Chief Engineer - CADDIS

• Portsmouth HQ with overseas travel required
• Full Time
• Permanent

Who we are: SubSea Craft is a fast growing, privately funded, UK-based innovative maritime technology company specialising in next-generation, high-performance watercraft and systems. We operate at the intersection of advanced engineering, cutting-edge design, and user-centric innovation, delivering safe, effective, and enabling solutions for both commercial and defence applications.

Our flagship product, VICTA, is an optionally crewed diver and effects delivery unit - a surface submersible craft designed to operate at speed over range and capable of rapid transition beneath the surface to operate submerged, enabling the discreet insertion and recovery of combat swimmers or effectors. It is a unique, innovative British product for the global defence market. With modularity and open architecture at the heart of our technology we have been able to transfer the foundational technology and rapidly innovate to develop new and complimentary product lines, with MARS, a compact modular Uncrewed Surface Vessel (USV), and CADDIS, a sub-surface launched Uncrewed Air Vehicle (UAV) which form the SSC product portfolio.

What we offer:

• Pension Contribution- Pension scheme with the option to contribute via salary sacrifice.
• Annual Bonus Scheme - Eligibility to participate in the company’s annual discretionary bonus scheme, linked to individual and company performance.
• Life Assurance and Critical Illness Cover - Comprehensive protection including Life Assurance (4x salary) and Critical Illness Cover for added financial security.
• Annual Leave- Entitlement to 25 days of annual leave plus bank holidays.
• Christmas Leave - A Christmas shutdown is typically observed.
• Wellbeing Day- An additional Wellbeing Day each year to focus on personal health and wellbeing.
• Family Leave - Enhanced maternity and paternity pay.
• Private Healthcare - Access to comprehensive private healthcare coverage to support your physical and mental wellbeing.
• Professional Development - Commitment to ongoing learning and career growth, supported by training programmes and access to LinkedIn Learning.
• Flexible Working - Opportunities for flexible working arrangements to promote work-life balance.
• Inclusive Culture- A professional environment that values diversity, innovation, and collaboration.
• Offsite Parking available.

CADDIS

CADDIS is an advanced subsurface-launched UAV developed by SubSea Craft that provides discreet aerial ISR and mission support capabilities. It enables operators to maintain situational awareness and operational advantage while remaining concealed, supporting reconnaissance, communications relay, and other specialist missions

Job Summary:The Chief Engineer is accountable for the overall technical integrity, safety, and engineering delivery of the CADDIS programme. They are to act as the single point of engineering authority, ensuring progressive TRL development of our complex platform enables operational deployment with reliability, safety, and user confidence. The role requires decisive leadership, technical vision, and the ability to balance innovation with safe, reliable, and timely delivery.

The Chief Engineer will need to provide:

• Technical Authority: making engineering decisions, managing technical risk, and owning the platform’s safety assurance.
• Delivery Leadership: ensuring engineering execution is aligned to programme milestones, production readiness, and customer outcomes.
• Responsibilities will include:

• Leadership, of our people and our technology

• • Inspire: Build, shape and foster an unbeatable team of unquestionable talent, helping them unlock their full potential and achieve the remarkable
  • Act as the ultimate design authority for CADDIS
  • Own the technology vision within the product: Maintain a clear, actionable roadmap that aligns innovation with product delivery and builds on our established foundations of modularity, scalability and open architecture
  • Lead Technical Sign-Offs and Reviews and own final technical decisions.
  • Focus on the mission: Ensure all technology development ultimately delivers operational and competitive advantage
  • Collaborate deeply: Partner with engineering, operations, service and commercial teams to ensure technology and delivery are inseparable

• Risk-Tolerant, Agile Decision-Making
  • Make decisive technical choices under time pressure, informed by operational requirements, technical feasibility, and business risk

• Platform Architecture Definition
  • Clear articulation of system architecture, operating principles, and performance expectations.
  • Communication of the design narrative
• Technical Delivery Management
  • Ensure consistent exposure of design work, alignment with programme milestones, and timely technical outputs
  • Coordinate with project and programme leads to maintain momentum and align activities with priorities
• Cross-Functional Alignment
  • Interface with Systems, Test & Validation, Production, and Product to ensure platform coherence.
  • Communicate trade-offs and technical risks across disciplines.

Experience

• Proven track record as a Chief Engineer or equivalent role in maritime, aerospace, or defence technology, with demonstrated ability to lead concurrent technology development across hardware, software, and integration domains for complex systems
• Demonstrated authority and gravitas in technical decision making
• Deep understanding of high-integrity systems with a strong background in systems architecture, systems integration for high-performance platforms, with the ability to operate across strategic, architectural, and hands-on technical levels
• Strong background in safety-critical, high-integrity systems
• Experience engaging with UK MoD or allied defence procurement organisations
• Knowledge of MBSE, and digital engineering practices andtoolsets
• Knowledge of global military doctrine and concepts for employment of advanced equipment

Qualifications:

• Degree in engineering or a relevant technical discipline, or equivalent experience
• Chartered Engineer or equivalent professional standing

Skills and attributes:

• Excellent communication (verbal and written), capable of articulating engineering trade-offs and guiding decision-making across technical and commercial boundaries
• Strategic and delivery-focused, with a high bias for action and pragmatism, able to combinebold technical ambition with disciplined execution
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to identify and address issues in a timely manner
• Strong leadership, motivational and mediation skills, and the ability to take initiative without guidance
• Authority and confidence in technical decision-making, owning technical outcomes without deflection
• Calculated risk-taker; experienced in making informed trade-offs to accelerate delivery and capability
• Collaborative mindset

Note: Due to the nature of work undertaken at SubSea Craft, the selected candidate must be capable of meeting the security requirements of the position, which would include as a minimum existing right to live and work in the UK, Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS), with UK National security clearance required for certain roles

Values: Our people are our greatest asset, we continually strive to provide an excellent working environment to enable our team to do their best work. We have an agile professional workforce: we are founded on the belief that our people are valued and our business is trusted, inclusive and commercially-adept.

What we expect from you:

• Teamwork, mutual respect and collaboration
• Initiative and independent working
• Honesty and integrity
• Business and commercial awareness
• Agility, adaptability and continuous development

We are committed to building an inclusive, diverse workplace where everyone can thrive. If you require any support or adjustments to interact with us, please let us know.

We regret that due to the high volume of applications we are unable to acknowledge every application. Please bear in mind that if you are selected for an interview we will aim to contact you within 14 days of your application or the closing date (if stated). However, if we think that your skills and qualifications may be suitable for other similar positions we may hold your details on our database and contact you in the future. Please let us know if you do not wish us to keep your details on file.

*Please note that DBS, Driving Licence and reference checks will be carried out and all offers of employment are subject to meeting our requirements.