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About the Role

Cambridge Aerospace is seeking an exceptional Head of Risk & Compliance to establish and oversee a robust, organisation-wide compliance and risk framework. This leadership role reports into the VP General Counsel and has direct access to the Senior Leadership Team and Board. You will shape the company’s approach to regulatory compliance, export control, operational risk, and governance, acting as a strategic partner to enable sustainable and compliant growth. This is a strategic oversight, assurance, and challenge role, not a hands-on technical one.

Responsibilities

Lead, manage, and build the company's compliance and risk function, providing strategic oversight, direction, and challenge to specialist teams.
Develop and lead a comprehensive company-wide compliance framework, ensuring adherence to all relevant legislation and regulatory requirements.
Lead regulatory horizon scanning across all domains, anticipating legislative and regulatory change, assessing its impact, and translating it into action.
Build, structure, and scale the function from an early stage, recruiting and developing specialist leads, defining team mandates, and maturing capability and controls.
Own the team’s budget and operating plan, and set the technology and systems strategy for compliance and risk.
Oversee the trade compliance team, holding the Trade Compliance Director accountable for direct regulatory engagement.
Oversee third party risk management, ensuring supply chain and counterparties are screened and due-diligenced.
Oversee explosives, firearms, and chemicals licensing and safety, holding the specialist licensing team accountable for compliance.
Design, implement, and continuously improve policies, procedures, and internal controls.
Own the anti-bribery, corruption, fraud, and sanctions control framework.
Deliver organisation-wide compliance training programmes and promote a culture of integrity and accountability.
Lead internal investigations, the Speak Up and whistleblowing framework, audits, and incident response.
Act as a trusted advisor to senior stakeholders across legal, engineering, operations, manufacturing, and commercial teams.

Requirements

10–15+ years’ experience in compliance, risk, or regulatory roles within defence, aerospace, or similarly regulated industries.
Eligible to obtain and maintain UK security clearance.
Strong working knowledge of export control regimes (UK, ITAR/EAR) and international regulatory frameworks.
Proven experience leading or scaling compliance functions and frameworks within complex organisations.
Experience managing regulatory engagement and audits with bodies such as ECJU, MoD, or equivalent.
Experience designing and delivering large-scale, group-wide compliance training programmes.
A proven track record in audit, controls, and policy development, particularly across anti-bribery & corruption and sanctions compliance.
A working understanding of explosives, firearms, and chemicals licensing regimes.
A sound understanding of manufacturing and operational regulatory compliance in safety-critical or highly regulated sectors.
Sufficient health & safety understanding to provide strategic oversight and challenge to a specialist HSE function.
Demonstrated ability to lead multi-disciplinary functions (e.g., compliance, HSE, risk).
Strong understanding of enterprise risk management and governance frameworks.
Ability to operate effectively at Executive / Board level with strong stakeholder engagement skills.
Commercial mindset with the ability to balance regulatory requirements with business objectives.
Sufficient familiarity with UK and international aviation and UAS regulatory frameworks.

Skills

Export control regimes (UK, ITAR/EAR)
International regulatory frameworks
Audit
Controls
Policy development
Anti-bribery & corruption compliance
Sanctions compliance
Explosives licensing
Firearms licensing
Chemicals licensing
Manufacturing regulatory compliance
Operational regulatory compliance
Health & safety
Enterprise risk management
Governance frameworks
Stakeholder engagement
Commercial mindset
UK aviation regulatory frameworks
International aviation regulatory frameworks
UAS regulatory frameworks
Insurance
Operational risk
Safety-critical environments
UAV systems
Flight operations
Risk-based operating models (e.g., SORA, PDRA)
Aviation safety management systems
Incident reporting frameworks
Data protection
Information security regulatory requirements

Experience Level

10-15+ years

Benefits

Competitive compensation and stock options
Private Medical & Dental
Cycle to work scheme
Lunchtime catering on site

About the Company

The mission of Cambridge Aerospace is to eliminate the risk of existential war in Europe by building low-cost interceptors and surveillance systems to defeat threats from drones, cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and hypersonic weapons.
We are building sovereign supply chains that assure delivery at a pace the threat demands and at a cost taxpayers can afford.
We have immense backing from the world’s best venture funds and are one of the fastest growing defence technology companies in history.
We are hiring the best engineers to prosecute the mission.

Equal Opportunity

We’re committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace. If you’re excited about this role but don’t meet every requirement, we still encourage you to apply.