Director of Engineering (USA)

Work with cutting edge technology, making the world a safer and more secure place. DroneShield (ASX:DRO) offers an opportunity to solve some of world’s most challenging technical problems in the Electronic Warfare, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, RF sensing, Sensor Fusion and distributed systems. Working with high profile customers across militaries, government agencies, airports, critical infrastructure, law enforcement and many others.

With one of the largest listed defence company market capitalisations in Australia and having raised approximately $250m in 2024 alone, DroneShield is undergoing hypergrowth stage, fuelled by rapidly increasing use of drones for nefarious applications, from battlefield, to terrorism, to contraband delivery and commercial espionage.

About the role

DroneShield is seeking a Director of Engineering with relevant experience to join the team in Warrenton, Virginia. The position will report to Chief Product & Technology Officer based in Sydney, Australia. 

Responsibilities, Duties and Expectations 

• Execute US Software Engineering Delivery: Drive execution of US-based C2 and RFAI software initiatives in direct alignment with the global technology roadmap. Focus on platform extension to enable US specific integrations, data additions and US-DoD aligned activities. 

• Platform Extension & Systems Integration: Lead technical implementation of integrations with US-based sensors, effectors, BMS platforms, and enterprise and DoD customer environments, in close collaboration with the global C2 architecture team. 

• Team Management & Development: Manage a small, high-impact US-based team (~7–30 engineers across phases), with a focus on incremental delivery and high accountability. Foster a professional, no-blame, highly collaborative engineering culture. 

• Collaborative Execution Model: Operate within a coupled model where engineering direction, architecture, and tech stack are tightly integrated. Build a high-trust relationship with these Australian leadership team and ensure full alignment on technical decisions. 

• Technical Quality & Delivery Discipline: Uplift professional engineering standards in the US team. Implement rigorous development, testing, and deployment practices that mirror those used by the global team, ensuring system integrity and deployment predictability. 

• Cross-Functional Coordination: Serve as the primary engineering interface for US-based customer programs, working with Sales, Operations, and Project Managers, while maintaining strong coordination with Australian VPs across Software, Product, Embedded Systems, Quality Engineering, Security, and Infrastructure. 

• Engineering Culture & Practices: Instil a culture of ownership, continuous improvement, and transparency. Drive visibility and reporting practices that enable collective progress and maintain accountability across geographies. 

• Team Growth & Capability Building: Collaborate with Talent Acquisition to scale the US team in planned phases, prioritising cultural fit, technical strength, and the ability to operate within an integrated, globally aligned structure. 

Qualifications, Experience and Skills 

• Education 

• • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent practical experience. 

• Experience 

• • 10+ years in software engineering, with 5+ years in technical leadership roles 

• • Proven track record of delivering complex, integrated systems with real-world business and operational outcomes 

• • Experience working within a multi-region product organization, ideally under a matrix or dotted-line structure 

• Technical Expertise 

• • Strong grounding in large-scale system development, integration, and deployment 

• • Familiarity with C2 systems, sensor/effectors, RF integration, or defence-aligned environments is preferred 

• • Experience with Golang, Python, and/or JavaScript (React) preferred 

• • Strong knowledge of distributed systems, API-based integrations, and scalable infrastructure 

• Leadership & Culture 

• • Demonstrated ability to build high-trust, collaborative teams that operate in fast-paced, ambiguous environments 

• • Cultural awareness and adaptability to shift team behaviour from reactive or siloed to proactive and cooperative 

• • Clear communicator, equally confident engaging with engineers or executive stakeholders 

Note for recruitment agencies: we do not accept floated candidates from external recruiters unless they were instructed to do so.