Hardware Team Leader

Hardware Team LeaderLocation: KentRate: £87.83 per hour UmbrellaDuration: 12 MonthsWe seek an engineer with recent high-integrity or safety-critical industry experience (defence, aerospace, or similar), or eligible for UK security clearance.OverviewOur client is seeking an experienced Hardware Team Leader to lead a team of hardware engineers supporting the development and production of complex, safety-critical electronic systems within the aerospace and defence sector. This role combines technical leadership with people management, ensuring the successful delivery of engineering activities throughout the full product lifecycle.Key Responsibilities
Lead, motivate and develop a multidisciplinary hardware engineering team.Manage engineering work packages, including cost, schedule, resource planning, risk and delivery.Ensure engineering activities effectively support development, production and New Product Introduction (NPI).Provide technical governance, ensuring compliance with engineering processes, standards and best practice.Drive continuous improvement initiatives to enhance quality, productivity and delivery performance.Lead technical decision-making, balancing cost, performance and programme requirements.Work collaboratively with Systems, Software, Manufacturing, Quality and Supply Chain teams to deliver integrated engineering solutions.Champion root cause analysis, corrective actions and lessons learned to improve product reliability and manufacturing performance.
Essential Experience
Proven experience leading engineering teams through the full product development lifecycle.Strong background in electronics or hardware engineering within a complex engineering environment.Experience managing engineering work packages, including planning, cost, schedule and risk.Knowledge of product development, design governance and production support.Experience driving continuous improvement and implementing process enhancements.Strong understanding of root cause analysis and failure reduction methodologies.Experience working within a regulated or safety-critical industry.Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to engage at all levels.
Desirable Experience
FPGA/PLD design experience.Experience with requirements management tools (e.g. DOORS).Familiarity with project/work package management tools such as MSP or JIRA.Aerospace, defence or other highly regulated industry experience.
Personal Attributes
Strong leadership and coaching skills with the ability to develop high-performing teams.Collaborative, proactive and delivery-focused approach.Confident communicator, capable of leading technical discussions and presenting to senior stakeholders.Commercially aware with excellent problem-solving and decision-making skills.Committed to delivering high-quality engineering solutions in a fast-paced environment.