Chief System Engineer

Chief Engineer - Avionics & Autonomous Systems

Location: South East UK

An advanced aerospace engineering organisation developing next-generation unmanned aircraft systems is seeking a Chief Engineer Avionics & Autonomous Systems to lead the technical direction of its avionics and flight systems capability.

This is a senior technical leadership role responsible for system architecture, avionics integration, and the development of autonomy and flight software across cutting-edge UAV platforms.

The position is ideal for a principal-level avionics or systems engineer looking to step into a Chief Engineer / Technical Authority role within a fast-moving aerospace environment.

The Opportunity

You will act as the technical authority across avionics and autonomous flight systems, working closely with engineering leadership and multidisciplinary teams to deliver complex unmanned aircraft platforms from concept through to flight testing and production.

The organisation already has strong hardware capability in place, and this role will bring deep systems and software expertise to complement the existing avionics leadership.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and lead avionics and flight systems architecture across UAV platforms
• Provide technical leadership and engineering authority across multidisciplinary teams
• Drive integration of embedded software, flight control systems and autonomy stacks
• Lead complex technical decisions, system trade-offs and design reviews
• Produce and oversee detailed technical documentation and system specifications
• Support verification, validation and flight test activities
• Ensure engineering outputs align with aerospace and safety-critical standards

Experience Required

• Extensive experience in avionics systems and aircraft systems engineering
• Strong background in embedded software, flight control systems or autonomy
• Experience defining system architecture for complex aerospace platforms
• Ability to produce high-quality technical documentation and engineering specifications
• Experience working within multidisciplinary aerospace engineering teams

Desirable Background

• UAV / UAS / autonomous aircraft experience
• Aerospace or safety-critical systems development
• Experience operating as Principal Engineer / Technical Authority / Chief Engineer