevent uncontrolled reuse across programmes with different assumptions.

Technology readiness will use evidence. Demonstrations, environmental results, manufacturing repeatability and integration define maturity. The CTO will challenge attractive technologies advanced on laboratory performance without qualification and supply route.

Make, buy or partner decisions will include sovereign access, rights, scale, talent and lifecycle. Internal development may be justified for critical control; partnership may preserve speed. The CTO will state the trade-off and exit route rather than apply a universal preference.

Customer engagement will translate mission need into architecture without promising unreleasable detail. Technical roadmaps need common foundations and customer-specific boundaries. The CTO will personally govern deviations that create long-term fragmentation.

Research investment will focus on defined dependency or mission advantage. Each initiative needs hypothesis, transition owner and evidence gate. Patent volume or prototype count is not portfolio value. Failed work will be closed and learning retained securely.

Engineering talent requires rare capability and eligibility. Component, security, systems and assurance specialists need successors. The CTO will create technical career paths and cross-programme communities within permitted boundaries. Knowledge transfer must be observed, not assumed from documents.

Technical risk will reach the board in decision form. The CTO will show exposure, alternatives, capital and time. Supply urgency cannot make independent design and safety review optional.

Customer-furnished technology and government-developed components require separate stewardship. Before treating either as a reusable platform asset, the CTO will confirm permitted modification, interface disclosure, configuration custody and lifecycle-support obligations. Design convenience must not create an intellectual-property, sovereign-access or sustainment liability for a later programme.

What you will own

• Space-systems technology and architecture strategy.
• Critical-technology and dependency mapping.
• Component provenance, obsolescence and alternatives.
• Controlled supplier and digital-thread design.
• Engineering tools, models and readiness evidence.
• Make-buy-partner and research portfolio.
• Customer technical architecture and fragmentation control.
• Engineering leadership and succession.

The first 12 months

Within 60 days, map critical dependencies, identify untrusted or single-source technologies and protect active programmes. Establish common component and collaboration evidence.

By month six, approve alternate architectures for priority dependencies, govern digital-thread boundaries and decide strategic make-buy-partner routes. Close weak research work.

At twelve months, reduce unmitigated single-source critical technologies by 40%, qualify alternatives for 80% of priority exposures and achieve 100% provenance evidence for production-critical components. Every new architecture should carry an approved dependency map, with no unauthorised technical-data exchange or safety-assurance override.

What the sponsor will examine

• Critical dependencies visible before design freeze.
• Alternatives assessed for mission and qualification.
• Components supported by trusted provenance.
• Digital threads stopping at authorised boundaries.
• Research transitioning through evidence gates.
• Technical expertise succeeding beyond individuals.

The person

You bring 22–28 years in space, aerospace, defence or high-reliability technology, including CTO or enterprise engineering authority. Your record includes systems architecture, restricted supply, component assurance, secure digital engineering and customer mission delivery.

Candidates must show an architecture changed to remove a critical dependency and a technology stopped after qualification evidence failed. The permanent role is onsite in London. Required security and export eligibility applies.

Compensation and terms

Base compensation is GBP 250,000–340,000 plus annual incentive and long-term participation linked to resilient architecture, trusted supply, technical maturity, security and leadership. The permanent onsite London executive reports to the Group Chief Executive or nominated executive-committee sponsor. Planned hiring precedes the next architecture cycle.

Confidentiality

The division, missions, architectures, components, suppliers, controlled data and technology roadmaps remain confidential. Further disclosure follows eligibility, conflicts and signed confidentiality. Applicants must not approach space organisations or suppliers to infer the client.