The Chief Engineer, Strategic R&D, is Milrem’s principal technical leader for the Strategic R&D portfolio. The role sets the technical vision for EU/EDA/EDF initiatives and maintains the long-term R&D technology roadmap aligned with product and business priorities.

Working across engineering, business, and leadership, the Chief Engineer governs the technical approach of Strategic R&D programs, drives reuse of R&D results into products, and ensures sound technical decisions, risk management, and compliance. The role enables business development through technical shaping of funded programs and partnerships.

What you´ll be doing:

• Set and communicate the Strategic R&D technical vision and maintain the technology roadmap, including capability gaps and maturation paths.

• Lead technical shaping and oversight of EU/EDA/EDF projects, ensuring quality, alignment, and reuse potential.

• Define and govern technical frameworks for the transition of R&D outcomes into product development, including integration readiness and key standards compliance.

• Drive technical decision-making and manage technical risks, balancing feasibility, performance, cost, schedule, and security.

• Consolidate and govern R&D knowledge from internal and EU projects, enabling reuse through architectures, guidelines, and lessons learned.

• Act as a senior technical counterpart in partner and stakeholder engagements, supporting capture and proposals with credible technical plans.

• Improve Strategic R&D ways of working, and mentor technical leaders involved in the portfolio.

What we’re looking for:

• 10+ years in R&D and engineering roles in defence or relevant industries, with systems engineering and integration exposure.

• Track record leading cross-domain technical initiatives and influencing architecture and engineering practices.

• Experience with externally funded programs (EU/EDA/EDF or similar) and technical stakeholder coordination.

• Experience working with industrial partners in a technical leadership capacity.

• Systems engineering and integration expertise, including hardware-software interoperability and trade-off management.

• Ability to establish technical governance and drive consistent engineering practices.

• Strong grasp of reliability, performance, security, and compliance trade-offs in complex systems.

• Clear communication and influence across technical and non-technical stakeholders.

• Ph.D. in a relevant engineering discipline is strongly recommended, or equivalent depth of expertise.

What we offer:

• A strategic technical leadership role with real influence

You will shape Milrem Robotics’ long-term R&D technology roadmap and influence future products beyond individual projects, operating at the enterprise level.

• Autonomy and trust

This role comes with the authority to define technical direction, set standards, and represent Milrem technically with partners, customers, and EU programs.

• Impact on future defence systems

You will work on advanced, complex and autonomous systems, ensuring research outcomes transition into real, operational products.

• Close collaboration with leadership

You will work directly with the CPO, engineering and product leadership, acting as a trusted technical advisor in key decisions.

Join us at the true cutting edge of defence sector technology.

Please send your application by 23.02.2026 at the latest. We review applications continuously and may contact qualified candidates for interviews before the official deadline.

Don’t forget to read more about working at Milrem: careers.milrem.com