Chief Systems Architect

Location: Cambridge, UK

Senior Technical Leadership Opportunity

We're working with an international technology organisation to appoint an exceptional systems architect to provide technical leadership across a portfolio of advanced engineering and research programmes.

This is a strategic appointment for an experienced technology leader who enjoys solving complex engineering challenges, defining long-term technical direction and influencing the development of future technologies.

The successful candidate will work alongside senior engineering leaders, guiding multidisciplinary teams while helping shape the evolution of highly complex computing systems.

The Opportunity

This position combines long-term technical strategy with hands-on engineering leadership.

You'll play a central role in evaluating emerging technologies, defining future engineering direction and supporting the development of innovative solutions that address demanding technical challenges across multiple disciplines.

Working in a collaborative research environment, you'll contribute to major technology programmes while helping to establish engineering standards, technical direction and long-term innovation strategies.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Leadership

• Define technical direction across complex engineering programmes.

• Provide architectural guidance throughout the development lifecycle.

• Evaluate emerging technologies and identify opportunities for future innovation.

• Support engineering decision-making through technical expertise and strategic insight.

Research & Innovation

• Lead research initiatives focused on next-generation computing technologies.

• Assess new concepts through technical evaluation, modelling and experimentation.

• Encourage innovative thinking and contribute to long-term technology planning.

• Support the creation of intellectual property through original engineering concepts.

Engineering Collaboration

• Work closely with multidisciplinary engineering teams to deliver technically robust solutions.

• Build strong relationships with research organisations, academic partners and engineering stakeholders.

• Mentor senior engineers and technical specialists across multiple disciplines.

• Promote collaboration, knowledge sharing and engineering best practice.

Programme Development

• Provide technical oversight across multiple concurrent engineering initiatives.

• Balance technical ambition with practical engineering delivery.

• Contribute to engineering governance, risk management and technical quality.

• Present technical recommendations to senior leadership and executive stakeholders.

About You

We're interested in speaking with highly experienced engineering leaders who have successfully delivered complex technology programmes within research or advanced product development environments.

You are likely to bring:

• A degree in Computer Science, Engineering or a related technical discipline.

• Extensive experience defining system-level architecture for complex technology platforms.

• A strong background in large-scale engineering programmes and technical leadership.

• Excellent analytical and strategic thinking skills.

• Experience leading multidisciplinary engineering teams.

• The ability to influence technical direction across diverse engineering functions.

• Outstanding communication and stakeholder management skills.

Experience We'd Like To See

Experience in one or more of the following areas would be particularly valuable:

• Complex systems engineering

• Advanced computing technologies

• Large-scale software or hardware development

• Research and innovation

• Technical strategy

• Performance optimisation

• Systems integration

• Distributed technologies

• Platform development

• Engineering leadership

We're open to candidates from a broad range of technology sectors, including advanced electronics, semiconductor technologies, scientific research, telecommunications, computing, industrial technology, aerospace, defence, cloud infrastructure or other highly technical engineering environments.

Why Apply?

This is a unique opportunity to influence the future direction of emerging technologies within a globally recognised engineering organisation.

You'll work alongside outstanding technical specialists on long-term innovation programmes, contribute to industry-leading research and help solve some of the most technically demanding challenges in modern engineering.

For experienced technical leaders looking to combine strategic influence with genuine engineering innovation, this represents an exceptional career opportunity.