Head of Engineering - MSO & Motorsport

McLaren Special Operations create cars around an owner's precise tastes and provide everything from bespoke customisation to GT race cars. From options through to ultra-exclusive limited-edition or one-off models. We have recently brought McLaren Motorsport into the same structure as the legacy MSO organisation to recognise that collectively these products are owned and enjoyed by our most passionate clients, requiring the highest level of personal service. As we continue to grow as an organisation, we are now looking for a senior engineering leader to join our team. The role reports to the Director of MSO and is responsible for leading, developing and steering the MSO Engineering department, including both road and race car activities. As well as internal leadership this role is the technical face of McLaren Motorsport to race teams and operators. The scope of the role covers all projects from R&D stage to series production, vehicles in the field, and McLaren GT race car platforms through development, validation, release, performance optimisation, reliability improvement, homologation, technical compliance, trackside engineering alignment and lifecycle engineering.

What You'll Do

• Ensure all Engineering activities are delivered to plan and consistent with the McLaren Development Process (MDP).
• Line manage a team of engineers to deliver One make racing, GT4, GT3, MSO Defined (line fit options), Limited Edition programmes, Bespoke commissions and Heritage programs.
• Investigate and drive innovative solutions to continuously improve the delivery of the Engineering department.
• Provide technical and decision-making support to all Design and Vehicle Engineering activities.
• Lead initiatives to promote MSO Engineering capabilities with internal stakeholders and external parties.
• Champion activities for weight-reduction, cost-down, build concern resolution and process-improvement.
• Lead the team to deliver all Engineering targets in line with KPI's and milestones set by MDP including BOM, investment including internal and outsourced labour and D&D, tooling costs and attribute targets.
• Ensure Project Timing plan is achieved, i.e. design releases, DFMEAs, DVPs, Risk Assessment Tool and other relevant gateway deliverables.
• Help define future technical strategies and associated technology roadmaps.
• Use the Risk Assessment Tool to identify requirements of Technical Specifications, DVPs, DFMEAs for all systems in line with McLaren and VCA standards.
• Work and liaise closely with key internal stakeholders to ensure buy in.
• In collaboration with MSO Purchasing assist in the selection of preferred suppliers.
• Lead the engineering strategy and technical delivery for McLaren GT race car programmes, ensuring alignment with business objectives, customer racing requirements, championship regulations, homologation obligations and McLaren brand standards.
• Provide senior technical leadership for race-car design, development, validation, release, reliability, serviceability, configuration control and lifecycle support.
• Ensure McLaren GT race cars are engineered to be safe, legal, reliable, competitive, maintainable and suitable for customer racing operation.
• Lead cross-functional engineering activity across vehicle dynamics, chassis, powertrain integration, aerodynamics, electronics, controls, data systems, simulation, durability, service and trackside support.
• Establish and maintain a race-car technical development roadmap, including performance upgrades, reliability improvements, cost reduction, regulatory changes and future platform strategy.
• Oversee technical issue resolution from race events, customer teams and field operations, ensuring robust containment, root-cause analysis, corrective action and lessons learned.

Programme management experience within an engineering function

• Programme management experience within an engineering function.
• Senior level motorsport experience within engineering or development either for OEM operations or a race team.
• Experience aligning technical stakeholders within large OEM or similar.
• Proven track record of leading a high performance cross functional team.
• Extensive experience of automotive design and development.
• Excellent systems design and development knowledge.
• Proven problem solving and change management capability.
• Experience of high and niche vehicle (low volume) programmes.
• Strong understanding of race-car systems, including chassis, suspension, brakes, aerodynamics, powertrain integration, transmission, electronics, controls, data acquisition and vehicle dynamics.
• Knowledge of motorsport regulations, homologation, technical compliance and race-car change control.
• Experience using test, simulation, race-event data and structured problem solving to improve vehicle performance and reliability.
• Proven ability to translate trackside, customer and field feedback into robust engineering actions and technical roadmaps.

Personal attributes

• MSO is a close-knit team with extensive experience and service. An ability to nuture talent and gain respect whilst also driving systematic change is fortable at taking directions, but also entrepreneurial in approach, able to work autonomously and contribute to development of commercial programmes.
• Natural leader, able to take responsibility for delivery.
• Team focused with a positive mentality - demonstrating drive and endurance to achieve outstanding results.
• Ability to manage and prioritise tasks and time efficiently.
• A clear communicator, able to adjust style to teams, media, clients and stakeholders.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Able to build good relationships at all levels, internally and externally.
• Resilient, able to work under pressure and to tight deadlines.
• Capable of being an ambassador of the McLaren brand to customers, retailers and partners.
• Comfortable making high-quality technical decisions under pressure and with incomplete information.
• Credible senior technical leader with the ability to influence engineers, race teams, commercial stakeholders, suppliers and senior leadership.
• Performance-minded, data-led and pragmatic, with the ability to balance engineering excellence with commercial and operational realities.
• Able to operate effectively in both long-cycle vehicle development and short-cycle motorsport issue resolution environments.

No restraints. No limitations. We don't simply push boundaries. We completely rethink them. McLaren Automotive exists to create breath-taking performance road cars. It takes a community to do what we do. A diverse group of people with many areas of expertise, united by their passion to deliver visionary products and set new benchmarks. McLaren Automotive commits to equal opportunity for all. Diversity, Equality and Inclusion is at the heart of our impact, it drives our innovation and enables us to truly create something special. Join us on our journey.

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