Rowden

Edge computing for defence and security

Project Manager - Mission Systems Engineering

Project ManagementUpdated on Nov 13

Full-timeBristol, UK£70k - £95k /yr

About the Job

Requirements

Significant experience delivering complex technology or systems integration projects, preferably within Defence or critical national infrastructure settings.
Demonstrable project management capability beyond single-stream project delivery, including capability to lead multi-year, multi-million-pound projects or programmes.
Experience operating within formal governance frameworks while enabling pace and pragmatism.
A proven track record of coordinating across multiple stakeholders, teams, and vendors.
Proven experience leading multidisciplinary technical teams, including systems engineers, software engineers, infrastructure engineers, and safety and security experts.
Comfort operating in environments where requirements evolve and adapt, and bringing experts together to make informed decisions.
Strong organisation and attention to detail while retaining a broader perspective.
Ability to communicate clearly, distil complexity into actionable messages, and engage and influence stakeholders while building and maintaining strategic relationships.
Ability to operate autonomously, take ownership of delivery, solve problems, and anticipate issues.
Candidates must be eligible for UK Security Check (SC) clearance.

Responsibilities

Own day-to-day delivery of a complex systems integration project, ensuring progress against agreed milestones, budgets, and outcomes, and working directly with the team to ensure successful delivery.
Own contract scope and manage the project’s commercial landscape, ensuring operations remain within commercial boundaries while maximising delivery impact.
Translate high-level project outcomes into actionable delivery plans, workstreams, and outputs, while identifying and communicating internal and external dependencies.
Drive alignment across business, engineering, and third-party delivery teams with differing priorities and perspectives, and manage interdependencies.
Anticipate and identify delivery risks and issues early, and shape mitigation strategies proactively.
Establish and run effective project governance, including steering forums, status reporting, RAID management, and decision tracking.
Produce clear, concise, decision-oriented reporting for senior stakeholders and sponsors.
Maintain financial and delivery discipline by actively controlling scope, cost, and timelines.
Organise and mobilise senior stakeholders, ensuring the appropriate conversations happen at the right time.
Escalate issues, concerns, and risks to the appropriate level at the appropriate time, including seeking direction and guidance when needed.
Act as a trusted delivery partner to sponsors by providing clear recommendations and honest assessments of progress and risk.
Bring structure to ambiguity and create clarity where requirements, ownership, or sequencing are not fully defined.
Maintain momentum, challenge inertia, and keep delivery moving forward in complex environments.

Desired Qualifications

Experience delivering complex technology or systems integration projects within Defence or critical national infrastructure settings.
Experience initiating, designing, governing, and leading large-scale complex systems design and integration or digital platform transformation initiatives.
Experience initiating, designing, governing, and leading data, cloud, or infrastructure modernisation or delivery projects or programmes.
Experience initiating, designing, governing, and leading technology integration or business transformation initiatives in complex stakeholder environments.
Experience initiating, designing, governing, and leading projects or programmes in multi-vendor or outsourced procurement and delivery environments.
Experience initiating, designing, governing, and leading complex multi-year, multi-million-pound projects or programmes within Defence or similar government-led organisations.

We’re creating the UK’s next-generation engineering powerhouse, delivering critical technology that strengthens national security and resilience.

We turn advances in sensing, AI and communications into operational capability at the edge, where connectivity may be limited or unavailable. Our work accelerates technology deployment, improves frontline decision-making, and protects people and critical assets in demanding environments.

Based in Bristol, Rowden employs around 200 people and operates more than 20,000 square feet of engineering and manufacturing facilities. With a growing international presence, we are one of Europe’s fastest-growing engineering businesses.

The role

We are seeking an experienced, delivery-focused Project Manager to play a pivotal role in the leadership, delivery, and governance of a complex systems integration project. This role requires an individual who is highly self-directed, exceptionally proactive, and comfortable operating at pace in a dynamic, ambiguous and complex stakeholder environment.

This role is not for someone who requires tightly defined tasks or close direction to operate effectively.

You’ll be joining a high-impact team working with passionate colleagues to deliver a step change in capability for our customer. The role offers the chance to see the direct impact of your work, collaborating closely with end users to solve real problems.

