US Head of Engineering

Advanced Navigation•Huntsville, AL

About The Position

As Advanced Navigation expands its R&D operations into the Americas, we are looking for our first senior engineering leader for the US region. The mission is to scale the Advanced Navigation portfolio across the Americas while maintaining a unified global product core. You will act as the technical authority for the region, ensuring that unique Americas-market requirements (including high-precision, resilient, and classified PNT needs) are effectively integrated into the products offered in this region. You will lead the US team for missionization of the current global products as needed, as well as identify capabilities required in support of the Americas customer markets now and in the future. You will connect with the global Product and Technology groups within the bounds of the SSA, ITAR, EAR and other US government restrictions. Your understanding of these regulations is essential. As Head of Engineering, Americas, you will have the full support of Advanced Navigation’s ELT and global Product and Technology organization. You will lead with a founder's mindset: full ownership of outcomes, effective work with a lean multidisciplinary team. You will have the opportunity to build the local, cross-disciplinary team from scratch, making the early hiring decisions that define the team's character across Systems, Hardware, Electronics, and Software Engineering. While remaining autonomous, you will effectively connect with the global Product & Technology organization to leverage the product core and coordinate the developments. You will establish engineering practices that bring Advanced Navigation's technology to the US market. You must be a U.S. citizen authorized to hold or holding a current security clearance and able to secure a TS/SCI/SAP or other if required.

Requirements

Must be a U.S. citizen authorized to hold or holding a current security clearance and able to secure a TS/SCI/SAP or other if required.
Degree in Software, Electrical, or Systems Engineering, Computer Science, Geodesy, Mechatronics, or a related technical discipline.
10+ years of Engineering Leadership: A proven track record leading multidisciplinary engineering teams (Systems, Hardware, and Software) to deliver complex, field-deployed systems in demanding real-world environments.
5+ years in Product-Centric Organizations: Deep, hands-on experience with product discovery, design thinking, iterative delivery, and product ownership across the full lifecycle for the defense industry.
Demonstrated, practical use of AI-augmented development tooling: LLM-based coding assistants, AI-driven prototyping platforms, and agentic development workflows.
Experience in navigation, satellite positioning (GNSS, PPP, PNT), robotics, autonomous systems, or related precision-technology domains is strongly preferred.
Demonstrated ability to build teams, practices, and products from the ground up, in a new geography or business unit, with limited initial resources.
Proven experience leading cross-functional and cross-cultural product teams.
Comfort operating across time zones and within a globally coordinated organization is essential.
The ability to motivate technically elite team members through vision, clarity of context, and a human-centered leadership philosophy.
Expert ability to map long-term corporate objectives to concrete technical roadmaps, balancing engineering excellence with commercial requirements.
Skilled at navigating cross-functional friction between engineering rigour and commercial urgency, US and global priorities and precision-technology standards.
Able to articulate complex engineering architectures and multidisciplinary trade-offs clearly to both technical specialists and non-technical executive stakeholders.

Nice To Haves

An MSc or advanced degree is highly regarded.
Familiarity with the US defense, maritime, or energy-sector regulatory markets is advantageous.

Responsibilities

Represent the Americas' technical interests within the Global Product Engineering Leadership Team.
Act as the primary engineering filter for AdNav Americas opportunities, analyzing client needs and translating them into robust capabilities.
Lead the design of a modular "secure layer" for requirements governed by SSA or specific security air gaps.
Optimize the engineering footprint by championing "Common Core" development and prioritizing sustainable, platform-wide solutions.
Provide executive-level technical guidance on the evolving Americas PNT landscape.
Establish Advanced Navigation Americas’ engineering presence from the first hire, defining team structure and hiring requirements.
Hold end-to-end responsibility for the Americas engineering portfolio, including roadmap development, delivery execution, and budget management.
Champion AI-native development practices across the engineering team.
Own the full Development Lifecycle for US-focused product add-ons from design through delivery, release management, and post-launch improvement.
Set AdNav Americas R&D team metrics and keep the team's work tightly coupled to Advanced Navigation's global mission.
Connect Engineering, Product Management, Business Development, and Customer Support.
Work closely with Advanced Navigation's Sydney-based product teams.
Build and sustain a high-talent-density team, owning recruiting, onboarding, mentoring, and professional development.