Software Group Leader

Job Description

Are you an experienced people leader with a passion for developing others and shaping how software is built and delivered? This is an opportunity to lead, support and grow an established group of software engineers delivering cutting-edge environment simulators that support some of the most advanced defence systems in the world.

You’ll be joining a friendly, motivated department where engineering excellence and innovation are at the heart of everything we do. We’re looking for someone who leads with integrity, fosters collaboration, and creates a positive environment where individuals can thrive and teams can deliver their best work.

Job Title: Software Group Leader

Salary: Circa £80,000 depending on experience

Dynamic (hybrid) working: 3 days per week on-site due to workload classification

Location: Stevenage

Security Clearance: British Citizen or a Dual UK national with British citizenship.

Restrictions and/or limitations relating to nationality and/or rights to work may apply. As a minimum and after offer stage, all successful candidates will need to undergo HMG Basic Personnel Security Standard checks (BPSS), which are managed by the MBDA Personnel Security Team.

What we can offer you:

• Company Bonus: Bonus of up to 27% of base salary

• Car Allowance: £300/month

• Pension: maximum total (employer and employee) contribution of up to 14%

• Flexible working: We welcome applicants who are looking for flexible working arrangements

• Enhanced parental leave: offers up to 26 weeks for maternity, adoption and shared parental leave -enhancements are available for paternity leave, neonatal leave and fertility testing and treatments

• Facilities: Fantastic site facilities including subsidised meals, free car parking and much more…

• Training and Development: Excellent career progression, training and career development opportunities

The opportunity:

This is an exciting opportunity to lead, support, and grow a talented group of software engineers delivering current and next-generation environment simulators within the Simulation Software Department.

As a Software Group Leader, you’ll ensure your teams have the right capability, skills, and capacity to meet business commitments. You’ll foster collaboration, openness, and a culture of continuous improvement — inspiring others to achieve shared goals.

Engineering is at heart of our business; there is opportunity to both develop your core leadership skills, and gain a wider experience of complex systems.

Working alongside a multidiscipline engineering team, you will be a key part of a supportive and growing software engineering team as your career expands with us.

MBDA is committed to upskilling people through both formal training and practical experience.

We are a friendly, highly capable team, developing software that makes a difference.

What we're looking for from you:

• A people focused leader who understands what motivates individuals and teams.

• Strong communication and influencing skills, able to inspire others and build collaboration across functions and sites.

• Experience leading technical teams or projects, ideally within a software or systems engineering environment.

• A proactive, positive approach to problem solving and change.

• A commitment to continuous improvement and professional development — for both yourself and your team.

• The ability to manage and develop a multidisciplinary team, ensuring effective allocation of resources to meet project timelines and quality standards whilst providing mentorship and technical guidance to team members.

• Capable of fostering growth and collaborating with multi-functional teams to achieve project objectives within schedule and budget constraints.

• A strong understanding of software development processes, including requirements analysis, design, and testing.

• Excellent communication and leadership skills, with the ability to interface effectively with technical and non-technical collaborators on progress, risks, and mitigations

• Experience in defence is not essential, and indeed many of our people joined us from powertrain, aerospace, and consumer electronics.

Our company: Peace is not a given, Freedom is not a given, Sovereignty is not a given

MBDA is a leading defence organisation. We are proud of the role we play in supporting the Armed Forces who protect our nations. We partner with governments to work together towards a common goal, defending our freedom.

We are proud of our employee-led networks, examples include: Gender Equality, Pride, Menopause Matters, Parents and Carers, Armed Forces, Ethnic Diversity, Neurodiversity, Disability and more…

We recognise that everyone is unique, and we encourage you to speak to us should you require any advice, support, or adjustments throughout our recruitment process.

Follow us on LinkedIn (MBDA), X (@MBDA_UK), Instagram (MBDA_UK) and Glassdoor or visit our MBDA Careers website for more information.