ILS Manager

Job description

About the role: As ILS Manager at Arkeus, you will establish and own the integrated logistics support function behind our defence products. You will make sure each hardware-software system is designed, delivered and sustained with the support concept, maintenance approach, spares, training, technical data and through-life evidence needed for operational availability. Reporting to the VP of Manufacturing, you will build the ILS framework while personally delivering ILS outcomes for active Australian and international defence programs. You will turn customer and contract requirements into practical support solutions that influence product design, production readiness, acceptance and in-service support. This is a senior, hands-on individual contributor role. For the first few months you will be a team of one, leading through influence and working directly with Design, Product, Manufacturing and program teams. As demand grows, you will help define the capability, systems and resourcing needed to scale the function. About you: You are an experienced ILS or supportability practitioner who can build a function without waiting for a large team or perfect information. You understand the full ILS lifecycle and can create fit-for-purpose plans, analyses, records and deliverables that satisfy defence customers while improving the product and its support system. You are comfortable with complex products that combine electronic and electro-optical hardware, embedded software and application software. You can connect reliability, maintainability, configuration and failure data to maintenance tasks, spares, support equipment, training and technical publications. Experience across both Australian and overseas defence projects is strongly preferred. You are pragmatic, organised and credible with engineers, technicians, operators, customers and executives. You can move between strategy and detail, challenge design decisions with evidence, and produce clear, controlled deliverables in a fast-moving environment. You are eligible to obtain and maintain an Australian Government security clearance. Key responsibilities: ILS Strategy & Governance: ILS Framework: Establish Arkeus’s ILS operating model, processes, templates, tools, governance and interfaces across the product lifecycle. ILS Planning: Develop and maintain Integrated Logistics Support Plans tailored to customer, contract and program requirements. Requirements & Compliance: Identify, interpret and manage ILS, supportability and data-item requirements for Australian and international defence projects. Program Integration : Build ILS activities, dependencies, reviews and deliverables into program schedules, risks, budgets and decision gates. Customer Interface: Act as the senior ILS point of contact for defence customers, primes and partners, including reviews, tender responses and deliverable acceptance. Sustainment Engineering & Product Influence: Supportability Analysis: Lead logistics support analysis, including support concepts, functional analysis, task analysis, maintenance analysis and logistics support data development. RAM & Safety Inputs: Work with engineering to use reliability, availability, maintainability, FMECA and failure data to improve design and support decisions. Maintenance & LORA: Define maintenance concepts, repair levels, preventive and corrective tasks, skill requirements, task times and level-of-repair recommendations. Configuration & Traceability: Maintain traceability between product baselines, software and firmware releases, support analysis, maintenance tasks, publications, training and spares. Support Solution Delivery: Spares & Provisioning: Develop provisioning recommendations, initial spares, repair pipelines, codification inputs and inventory assumptions using reliability and operational data. Technical Publications & Training: Define, develop or coordinate operating and maintenance publications, training needs, courseware and delivery evidence. Support Equipment & Infrastructure: Identify tools, test equipment, facilities, packaging, handling, storage and transportation requirements. In-Service Support & Improvement: Performance & Reporting: Define and report ILS and supportability measures to the VP of Manufacturing and program leadership, including availability, reliability, maintainability, support risks and deliverable status. Through-Life Improvement: Use field data, maintenance feedback, obsolescence risks and customer lessons to improve the product and its support system. Your experience and skills: ILS Track Record: 8+ years in integrated logistics support, logistics engineering, supportability engineering or through-life support for complex technical products. Full ILS Lifecycle: Demonstrated experience across ILS planning, logistics support analysis, maintenance, LORA, provisioning, training, technical publications, support equipment and in-service support. Defence Programs: Strong defence-sector experience; experience across both Australian and overseas defence projects is strongly preferred Hardware & Software Products: Experience supporting products that combine electronic or electro-optical hardware with embedded and application software. Supportability Methods: Practical experience with RAM, FMECA, maintenance task analysis, logistics support data or LSAR environments, and configuration-controlled ILS deliverables. Hands-On Delivery: Able to personally create robust plans, analyses and customer deliverables while establishing the broader function. Standards & Contracts: Familiarity with defence ILS standards, data-item descriptions, tender requirements and customer review and acceptance processes. Commercial & Program Judgement: Able to prioritise effort, estimate ILS work, manage risks and balance compliance, operational outcomes, schedule and cost. Influence & Communication: Able to lead without direct authority and communicate clearly with engineers, technicians, executives, customers, suppliers and international partners. Must be eligible to obtain and maintain an Australian Government security clearance. What success looks like: In your first 90 days: You have assessed active programs, contracts, customer commitments and existing support artefacts, and presented a prioritised ILS gap analysis and delivery plan to the VP of Manufacturing. You have built effective working relationships with Design, Product, Manufacturing, Engineering, Supply Chain, Quality and Program Management, and understand how Arkeus products are designed, built, configured, tested, delivered and supported. You have established an initial ILS governance cadence, controlled templates and a practical roadmap for building the function while meeting near-term program obligations. In your first year: Active Australian and international programs have approved, schedule-aligned ILS plans and credible support concepts. Priority supportability analyses and customer deliverables are complete, controlled and accepted, with clear traceability to the product baseline. Maintenance, spares, training, technical publications, support equipment and in-service data arrangements are defined for priority products. ILS risks and performance are reported regularly, and Design, Product and Manufacturing teams use supportability evidence to make product and delivery decisions. Why join Arkeus You will work on the hardest problems in deep-tech — optics, autonomy, real-time AI and hardware-software integration in a single product. The gap between what you build and where it ends up is almost nonexistent. You will collaborate with exceptional leaders who have decades of combined experience in AI, optics and defence. You will be learning from — and contributing to — the best in the field. You will become part of a close-knit, ego-free team where ideas compete on merit, not seniority. Low politics, high trust. The kind of team you will still be talking about in ten years. You will work hard and be expected to bring your best — and in return you will grow faster than you ever would at a large organisation. You will work on technology that is already deployed in real environments — protecting lives and strengthening security across defence and national security applications. You will receive a competitive, market-benchmarked salary, structured career pathways built to grow with you, and the opportunity to participate in our Employee Share Option Plan (ESOP). You will build the ILS foundations of a growing defence technology company while directly shaping the supportability and operational success of products deployed in Australia and allied markets. If this sounds like you, please apply even if you don't check every box — we care more about how you think than whether your CV is perfect. Join our growing team and help us change the world through autonomous systems. About Arkeus Arkeus builds AI-powered sensing systems that help autonomous platforms detect, track and understand what's happening in the most complex and contested environments. Our technology is deployed across defence and national security applications — already protecting lives and strengthening security across the U.S. and allied markets. Backed by QIC, Main Sequence, R+VC, Salus Ventures, Folklore Ventures, DYNE Ventures and Beaten Zone Venture Partners, Arkeus is entering a major growth phase. We are a small, fast-moving company with the energy and ambition of a start-up and the technical credibility of a world-class defence technology provider. We work at the intersection of optics, autonomy, robotics and real-time AI and we deploy what we build. If you want to ship technology that matters, not technology that ships decks, this is where you belong. Check it yourself on News | Arkeus We have developed an inclusive, transparent and engaging culture that focuses on building a diverse workforce — realising that to attract the very best, we need to ensure our culture is ready to welcome people from all ages, genders and backgrounds.