---
title: 'Weapon System Product Lead at Hypersonica'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/weapon-system-product-lead-hypersonica-london-3pt94cb9vay9'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-30'
---

# Weapon System Product Lead at Hypersonica

- **Company:** Hypersonica
- **Location:** London, United Kingdom
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-10-28
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-30
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/hypersonica-prod/70f60242-8aa2-4ee9-9c10-065869c0b948

## Job description

Help Build Europe's Hypersonic Capability

At Hypersonica, we’re redefining what’s possible in European defence technology. We exist to deliver speed, resilience, and technological independence at a pace that sets a new standard. We are a small, elite team working on problems that matter, and solving them fast.

By joining Hypersonica, you’re not stepping into a predefined role. You’re joining a talent dense environment where every individual shapes the direction of the company. Our philosophy is to hire a small number of exceptional people with broad, deep technical capability, strong judgement, and the ability to operate autonomously.

We hire for talent, not rigid boxes. This role represents a business need, but the way it evolves will be shaped by the individual. If you’ve achieved what others said was impossible, or you bring a unique combination of skills that doesn’t fit a traditional mould, we want to hear from you. The work you do here directly contributes to Europe’s technological independence.

## What you'll do

- Own the product direction and lifecycle coherence of one of our weapon systems currently in development, ensuring it evolves into a capable, reliable, producible, maintainable, and supportable product.
- Build and maintain the product roadmap, translating operational needs, technical maturity, test evidence, and business priorities into clear capability spirals, releases, and product decisions.
- Act as the product authority across engineering, manufacturing, test & safety, quality, programmes, and ILS, ensuring a shared understanding of the product, its intended use, and its next priorities.
- Own the product baseline, variants, versioning, and configuration intent, ensuring that engineering changes are assessed before adoption.
- Set clear product priorities and trade-offs with engineering, balancing capability, safety, reliability, cost, schedule, maturity, production, and through-life sustainability.
- Engage with relevant customer and operator stakeholders to validate priorities and usage requirements.
- Use evidence from integration, test, production, maintenance, and operator feedback to shape the next development spirals and focus investment on the changes that create the greatest product and operational value.
- Ensure reliability, maintainability, producibility, supportability, transportability, and safety from the outset. Work closely with the ILS organisation, retaining ownership of the resulting product trade-offs and evolution.
- Establish lean product-management structures and decision routines where needed, keeping the product moving without adding process for its own sake.
- Make sound decisions under real technical and delivery ambiguity, recognise when a decision requires wider expertise or escalation, and step into unowned product problems rather than waiting for assignment.

## Who you are

- You have five or more years’ experience leading the development and evolution of complex hardware products or systems, ideally in defence, aerospace, or a similarly demanding environment.
- An understanding of  the full product lifecycle, from requirements and design through integration, test, production, in-service support, and product improvement.
- A technically credible with engineering teams and can turn complex technical detail into clear product priorities, decisions, and trade-offs.
- Experience managing product baselines, variants, configuration, and the impact of engineering changes in a controlled development environment.
- You understand how safety, reliability, maintainability, producibility, supportability, and cost shape a successful product, not just its technical performance.
- Experience leading effectively across disciplines, creating alignment without needing formal authority over every contributor.
- Comfortable taking ownership in ambiguity, making considered decisions with incomplete information, and escalating issues where the decision or risk exceeds your authority.
- You bring a pragmatic, hands-on approach, building only the structure needed to keep the product moving, and continuously improving ways of working rather than working problems.
- British citizenship is required due to the security requirements of the role. You must be eligible to obtain and maintain the required UK security clearance.

## What we offer

- A mission-driven environment with the opportunity to work on one of Europe’s most consequential defence challenges, with direct impact on sovereign capability and security.

- Daily collaboration with leading experts across engineering, operations, business development, and defence, with genuine opportunities to learn, contribute, and grow.

- Exposure to the full lifecycle of complex defence programmes, from customer requirements and commercial strategy through to engineering delivery and flight testing.

- High ownership and autonomy: no time tracking and no micromanagement, just clear objectives and accountability for outcomes.

- A fast-paced environment where good ideas are implemented quickly and feedback from testing and flight drives real decisions.

- A culture that values clarity, integrity, and excellence, and supports people who take initiative and push boundaries responsibly.

- Competitive compensation and real share options aligned with responsibility and impact, not tenure or hierarchy.

Security and Eligibility Requirement

Due to the nature of the work with the UK MOD, applicants must be a British Citizen (or Dual UK national with British citizenship) and eligible for UK Security Clearance (SC) and, where required, Developed Vetting (DV)

At Hypersonica, every hire raises the bar. We are deliberately small, intensely capable, and deeply mission-driven. If this role feels like a strong fit, or if you believe you bring something exceptional that goes beyond the description, we encourage you to apply.

Hypersonica is an equal-opportunity employer and assesses candidates solely on merit, capability, and potential.

