Destinus

Head of Engineering

Destinus Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

Defense and Space Manufacturing · 1,001-5,000 employees

4 h ago
Remote engineering-manager Principal (10+ yrs) Full-time Switzerland
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About the role

You will own engineering-wide planning, resource allocation, and the definition of engineering processes to ensure high-quality delivery. Additionally, you will manage the Engineering PMO and quality assurance teams while reporting key performance indicators to leadership.

What they look for

Engineering Management Resource Planning Capacity Planning KPI Tracking Process Improvement Configuration Management Quality Assurance Engineering PMO Change Control PLM Systems PDM Systems ERP Systems Stakeholder Management Export Control Aerospace Standards Defense Technology

Requirements

Candidates must have over 10 years of experience in engineering or operations within the aerospace or defense industry, including at least 3 years in a leadership role. A degree in engineering is required, along with hands-on experience in PLM/PDM systems and familiarity with relevant industry standards.

Full description

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

RequirementsWhat 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.

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