Company Overview

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. This role is in the DroneShield Sydney headquarters in Pyrmont, Sydney. There are approximately 200 staff based in the 4,000sqm facility today, scheduled to grow to approximately 300 staff by end of 2026. Overseas on the ground presence includes Virginia (USA), Denmark, Germany and Dubai, as well as distributors in over 70 countries globally.

About The Role

DroneShield is seeking a Vice President of Software Engineering with relevant experience to join the team in Sydney, Australia. The position will report to Chief Technology Officer. The role is primarily focused on the development of DroneShield C2 platform, DroneSentry-C2. The C2 platform combines data from different deployed sensor types and displays this information to the user in a meaningful way. Key technical challenges of the role include distributed system management, air-gapped systems, high data processing rate, cloud infrastructure and implementation of ML based services.

Responsibilities, Duties And Expectations

• Execute on the Application Software engineering projects against the Technology roadmap strategy, leading teams of ML/AI (Data Science) and Software Development
• Manage a team of 18 Engineers, working with the Talent Acquisition team to grow the team to 30+ within the next 12 months
• Lead, mentor, and inspire a high-performing engineering team, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement
• Oversee the development and implementation of scalable, high-performance solutions that enhance user engagement and experience
• Work across teams, collaborating with Sales, Marketing, Operations and Finance teams to generate results. Within the Technology team you will work with the VPs of Program Management, Design, Embedded Systems and Systems, Data and Infrastructure.
• Designs and implements best practices in software development, testing, and deployment in partnership with teams across the organization
• Oversee project timelines and resource allocation to ensure timely and efficient delivery of engineering programs
• Implement agile methodologies and frameworks to streamline development processes and enhance team productivity
• Work with the Talent Acquisition team to develop and execute strategies to attract, hire, and retain top engineering talent.

Qualifications, Experience And Skills

• BS degree in Computer Science, similar technical field of study or equivalent practical experience
• 10+ years of Software development with at least 5 years in leadership roles
• Proven track record of successful project delivery with demonstratable business outcomes
• Excellent leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills equally comfortable discussing complex technical concepts with a team or presenting to executive leadership.
• Experience working with two or more from the following: web application development, Unix/Linux environments, distributed and parallel systems, developing large software systems, and/or security software development
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment and manage multiple priorities effectively.
• Previous Defence/security experience is ideal
• Experience in Golang, Python and/or JavaScript (React) is ideal

Note for recruitment agencies

We do not accept floated candidates from external recruiters unless they were instructed to do so.