Head of Innovation

Chemring Countermeasures is a world leading and innovative company, designing and developing countermeasure solutions to armed forces throughout the world. We are part of the Chemring Group of companies and have a solid global infrastructure, which also helps us to thrive.

Overview of the role

The Head of Innovation is responsible for leading the Innovation department, driving the development and execution of the company’s innovation agenda, ensuring a robust pipeline of differentiated products, technologies, and capabilities that maintain competitive advantage in the global Defence market.

Responsibilities

• Lead, prioritise and coordinate all Innovation Department cross-functional activity acting as the focal point for innovation delivery across the organization, accountable for the financial performance of the Department.

• Accountable for designing and implementing a 5-year Innovation Strategy that supports the Business 5 Year Plan/Strategy.

• Liaise closely with the Head of Sales & Commercial, the Product Manager and Head of Manufacturing to ensure innovation activity is aligned with customer needs, product strategies and manufacturing outputs.

• Lead the development and delivery of new products, variants, and enhancements across Air and Naval countermeasure portfolios, in close collaboration with the Product Manager.

• As a member of the Senior Management Team (SMT), accountable for all Innovation inputs into FY plans, High Level Initiatives and day-to-day running of the business.

• Ensure rigorous adherence to New Product Process (NPP), driving pace, discipline, and accountability in product development.

• Work closely with the BD teams to identify and anticipate emerging requirements, translating operational needs into innovation priorities

• Support customer engagement activities including technical demonstrations, trials, technical support to OEMs

• Build partnerships with industry, academia, and government organisations, leveraging external innovation ecosystems where appropriate (SMEs, research institutes etc)

• Influence senior stakeholders to drive alignment on priorities and resource commitments

• Mentor and develop innovation and engineering talent.

• Develop business cases for innovation investments, ensuring alignment to commercial and strategic objectives, tracking ROI and value realisation from innovation initiatives.

• Ensure compliance with defence regulatory, export control, and IP frameworks.

• Foster a culture of innovation, continuous improvement and risk management, promoting lessons learned and knowledge sharing across the organization.

Essential Qualifications, Skills and/or Experience

• Significant Leadership experience in defence, aerospace, or advanced manufacturing environments

• Proven track record in innovation delivery, product development, or engineering leadership

• Strong understanding of NPI, systems engineering, and lifecycle management

• Strategic thinking with strong execution focus

• High levels of drive, ownership, and decision-making capability

• Commercially astute with experience in business case development

• Strong stakeholder management across senior internal and external audiences

• Degree in Engineering, Science, or related discipline

• 5 Years British Residency (at recruitment)

• Permitted to work in the UK (at recruitment)

Desirable Qualifications, Skills and/or Experience

• Background in countermeasures, munitions, sensors, or related technologies

• Comfortable operating in a regulated, security-conscious environment

• Professional accreditation (e.g., CEng)

This role will be worked over a 4.5 day week; Monday to Thursday 08:00 – 16:45 and Friday 08:00 – 12:30.

Please note: We do not engage with recruitment agencies. We kindly ask that you refrain from sending speculative inquiries or CVs. Should we wish to collaborate with agencies, we will initiate contact accordingly.