Head of Product in Gloucester

At Roke, we imagine a more secure world. A world where technology protects, rather than exposes. A world where expert engineers, consultants and business support staff collaborate to protect what matters most to our clients. We are a friendly and flexible team with a culture of ‘time, trust and freedom’. The role may give the opportunity to work on client site, from the office, in shared workspaces or from home as necessary. We pride ourselves on listening to each other’s aspirations and accommodating wherever possible.

The Opportunity: Roke is a leader in cutting-edge technology solutions for the defence industry with clients spanning National Security, Defence, and wider. We work alongside our customers to solve their complex and unique challenges. We are looking for individuals able to work flexibly across projects in different domains. You might apply your skills to rapidly prototype new approaches and solutions. Equally, you may apply them to complement or advance existing solutions. You will be part of a stimulating, collaborative and driven team that offers you autonomy, challenge, and strong sense of purpose. Depending on the project, there will be opportunities to demonstrate technology to customers and support customer test and acceptance.

We are looking for an experienced Product Hardware (HW) Lead to shape, govern and assure the development of advanced CEMA (Cyber & Electromagnetic Activities) products within our Defence business. This is a senior technical leadership role with real influence — guiding products from concept to market, sustainment and retirement, while ensuring engineering excellence, pace and compliance in a demanding defence environment. You will sit at the intersection of engineering, product, operations, supply chain and innovation, for hardware products across the CEMA domain. From low-TRL innovation through to high-TRL, in-service systems, you will provide leadership, assurance and pragmatic guidance that enables the engineering teams of the Business Lines to deliver with confidence. This role offers the chance to shape how hardware products are developed at scale, influence strategy, protect and grow IP, and ensure that what we deliver meets the needs of customers operating in complex and contested environments.

Why We Want You

• A credible hardware product leader who understands how to take complex defence products through their full lifecycle
• Comfortable operating at both strategic and deep technical levels
• Passionate about engineering governance, assurance and continuous improvement
• Able to influence senior stakeholders and challenge constructively when projects drift off-track
• Excited by the opportunity to shape how products are developed and sustained, not just what is delivered

Responsibilities

• Act as the hardware product authority for the CEMA Defence Unit
• Provide product development guidance, governance and assurance across HW projects, up to high-TRL, in-service products
• Support and advise Lines of Business on the CADMID lifecycle (Concept, Assessment, Demonstration, Manufacture, In-Service, Disposal)
• Ensure hardware products follow industry best practice from concept through sustainment and retirement
• Provide technical oversight of HW product development, including participation in reviews, technical boards and lifecycle gates
• Sign-off HW Product Engineering Lifecycle Gates and ensure appropriate processes and reviews are applied
• Act as the technical interface between CEMA, supply chain, manufacturing, operations and in-service support
• Represent CEMA & Defence into core business processes spanning Engineering, Quality, Manufacturing, Customer Support, Innovation and Operational Excellence
• Evolve engineering processes, reporting and assurance to support a culture of continuous improvement
• Identify opportunities to optimise return on investment from existing and future hardware IP
• Escalate technical, performance or compliance concerns to the Head of Product when projects or sustainment activities are at risk

Knowledge

• Strong knowledge of hardware product development in defence, aerospace or similarly regulated environments
• Full product lifecycle management, including sustainment and disposal
• Engineering governance, assurance frameworks and gated lifecycle reviews
• Managing products across a range of TRLs
• Supply chain engagement, manufacturing readiness and in-service support
• Protection, maturation and exploitation of engineering IP
• Regulatory, quality and export-controlled environments (UK Defence context, safety and security)

Qualifications and Experience

Essential

• Significant experience leading or assuring hardware product development in a complex engineering environment, multi-discipline engineering team
• Proven track record of guiding products from concept to market and in-service support
• Experience operating as a technical authority, design authority or senior reviewer
• Strong stakeholder management skills across engineering, operations, supply chain and leadership teams
• Ability to balance technical rigour with pragmatic delivery
• Degree in electronic engineering or a related discipline (RF/Analogue or Digital), or equivalent qualification in the relevant field
• 5+ years of experience in system engineering

Desirable

• Experience within CEMA, EW (Electronic Warfare), R-PNT (Resilient Positioning, Navigation and Timing), RF, sensing or defence electronics domains
• Familiarity with UK MOD lifecycle models (e.g. CADMID)
• Experience influencing engineering process improvement at organisational level

Why You Should Join Us

We have a competitive salary and access to a number of additional flexible benefits, which will cover Health and Wellbeing, Savings and Protection and Life, Leisure and Entertainment. Roke has a great community of groups with shared interests. These enable people to share ideas and be passionate about tools, technologies and techniques, which interest them. Roke offers opportunities for professional growth and development, working on cutting-edge projects in a supportive, collaborative work environment. We are committed to a policy of Equal Opportunity, Diversity and Inclusion. Our working environment is friendly, creative and inclusive and supports a diverse workforce and those with additional needs.

Security Information

Due to the nature of this position, we require you to be willing and eligible to achieve a minimum of SC clearance. To qualify, the candidate should have resided in the UK for the last 5 years for SC.