Director Minerva Frontline Applications

STARK is a new kind of defence technology company revolutionising the way autonomous systems are deployed across multiple domains. We design, develop, and manufacture high-performance unmanned systems that are software-defined, mass-scalable, and cost-effective — providing operators with a decisive edge in contested environments.

We are focused on delivering deployable, high-performance systems — not future promises. In a time of rising threats, STARK is bolstering the technological edge of NATO Allies and their Partners to deter aggression and defend Europe, today.

Our software program comprises several teams around R&D on both Command&Control (C2) and Autonomy functions as well as Delivery and Operations capabilities. Every unmanned system in the STARK portfolio relies on this single, rapidly evolving, reliable, and intelligent software program. Our teams are distributed across several locations in Europe and Ukraine.

To drive the development of our core command and control suite, we are looking for a Director Minerva Frontline Applications.

Commanding the Frontline

As the Director Minerva Frontline Applications, you are at the helm of STARK's C2 software team. You will build and scale the central control suite for all unmanned systems in our portfolio, ensuring it remains interoperable, battle-tested, and exceptionally intuitive for operators. 
Your mandate is to:

• Lead and inspire a multidisciplinary engineering organization comprising four core teams: Frontend Engineering, Backend Engineering, Integration Engineering, and Agentic C2.

• Double-lead alongside the Chief Architect. You will own the people management and the "what" (roadmap, features, and team direction), while the Architect owns the "how" (engineering execution and technical quality).

• Drive rapid innovation by overseeing a dedicated squad focused on pushing the edge of the possible in C2, quickly prototyping new concepts to drive new capabilities into operation through real-world impact.

• Unify physical and digital by ensuring Minerva Frontline seamlessly connects to all STARK physical programs, capable of commanding specific hardware features under real-world conditions.

You are an energetic and highly structured leader who thrives at the intersection of rapid innovation and battle-tested reliability, possessing the drive to orchestrate a multidisciplinary software organization in a high-stakes environment where "good enough" is never the standard. The role is for someone who: 

• Brings infectious energy and structure, exciting the team to tackle the complex tasks ahead.

• Collaborates deeply to integrate a growing number of system and battlefield requirements into Minerva Frontline Applications.

• Communicates crisply and persuasively across all levels.

• Keeps teams aligned and executing flawlessly when stakes are at their highest.

• Turns ambiguity into a clear, actionable direction.

Own the "What" & People Management

• You are the operational and visionary leader of the team, defining what gets built and ensuring the people building it are supported and thriving.

• People Leadership: Act as the primary people manager for the entire Minerva Frontline Applications team, fostering an energetic, high-performance culture.

• Roadmap Ownership: Drive the team's dedicated development roadmap to create a battle-tested software suite that works to the highest standards under real-life conditions.

• Requirements Structuring: Partner closely with other program leads to structure tasks, define clear objectives, and prioritize features for the engineering squads.

The Double-Lead Partnership

• You operate in lockstep with the Team Architect to ensure visionary goals meet flawless technical execution.

• Collaborative Decision-Making: Make critical roadmap and product decisions in close collaboration with the Architect, ensuring all plans are technically viable and can be seamlessly executed.

• Quality Assurance: Align your product vision with the Architect's engineering strategy to guarantee an extraordinary level of quality in our software output.

Orchestrate Cross-Functional Delivery & Innovation

• You coordinate diverse engineering disciplines to deliver a unified, mass-scalable C2 product.

• Team Synchronization: Synchronize the efforts of your engineering teams to deliver cohesive, reliable software updates.

• Edge-of-the-Possible R&D: Guide the innovation team to quickly try out new things, evaluating prototypes to make decisive calls on which capabilities graduate into the actual software suite.

• Hardware Interoperability: Maintain tight ties to all STARK physical programs, ensuring the software suite controls all specific features of our unmanned systems while remaining operator-friendly.

Experience

• Proven experience in software engineering leadership, specifically managing multi-disciplinary teams.

• Demonstrated success in double-leadership or highly collaborative models, particularly partnering with technical architects or lead engineers.

• Experience building mission-critical software suites—ideally with ties to hardware, robotics, or complex interconnected systems.

• A background in military service and especially in the Cyber / IT domain is a strong plus.

Core Qualities

• The "Stark" Factor: You are comfortable with ambiguity, thrive under pressure, and possess the "founder's grit" needed to build a department from a blank sheet of paper.

• Structured Energy: You bring a contagious energy to the team while maintaining the rigorous organizational structure necessary to execute complex roadmaps.

• Mission-First Mindset: You are obsessed with customer outcomes. You don’t consider a project finished until the customer has achieved their mission objective.

• Risk Sentinel: You have an uncanny ability to spot problems, dependencies, and organizational tensions well before others notice them.

• Crisp Communicator: You effortlessly distill complex technical and strategic contexts into simple, compelling written and spoken communication.

• Trusted Operator: You build trust rapidly, operating with the highest levels of discretion, integrity, and a low-ego attitude.

• Owner’s Mindset: You move with urgency, take full ownership, and relentlessly follow through until the result is delivered.

Tools & Mindset

• Proficient with modern tools like Jira, Confluence, and advanced planning/reporting platforms.

• Highly proactive, exceptionally structured, and fully capable of independently driving complex projects to the finish line.

• Able to partner closely with engineers, understanding their needs and matching it with needs of our military customers.

• A mature understanding of handling classified information and supporting B2G (Business-to-Government) customers.

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