Director Enterprise IT & Data (m/f/d)

Mission Brief Isar Aerospace is scaling from a high-performing engineering and production organization into a global space company. Enterprise IT & Data is the function that makes this possible — and you lead it. Your mandate: build an AI-first digital backbone across enterprise platforms, data, and architecture that lets Isar move at mission speed. You set direction, make trade-offs, and hold the organization accountable for outcomes. Functional leads own day-to-day execution; you own the operating model, roadmap, priorities, and business impact. This is a builder role, not a maintenance role. We need someone who thinks strategically, operates pragmatically, and drives execution relentlessly. Someone who understands that great IT is not about tools, it is about enabling people, processes, data, and decisions to move faster. The role works closely with Information & Cybersecurity as an independent counterpart responsible for security governance, risk, compliance, and threat detection. Your Role in Our Space Mission: Lead and develop the Enterprise IT & Data organization and its functional leads; define the roadmap, priorities, budget, capacity, and performance expectations. Own the operating model, governance, vendor landscape, service levels, delivery KPIs, and roadmap reporting — ensuring a secure, reliable, scalable, and cost-effective technology environment that scales with new sites and international expansion. Act as a strategic technology partner to Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Quality, and Launch Operations, aligning digital capabilities with business objectives; maintain leadership visibility on initiatives, dependencies, risks, and portfolio decisions. Own SAP/ERP and the broader enterprise application landscape; drive an integrated digital thread across MES, PLM, ERP, and operational systems while reducing tool fragmentation and architectural debt. Own application, architecture, and master data governance aligned with the target enterprise architecture and data platform. Set the ambition and governance for an enterprise data platform enabling AI and business intelligence use cases; establish pragmatic data governance, ownership, access, and quality standards. Partner closely with the CEO-Office on AI strategy and implementation, including tooling rollout, priority use cases, analytics, AI coding workflows, and executive dashboards; build organizational capabilities for an AI-native Enterprise IT & Data function. Set direction and performance expectations for reliable IT support, infrastructure services, resilience, and business continuity across all sites; partner with Information & Cybersecurity on operational security standards. Qualification Checklist Significant leadership experience in IT, digital platforms, infrastructure, enterprise applications, or digital transformation, ideally in a scaling technology, engineering, or manufacturing environment. Experience in fast-moving environments with evolving priorities, building structures, high ownership, and pragmatic execution needs. Proven ability to lead and develop functional leads while delegating day-to-day execution and retaining accountability for roadmap and outcomes. Strong experience with SAP/ERP and core enterprise platforms; familiarity with PLM, MES, collaboration platforms, and their integration into a coherent enterprise and data landscape. Solid understanding of infrastructure, cloud, identity, endpoint management, networking, and service management. Experience with portfolio, demand, or PMO-style governance for technology initiatives, including AI and automation use cases. Practical experience building or scaling data platforms, analytics capabilities, executive dashboards, data governance, automation, or AI-enabled workflows. Strong vendor, budget, stakeholder, and executive communication skills. Fluent English skills. Bonus skills Experience in aerospace, defence, automotive, advanced manufacturing, or another regulated engineering…