SlipstreamJobs tracks this role from the company's public career site. Apply directly on the employer's site.
Destinus is revolutionizing the defense industry with cutting-edge Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and advanced aerospace solutions. This role leads the air and missile defence capability line within the Future Capabilities organisation of Destinus Germany, covering interceptors, counter-UAS systems, and layered defence concepts aligned with German and NATO threat assessments.
You will own the complete air and missile defence capability portfolio, developing capability theses and system concepts against current threat pictures and translating them into actionable engineering requirements. You will lead interceptor and effector architecture work at the concept level, conducting trade studies across seeker, guidance, propulsion, and warhead technologies. A key responsibility is defining demonstrators and test campaigns to validate concepts against real-world threats.
This is a hands-on technical leadership role requiring close collaboration across functions. You will maintain the technical and programmatic interface with BAAINBw (German defence procurement), the Bundeswehr air defence community, and relevant NATO bodies. You will feed capability insights into study contracts, technology programmes, and European cooperation frameworks. You will build and manage a partner ecosystem across research institutes, component suppliers (seekers, propulsion), and European system integrators.
You will support business development efforts by contributing technical content, threat analysis, and concepts of employment to capture activities. You will grow and develop a small team of capability owners and concept engineers, fostering a culture of technical rigor and collaborative problem-solving.
The role demands an engineer-first mindset: you validate concepts through rigorous simulation and testing before presenting to stakeholders, explain complex systems clearly to procurement officers, and maintain candid dialogue with customers about physical constraints and feasibility.
**Requirements:**
- Degree in aerospace engineering, electrical engineering, physics, or comparable technical field (doctorate preferred)
- Minimum 10 years of experience in guided interceptors, air defence systems, seekers, or effector technology
- Deep technical expertise in at least one domain: seeker/sensor technology, guidance and control, propulsion, or warhead/lethality
- Proven track record taking concepts through trade studies, simulation, and demonstrators into customer-facing proposals
- Working knowledge of German air and missile defence programmes and BAAINBw procurement processes
- Recognised standing in national or European air defence community (patents or publications advantageous)
- Demonstrated ability to deliver in matrix organisations, collaborating with engineering, commercial, and programme teams
- Mandatory aerospace and defence industry experience
- Fluency in English and German required
- Willingness to undergo German security clearance under the Security Clearance Act (SUEG)
