Director Engineering

We Say HI*

Director Engineering (f/m/d) Secure Communication and Information Systems

Thales in Germany is part of an internationally leading technology group in the defence and security, aerospace as well as cyber security and digital identity markets.

In Ditzingen, you will encounter security solutions for monitoring and safeguarding borders and border controls, protection of civil and military facilities and tactical communication. This is the right place for you if you want to join us in developing and producing tactical radio equipment for networked operations guidance during military missions. Join the Thales expert team for radio communication systems, cybersecurity and cryptography, for encryption components and hardware security modules and electronic key management systems.

Your mission as Director Engineering:

• Lead and develop an organization of highly skilled engineering professionals across two sites in Germany (Kiel and Ditzingen), fostering a culture of excellence, collaboration, and innovation. You will guide multidisciplinary teams in the development of complex systems involving hardware, software, and systems engineering.
• Drive the engineering strategy for complex system development, including hardware, software, and integrated systems, in both national and international contexts.
• Structure and grow the engineering organization with a clear vision and operational discipline — aligning with both local needs and global engineering objectives.
• Guide and mentor a multidisciplinary engineering leadership team, ensuring alignment with program goals and long-term business objectives.
• Deploy and oversee the Group's engineering transformation and competitiveness roadmap
• Enhance organizational maturity by evolving engineering processes, tools, practices, and governance structures to support delivery excellence.
• Lead the digital transformation of engineering practices (automation, microservices architecture, digital continuity across the lifecycle), including the required cultural change.
• Anticipate skill needs and manage engineering resources across projects, ensuring the right capabilities are in place while promoting diversity, inclusion, and a culture of continuous learning.
• Represent the engineering function in group-wide strategic processes (10-Year Strategic Plan, multi-year budgeting, and Strategic Technology Plan).
• Drive process and performance improvements to support delivery of large-scale projects.

We are looking forward to:

• Educational background in Engineering (e.g., Electronics, Aerospace, Computer Science) or equivalent; Master's degree preferred.
• We're looking for a visionary leader with a strong industrial mindset, capable of delivering structure, scaling organizational capability, and driving transformation. is your opportunity to make a lasting impact.
• 10+ years of experience in engineering leadership roles
• Proven track record in leading complex system development projects that integrate software, hardware, and systems engineering
• Skilled in organizational development, capable of building and evolving engineering structures in a fast-paced, high-growth, and international environment
• Strong grasp of engineering fundamentals, resource management, and project governance — ensuring projects are delivered on time, on budget, and within scope
• Demonstrated success working in matrix organizations and across international teams
• Exceptional leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills — capable of influencing across functions and levels.
• Industrial and strategic thinking mindset, with the ability to drive innovation and transformation in engineering practices.

The Group invests more than €4 billion per year in Research & Development in key areas, particularly for critical environments, such as Artificial Intelligence, cybersecurity, quantum and cloud technologies.

In 2024, the Group generated sales of €20.6 billion.

For our more than 83,000 employees in 68 countries we open up visionary perspectives, realise individual career paths and enable creative freedom. This is achieved with courage, versatility and the firm intention to make the demanding challenges of our time safer and more inclusive. With our sustainable value-focused management we support diversity actively.

Say HI* – Your journey to us

At times of change our international teams are ready to meet the complexity of today with the industry-leading technologies of tomorrow. Will you be part of it? Your Talent Acquisition contact Christian Frey is looking forward to your online application on our Career portal.

Christian Frey –  Head of Talent Acquisition

*Human Intelligence