Ian Muldowney has extensive experience in managing engineering and manufacturing programmes across their entire product life-cycle and has worked for BAE Systems in the UK, South Africa and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He was appointed Chief Operating Officer for BAE Systems’ Air business in September 2020. In this role he has accountability for operational functional excellence, continuous performance improvement and leveraging technology & capability across BAE Systems’ global Air business.
Ian joined BAE Systems as an apprentice in October 1995 after completing his A-Levels and in the early years of his career worked in a variety of manufacturing and systems engineering roles roles as well as managing strategic projects incorporating unmanned systems and autonomy, survivability, defence industrial strategy and future air systems. In 2005, Ian won the Bea Beamont award which recognises outstanding newly qualified engineers, and in the same year was awarded an MSc in Systems Engineering from the Royal Military College of Science at Shrivenham. In 2006, Ian was appointed Engineering Manager for the Hawk and Gripen aircraft programmes in South Africa. He was then posted to Saudi Arabia to work on the Typhoon programme known as Salam, going on to take the role of Vice President – Salam.
Ian is married with three children.
Outside of work he enjoys cooking, walking and is on a coaching team for his sons’ youth rugby team.