You can apply directly to this role or reach out to Nathan Sweeney, Head of Talent. We review every application and aim to respond to all candidates within two weeks, whether the answer is yes or no.

## About Hypersonica

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Hypersonica is a European defence and aerospace company developing next-generation hypersonic systems for military and civilian applications, focused on strengthening Europe's sovereign technological edge.
- **Entity Type**: Private (venture-backed; investors include Plural and SPRIND)
- **Headquarters**: Munich area, Germany (with a wholly owned subsidiary in London, UK)
- **Founded**: Not publicly available
- **Founders**: Dr. Philipp Kerth (CEO) and Dr. Marc Ewenz (CTO)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry/industries**: Defence, aerospace, hypersonics
- **Target customers**: European governments and allied defence organisations (B2G/B2B)
- **Mission or purpose statement**: “To equip Europe with the sovereign, technological edge it needs to deter military aggression and uphold freedom and independence in a more dangerous world.” [hypersonica.com/en/](https://www.hypersonica.com/en/)

## Products & Services
- **Hypersonic Systems (Military & Civilian)** : Next-generation hypersonic flight vehicles designed for deep-strike capabilities and potential future autonomous space-access. The company emphasises rapid iteration, modular architecture, and cost reduction. Product type: Hardware + integrated systems.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed
- **Key Metric (Funding)** : Backed by Plural (Europe-based VC) and SPRIND (German federal innovation agency). Funding amounts not publicly disclosed.
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Plural (Partner Ian Hogarth), SPRIND (Director Rafael Laguna de la Vera)
- **Growth Signals**: 
  - Flight testing announced for February 2026 at Andøya, Norway
  - “Flight-ready in months” (vs. industry norm of years)
  - 80% cost reduction claim vs. traditional development
  - Aligned with UK‑German Trinity House Agreement on advanced defence technologies
  - Growing government interest in deep-strike capabilities across Europe

## Competitive Advantages
- **Speed of development** – rapid iteration from design to flight-ready hardware (months, not years)
- **Cost efficiency** – claims to reduce development costs by 80%
- **Modular architecture** – systems that can evolve in real time to maintain operational superiority
- **European sovereignty** – rooted in Munich and London, with explicit mission to reduce dependence on non-European suppliers

## Strategic Focus
- Accelerate flight testing and fielding of hypersonic systems for European defence customers
- Expand engineering and business teams across Munich and London
- Build on the UK‑German Trinity House Agreement and similar government partnerships
- Maintain technological lead through rapid prototyping and modular design

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Mission-driven “A‑Team” focused on European resilience and cutting-edge physics. Emphasis on speed, autonomy, and impact.
- **Work Policy**: On‑site roles in Munich (HQ) and London. Roles include AIT Engineer, Avionics Manager, Flight Dynamics Engineer, and various engineering and technician positions.
- **Hiring Process**: May use AI tools to assist with resume review and candidate assessment; final decisions made by humans. Transparency on AI usage provided.
- **Perks/Engineering Culture**: Not explicitly detailed, but the company presents a fast-paced, high-stakes environment working on some of the most demanding physics in aerospace.

## Sources
1. [hypersonica.com/en/](https://www.hypersonica.com/en/) – Homepage and mission statement
2. [hypersonica.com/en/company/](https://www.hypersonica.com/en/company/) – Leadership, investors, and company details
3. [hypersonica.com/en/careers/](https://www.hypersonica.com/en/careers/) – Careers page and founding team messaging
4. [jobs.lever.co/hypersonica-prod](https://jobs.lever.co/hypersonica-prod) – Open positions and hiring practices

## Other roles at Hypersonica

- [ILS Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/ils-manager-hypersonica-munich-k0b714gyv3yq) — Munich, Germany
- [Senior Technical Programme Associate](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-technical-programme-associate-hypersonica-munich-8gmcf4fkq06a) — Munich, Germany
- [Head of System Safety](https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-system-safety-hypersonica-munich-p7c326khrgyw) — Munich, Germany
- [Senior Technical Recruiter](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-technical-recruiter-hypersonica-ottawa-1bnjw39gqtaa) — Ottawa, Canada
- [Junior Cost and Value Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/junior-cost-and-value-engineer-hypersonica-munich-8fpc0fgqk1md) — Munich, Germany
- [Loads Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/loads-engineer-hypersonica-munich-npyt39n2hshn) — Munich, Germany
- [Chemist](https://feeny.ai/job/chemist-hypersonica-munich-vmtfabre8wg9) — Munich, Germany
- [Information Security Officer](https://feeny.ai/job/information-security-officer-hypersonica-munich-5a75sh5zfc3n) — Munich, Germany
- [Aerodynamics Control Engineer - Simulation](https://feeny.ai/job/aerodynamics-control-engineer-simulation-hypersonica-london-3brhv55ds5yh) — London, United Kingdom
- [Numerical Physicist](https://feeny.ai/job/numerical-physicist-hypersonica-munich-gtxaqh3qb1re) — Munich, Germany