Head of Software Engineering

We are seeking a Chief Engineer to lead the technical authority and architectural governance of a mission-critical maritime defence programme.

This programme underpins operational maritime safety, navigation assurance, and hydrographic data services aligned to international maritime regulation and defence requirements. The role will oversee the evolution of legacy maritime systems into secure, resilient cloud-native environments while ensuring compliance with emerging hydrographic data standards.

This is a senior technical leadership position operating at programme level, interfacing with defence stakeholders, regulatory authorities, and engineering leadership teams.

Programme Context

The system environment includes:

• Maritime safety and navigation services aligned to International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS)
• Validation and assurance of hydrographic datasets under IHO S-84
• Transition from legacy ENC frameworks to the emerging IHO S-100 data standard
• Secure ingestion and processing of maritime signal data (including sonar/sonobuoy-derived sources)
• Migration from large on-premise C++ estates into Microsoft Azure secure environments, Technical Authority & Governance
• Act as Design Authority across all maritime and hydrographic engineering domains.
• Define and enforce engineering standards, security posture, and architectural principles.
• Provide assurance for safety-critical maritime systems operating in defence environments.
• Oversee secure cloud architecture within Azure (identity, encryption, private networking, resilience).

Hydrographic & Oceanographic Leadership

Ideally, be able to provide deep technical expertise in:

• Tidal harmonic and non-harmonic prediction
• Fluid dynamics / hydrodynamic modelling
• Sea level modelling and forecasting
• Lead implementation and assurance of S-84 dataset validation frameworks.
• Drive adoption and integration of S-100 compliant datasets and services.
• Oversee ENC production, validation, and digital navigation product pipelines.

Defence & Operational Integration

• Ensure systems meet defence-grade security and resilience standards.
• Align maritime navigation services with SOLAS regulatory obligations.
• Provide technical oversight across SOLAR, Wayfinder, and POLAR-aligned maritime systems.
• Support integration of sensor-derived data into operational maritime insights platforms.

Legacy Modernisation

• Lead migration of legacy C++ and Windows-based estates to secure Azure infrastructure.
• Architect high-availability systems for operational continuity.
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• Proven experience leading engineering within maritime defence or hydrographic programmes.
• Experience operating within SOLAS-aligned maritime systems.
• Experience modernising large-scale legacy estates into secure cloud environments.
• Background in safety-critical, high-availability, regulated environments.
• Strong stakeholder engagement across defence, regulatory, and operational bodies.

Desirable

• Experience with UK or allied hydrographic authorities.
• Exposure to sonar-derived maritime data systems.
• Knowledge of electronic navigational chart (ENC) ecosystems.
• Experience delivering systems under defence procurement frameworks.
• Tidal harmonic modelling OR fluid dynamics / coastal hydrodynamics
• Hydrographic dataset validation (S-84)
• S-100 data framework transition

£85,000

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