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Description

Dawn Aerospace is entering its next phase of growth. As we scale globally, we’re looking for a Senior IT Lead to take ownership of our IT function and evolve it into a robust and secure foundation for years to come. This is a hands-on role with a clear path to Head of IT. You will work directly with the current IT owner (founder) to take over day-to-day responsibility, with the expectation of full ownership within 12 months.

We are not looking for a career manager. We are looking for someone who wants to build, simplify, and take real ownership for how IT works across a global engineering company.

Responsibilities

You will step into a functional, founder-led IT environment and progressively take control of it.

• Take ownership of day-to-day IT operations, systems, and tooling
• Work directly with the founder to transition IT into a structured, scalable function
• Act as the primary interface with our Managed Services Provider (MSP), setting direction and priorities
• Improve clarity around access, systems, and data handling
• Support the business in making pragmatic, risk-based decisions around IT and security
• Bring structure, documentation, and durability to how IT is run
• Contribute to how IT evolves as the company grows in scale, complexity, and regulatory exposure

Over time, you will move from execution into full ownership of IT, including structure, priorities, and long-term direction.

Qualifications

• Strong practical background in IT systems, infrastructure, and cloud environments
• Proven ability to own outcomes across technical and organisational domains
• Comfortable operating in ambitious, growing environments
• Able to communicate clearly with both engineers and non-technical stakeholders
• Willing to be hands-on, especially in the early phase

Formal degrees are welcome but not required; demonstrated judgement and ownership matter more. You do not need to have already been a Head of IT — but you should be ready to grow into that level of responsibility.

Desired Experience

• Experience in team leadership
• Experience in a fast‑moving, engineering‑led organisations
• Experience working with MSPs or other vendors
• Exposure to regulated, safety‑critical, or compliance‑heavy environments
• Experience scaling IT structures over time

Experience working in environments where IT supports physical systems, engineering, or production is helpful but not required.

You do not need to have already been a Head of IT — but you should be ready to grow into that level of responsibility.

Key Skills

• Strong engineering judgement and bias for practical solutions
• Ability to make and defend trade‑offs under uncertainty
• Comfort with accountability and decision ownership
• Clear written communication and documentation skills
• Team leadership
• Pragmatic, risk‑based approach to security and compliance
• Ability to earn trust across disciplines and sites.

Notes:

This role is best suited to someone who is currently operating just below Head-of level and is ready to step up.

If you’re looking for a fully built IT department with clearly defined boundaries, this is not that role.

If you want to take ownership, build systems properly, and grow into leading IT, we’d like to hear from you.

Note that the role is a permanent position that will start with a fixed-term contract of 12 months.

Relocation to other Dawn Aerospace sites can be considered upon request.

Diversity & Inclusion

At Dawn Aerospace, we believe that diverse teams build better solutions. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment where people of all backgrounds, identities, and experiences are valued and supported to do their best work.

About Dawn Aerospace

Dawn Aerospace is a space transportation company with a purpose.
Our mission is to enable the next generation of space users by providing more sustainable and scalable ways to access and move around in space. We believe this access, in the form of a transportation network, will fundamentally change what’s possible from space. We currently focus on three areas of space transportation:

• In-space propulsion
  We're a leading supplier of turnkey green propulsion systems for various classes of satellites. Our systems utilise safe, accessible propellants and we have over 170 of these propulsion units on more than 40 operational satellites already. A further 200 units are in production.
• In-space servicing
  Coupled with our propulsion expertise, we are ensuring that our customers' satellites are refuellable. In the coming years, Dawn will offer a refueling service to enable life extension of customer satellites. This new market is aligned with our sustainability goal to ensue a clean and safe space for everyone!
• Spaceplane
  We are developing the fastest and highest-flying aircraft ever to take off from a runway, combining the extreme performance of rocket propulsion with the reusability of conventional airplanes to enable high-frequency, low-cost access to sub-orbital space.

Our international teams are distributed across four locations: the Netherlands, France, New Zealand, and the USA.

Apply for this Job

Important!

If you think you have what it takes but are unsure that you check every box, we still want to hear from you.

To all recruitment agencies: Dawn Aerospace does not accept agency resumes. Please do not forward resumes to our job’s alias, our employees, or any other company location. Dawn Aerospace will not be responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.