Deployment Manager

Whitespace builds Collective, a sovereign AI platform for decision superiority. Our clients are UK defence, national security and regulated commercial organisations.

As Deployments Manager you sit at the point where commercial commitment meets technical reality. You make sure we deliver what we said, when we said, to a standard that holds up under scrutiny.

This role carries real weight. Deployments move fast, requirements shift and the stakes are real. You will be trusted with significant autonomy and held to a high bar.

What you will own

Team leadership

• Lead and grow a mixed team of DevOps engineers and forward deployed engineers.
• Set the direction, standards and working practices for how the team operates on-site and at HQ.

Client-side air-gapped delivery

• Plan, sequence and resource deployments across multiple products and sites at the same time.
• Align delivery to MOD and client accreditation timelines.

Deployment process and tooling

• Build and maintain repeatable, secure-by-design processes and runbooks that hold up in disconnected, classified environments.
• Keep them current as products, sites and client requirements change.

Technical and operational accountability

• Act as the escalation point when something breaks on-site, including within SCIFs and other accredited facilities.
• Own the fix through to closure, with clear communication to the client and the wider business.

Stakeholder coordination

• Work across engineering, programme and client security teams, including MOD, Dstl and defence prime contractors.
• Represent Whitespace credibly in classified and sensitive settings.

Risk, vetting and information assurance

• Manage the risk, vetting and assurance requirements specific to classified, air-gapped and export-controlled (ITAR/EAR) environments.

Planning and capacity

• Sequence and resource the team's work across concurrent deployments and sites.
• Balance shifting client and MOD priorities against a small, clearance-constrained team.

What a strong candidate looks like

• A proven record managing or leading DevOps and/or forward deployed engineering teams, ideally in defence, national security or another high-assurance regulated sector.
• Comfortable operating inside secure, accredited or air-gapped environments, with a practical understanding of what accreditation requires day to day.
• Hands-on enough to unblock your team on the deployment stack: networking, hardware and secure build.
• Strong operational discipline, with the ability to run multiple concurrent deployments across sites without dropping anything.
• Credible in front of MOD, defence primes and government clients under scrutiny, including in classified or sensitive settings.
• Calm under pressure, decisive and biased to action when a deployment goes sideways on-site.

Nice to have

• Existing UK security clearance (SC as a minimum, DV a strong advantage).
• Direct experience with MOD frameworks, accreditation processes (RMADS, JSP 440/604) and contracting mechanisms.
• A background deploying AI, data or software-intensive capability.
• Awareness of export control regimes such as ITAR and EAR.

Security and eligibility

Whitespace works in UK defence and national security. This role requires eligibility for UK SC (Security Check) clearance as a minimum. You will need to meet the residency and nationality requirements for clearance, and be willing to undergo and maintain it. Existing DV clearance is a strong advantage.

What is in it for you

The work itself

• A seat at the centre of a sovereign AI company doing work that is consequential.
• Real ownership and the authority to match it, without layers of sign-off slowing you down.
• A leadership team that will back your judgement and expects you to use it.
• The pace and variety of a scale-up, with the discipline and standards the mission demands.

Time off and our Friday rhythm

• 25 days' annual leave, plus 8 UK public bank holidays.
• Every Friday in July, August and December is a company day off, taken without using annual leave.
• The last Friday of every other month is also a company day off.
• On any other working Friday, we finish at 3pm.
• The thinking is simple: rested, trusted people do their best work, so we build real, predictable space to step away and recharge straight into the calendar.

Benefits

• Employer pension contribution, with salary sacrifice available through Mintago.
• Private medical insurance (opt-in), covering inpatient and outpatient care, diagnostics, mental health and cancer care.
• Death in service cover at 4x your annual salary.
• Access to the Mintago financial wellbeing platform.
• (Salary band and equity to confirm.)
• Most benefits commence on successful completion of probation.

Is this you?

This role suits someone energised by hard problems and short timelines. The work is fast, varied and consequential, and it rewards people who want to build rather than maintain. If you want to build the delivery engine of a company that intends to matter, we should talk.