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NAS Engineering Manager (Open Also To Protected Categories, Law 68/99)
manager · Engineering & R&D
Location: Gorgonzola, ItaliaThales people architect solutions that are relied upon to deliver operational advantage at every decisive moment throughout the mission. Defence and armed forces customers rely on us to deliver the full range of defensive systems for land, sea, and air. From early warning, to threat neutralisation, our platforms cover all levels from very short-range systems, to extended protection across the entire battle-space including Airspace Mobility Solutions, Vehicles and Tactical Systems and Missile Defence, Optronics, and Radar.Gorgonzola hosts Navigations Air Systems (NAS) domain. The activity of NAS domain: avionics, navigation and radar systems for civil air traffic and technologies supporting the activities of civilian and military pilots, ATC controllers and technicians of several airlines, air traffic control agencies and Air Force around the world. Italy is the Group’s Competence center for the design, production and delivery of Navigation Aids products and Competence Centre for the delivery of non-Radar Surveillance Products.The Engineering Manager is accountable for leading all engineering activities—spanning Systems, Hardware, Software Development, Configuration Management, and Delivery—within the NAS segment across teams in Italy, the United States and India. This role is pivotal in ensuring overall project/product delivery meets cost, schedule, and performance goals, while driving the ongoing evolution and competitiveness of NAS products. The Engineering Manager partners with the Product & Technical Directorate and cross-functional leaders to drive strategy, transformation, and excellence in engineering performance.
MAIN TASK & RESPONSABILITES
Strategic Leadership:
Define and drive the engineering vision and strategy, ensuring alignment with business objectives across geographies.
Lead engineering teams in implementing efficient processes and practices, and drive effective technology transfer.
Ensure engineering governance and contribute to strategic planning (MYB & SBP), supporting transformation and structural initiatives.
Act as a primary interface with Engineering Corporate, contributing to and advocating for initiatives aimed at improving efficiency and competitiveness.
Take a proactive leadership role within the executive committee by driving transformation and growth, inspiring and mobilizing fellow members to embrace change, align on a shared vision, and collectively pursue innovative strategies for the organization’s advancement:
Co-build the products roadmap with the Product Line Manager and the Technical Director, and ensure its implementation.
Partner with Industry function to drive industrialization, FAT (Factory Acceptance Test) management, test bench deployment, and knowledge development.
Support the Services function by improving SAT (Site Acceptance Test) management, user documentation, facilitating customer training, and rebuilding knowledge bases.
Lead initiatives to enhance supplier quality by identifying technical discrepancies and contributing to the overall Quality plan, ensuring reliable deliveries and customer satisfaction.
Collaborate closely with Procurement, NAS being a procurement business, addressing key cost points and supply chain weaknesses.
Drive Bid, Project, and Sales functions to promote product standardization and reduce customer-specific developments, optimizing so overall Thales delivery performance.
Competitiveness & Continuous improvement:
Drive the definition and implementation of the engineering MoBF (Make or Buy Footprint) strategy to enhance the NAS segment’s competitiveness as per business need.
Act as the NAS segment representative in discussions with the Global Business Unit and Thales Corporate on footprint strategy and its implementation.
Develop and implement robust engineering processes and practices to increase engineering maturity and align NAS with Thales Group standards, addressing historical gaps such as limited process adoption, documentation, and formalized reviews.
Oversee products maintenance activities to optimize budget usage and mitigate impacts on P&L, addressing supply chain weaknesses, product obsolescence, and the management of a diverse product portfolio.
Oversee the formalization, standardization, and continuous improvement of engineering tools and processes; ensure compliance with international standards (DPO…).
Monitor and evaluate how existing practices and tools impact project and product outcomes, ensuring objectives and milestones are achieved.
Support and implement team-driven improvements to processes and tools to enhance quality, efficiency, and on-time delivery such as agile approach.
Transformation & Innovation:
Ensure continuity in engineering excellence despite legacy challenges, including gaps in technical expertise and process discipline, by promoting sustainable improvements across all engineering activities.
Mitigate the effects of historical loss of expertise, by fostering a culture of knowledge sharing, documentation, and upskilling.
Drive the development and integration of next-generation products by managing the adoption of advanced technologies and promoting the harmonization of product architectures through the use of common technology building blocks.
Talent Development:
Steer, mentor, and develop a large, multi-disciplinary, and geographically dispersed engineering team (including HoDs, HoED & HoEO)
Lead the onboarding and integration of new engineering team members ensuring effective knowledge transfer and managing the impact of recent resource ramp-up on team efficiency.
Plan and execute team upskilling, training, coaching, and career development initiatives for sustained organizational growth.
Manage contractor selection: work package externalization, in house external resources.
Resource Allocation:
Align engineering resources with current and future project/product needs, ensuring optimal allocation and workload management.
Implement, steer and monitor the footprint implementation between US, Italy and India
Bids, Projects and Products delivery:
Commit to delivering projects and products to the highest quality, on time and on cost.
Proactively manage projects risks and opportunities.
Challenge bid quotations and foster continuous improvement for optimal competitiveness.
Lead the execution of significant new developments in the coming years (2 digits M€):
Unprecedented renewal of the complete NAVAIDS products portfolio based on common building blocks platform while ensuring a very high level of safety of these products
Work towards Space-Based Surveillance as a significant development and game-changing approach
Secure substantial customers funding (US and Italy) in order to feed NAS roadmap ambition.
In parallel, ensure the maintenance of legacy products, proactively addressing critical obsolescence issues and managing supply chain disruption crises.
Regulation and Compliance:
Ensure all engineering activities comply with local/international regulations and company/industry standards.
Serve as a liaison between engineering and non-engineering departments (e.g., HSE, HR, Facilities…) for seamless organizational alignment.
QUALIFICATIONS
Education
Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Engineering
Experience required
Minimum 10 years in engineering, with experience in equipment/product development covering both hardware and software.
5+ years in senior engineering leadership roles, leading large international and multidisciplinary teams.
Demonstrated experience managing change initiatives, transformation plans, and working in complex, multi-site/multi-stakeholder international organizations.
Exposure to safety engineering and industrialization is advantageous.
Knowledge / Skills
Deep understanding of engineering principles, best practices, and craftsmanship.
Strong and assertive leadership, with outstanding team-building, mentoring, and coaching abilities.
Excellent communication (written & oral), organizational, and presentation skills.
High level of empowerment with a strong sense of accountability and transparency.
Sound judgment and the ability to make independent, well-informed decisions.
Proven ability to manage change and lead teams through transformation.
Commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion.
Rigorous, structured, and able to synthesize complex information.
Fluency in English is mandatory; Italian and/or French language skills are an asset.