What you’ll be doing

Own the day-to-day delivery of a complex systems integration project, ensuring progress against agreed milestones, budgets, and outcomes. This is not a helicopter role, you'll be getting stuck in with your team to ensure delivery is successful.
Own contract scope and manage the commercial landscape across the project. Your team will look to you to ensure we are operating within the commercial boundaries whilst maximising delivery impact.
Translate high-level project outcomes into actionable delivery plans, workstreams, and outputs whilst identifying and communicating both internal and external dependencies.
Drive alignment across business, engineering, and third-party delivery teams with differing priorities and perspectives, managing interdependencies.
Anticipate and identify delivery risks and issues early, proactively shaping mitigation strategies rather than reacting late.
Establish and run effective project governance, including steering forums, status reporting, RAID management, and decision tracking.
Produce clear, concise, and decision-oriented reporting for senior stakeholders and sponsors.
Maintain strong financial and delivery discipline, ensuring scope, cost, and timelines are actively controlled.
Organise and mobilise busy senior stakeholders, ensuring the right conversations happen at the right time.
Escalate issues, concerns and risks to the appropriate level at the right time. This includes knowing when to ask for direction and guidance.
Act as a trusted delivery partner to sponsors, providing clear recommendations and honest assessments of progress and risk.
Bring structure to ambiguity and create clarity where requirements, ownership, or sequencing are not yet fully defined.
Push momentum, challenge inertia, and keep delivery moving forward in complex environments.

This role is based at our Bristol HQ with hybrid working. Expect frequent travel around the UK and some overseas travel. Candidates must be eligible for SC clearance.

Candidates must be eligible for SC Clearance.

More information about security clearance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/united-kingdom-security-vetting-clearance-levels

You’ll have significant experience delivering complex technology or systems integration projects preferably within Defence / CNI settings.
You’ll have demonstrable project management capability, beyond single-stream project delivery with an expectation of leading multi-year, multi-million pound projects / programmes.
You’ll have experience operating within formal governance frameworks while still enabling pace and pragmatism.
A proven track record of coordinating across multiple stakeholders, teams, and vendors.
Proven experience of leading multi-disciplined technical teams including systems engineers, software engineers, infrastructure engineers alongside safety and security experts.

You may have initiated, designed, governed and led:

Large-scale, complex systems design and integrations or digital platform transformations
Data, cloud, or infrastructure modernisation or delivery projects/programmes
Technology integration or business transformation initiatives in a complex stakeholder environment
Projects / programmes in multi-vendor or outsourced procurement / delivery environments
Complex multi-year / multi-million-pound projects / programmes within Defence or other similar government led organisations.

Who you might be

You’ll be comfortable inenvironments where requirements evolve and adapt. Bringing your experts together to make informed decisions should be your natural MO.

You are highly organised with strong attention to detail, without losing sight of the bigger picture. You’re an exceptional communicator and you can distil complexity into clear, actionable messages.

You have confidence to engage and influence your stakeholders with a focus on building and maintaining strong, strategic relationships.

While you thrive as a member of a team, you do need to be comfortable operating autonomously and taking ownership of delivery. To do this, you’ll be a strong problem-solver, who anticipates issues rather than escalates when it’s too late.

We’ve outlined what an ideal candidate looks like, but we don’t expect you to meet every requirement. If this role excites you and you bring most of the experience we’re looking for, we’d still encourage you to apply.

About the Company

Rowden

Edge computing for defence and security

Rowden Technologies designs and delivers mission-critical edge computing and distributed sensor systems for environments with limited or unreliable connectivity. It handles end-to-end design, integration, sovereign manufacturing, and long-term managed services to support defence, national security, and emergency services. Its products include Trove for frontline generative AI, Magos for cost-effective signal processing and communications production, and Dovetail for modular edge-system integration, enabling rapid, secure decision-making even in denied environments. The company differentiates itself by prioritizing edge solutions with low connectivity, acting as a prime systems integrator for large programmes, offering sovereign manufacturing and lifecycle support, and pursuing projects like automated ML deployment to UAS for AUKUS Pillar II to reduce dependence on traditional defence contractors.

Company size: 51-200
Company stage: Grant
Total funding: $33.7M
Headquarters: Filton, United Kingdom
Founded: 2017

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