Chief Architect, Optical Communication Terminals

Why this role exists

Our client has moved past the hard part of proving the technology works. Their optical terminals are qualified, delivered in volume and operating in orbit today.

The challenge now is a different one. Repeating that at pace, and setting the architecture that the next generation of terminals is built on.

That is why they are hiring a Chief Architect. Not to study the problem, but to take technical ownership of the product and drive it.

About the company

Our client designs and manufactures optical communication terminals for satellite to satellite and satellite to ground laser links. They are a qualified supplier to major US government space programmes, with a track record of delivering terminals at scale rather than as one off demonstrators.

Following a recent acquisition, they now sit inside a larger technology group, and the same optical hardware underpins that group’s quantum networking and secure communications roadmap. The original leadership team remains in place. The effect has been to widen the mission, not to absorb the business.

The mission

Own the technical direction of the optical terminal product and carry it end to end.

That means architecture and design direction at the front, then staying with it through build, integration, qualification, transition to production and on to orbit. This is explicitly not a role where the concept is set and then handed over the wall.

You will sit on the senior team driving products and technology forward, working alongside the existing technical leadership across several programmes running in parallel.

What you will bring

• Hands on experience with optical communication terminals for space applications, gained at a terminal manufacturer or a commercial constellation operator
• Full development lifecycle involvement, from architecture through to production and flight
• Flight heritage. Hardware you worked on is in orbit and working
• Ownership of either the overall terminal architecture through to flight, or a major portion of the terminal subsystem through design, build, integration and qualification
• Genuine comfort with the production and integration end of the job, not just the design end

Our client will trade years of experience for proven delivery. An engineer with five or six years who has hardware operating in orbit is of more interest than one with fifteen who has never seen a programme through to completion.

Why you would want it

Ownership that is real. You set the technical direction and you carry it. Several programmes are running at once and the company needs someone to take genuine ownership of that, not to advise on it.

Impact you cannot get at scale. At the very large constellation players it is difficult to pick something up and make a significant impact without heavy scrutiny and many hands on the wheel. This is a smaller team. What you decide shows up in the hardware, and the people who need to approve it are in the building.

A remit that reaches further than lasercom. The group acquisition means the architecture you set feeds into quantum secure communications as well as optical links. That combination is rare.

A seat at the top table. This is a senior leadership position with high visibility across the business and into the wider group.

Location and working pattern

Hybrid, and honest about what that means.

Broomfield is the headquarters and is where manufacturing, test equipment, test setups and engineering verification and validation live. There has to be a genuine willingness to be on site.

There is no fixed number of days per month. On site time is driven by what the programme needs, which may be lighter one month and heavier the next as designs move through development and into production. If you want a role you can run entirely from home, this is not it. If you want flexibility around when and how often, that exists.

Darwin Recruitment is acting as an Employment Agency in relation to this vacancy.

Adam Slade