Consulting Chief Engineers

Description

The company builds aircraft systems and is hiring two Consulting Chief Engineers for the RQ4 FMS and RQ4-USAF business area programs within Aeronautics Systems. The FMS business area covers two programs: Republic of Korea (RoK) and Japan (JPN).

The roles are based in San Diego, CA, and require full-time, on-site work at the facility. Remote, hybrid, and telework are not available.

Relocation assistance may be available. A Top Secret clearance is required before start. Travel is required 50% of the time.

Responsibilities

• You are responsible for the technical baseline of all platforms and hold technical authority over any system changes.
• You lead the Business Area engineering team through the full program lifecycle, guiding the statements of work and technical direction.
• You lead more than 100 engineers on the FMS portfolio or more than 200 on the USAF portfolio, covering sustainment, improvements, and new capabilities for the ROK and Japan platforms.
• You own the overall execution and technical performance of a portfolio made up of members from the Systems Engineering, Air Vehicle, Mission Systems, Software, and Test IPTs.
• You oversee all major technical reviews, including SRR, SFR, PDR, CDR, TRR, FRR, and others, so work produces quality deliverables on schedule and within budget.
• You are the main technical contact for the customer.
• You track and enforce Key Performance Parameters and Technical Performance Measures, including First Time Quality, to confirm they meet customer and program requirements.
• You lead the identification, review, and management of risks, issues, and opportunities.
• You make sure system safety and airworthiness compliance are handled throughout development.
• You can stop and redo planned test events when system safety is at risk.
• You escalate issues of major technical impact to the Enterprise CE and the VP of Engineering as needed.
• You make sure bids and engineering change proposals (ECPs) follow strong systems engineering practice.
• You review proposals and ECPs and approve them for technical soundness and feasibility.
• You give input to IPT and functional home room leaders on how engineering staff supporting the CE or IPTs perform on the statement of work.
• You give direct feedback and improvement suggestions on people, processes, and tools to the IPTs and functional home room, acting as the voice of the customer.
• You build, put in place, and maintain the technical product roadmaps for a program.

Requirements

• Basic qualifications: a Bachelor's degree in a STEM field and 16 years of experience on manned or unmanned aircraft systems, or a Master's degree in STEM and 14 years of that experience, or a Ph.D. in STEM and 11 years of that experience.
• You are a subject matter expert in at least two of the following: technical judgment and risk management, demonstrated technical leadership, systems engineering and systems thinking, leading system architecture and design trades, deep expertise in one relevant technical discipline, and leading cross-functional technical integration.
• You make and defend risk acceptance decisions under uncertainty.
• You have led as a chief or lead engineer, or in an equivalent technical authority role, on complex multi-disciplinary systems or programs.
• You have strong skills in requirements development, architecture, integration, and verification and validation.
• You have led architecture and design trades that balance performance, cost, schedule, safety, and producibility or supportability.
• You have deep expertise in one relevant technical discipline and working knowledge across hardware, software, networks, integration, and test.
• You have driven technical integration across IPTs, suppliers, and specialty engineering such as safety, reliability, and RAM.
• You have knowledge and experience with aircraft systems, including the air vehicle, mission computing, communications, and sensors.
• You have led large technical proposals and taken the customer through technical performance reviews.
• You hold an active DoD Top Secret clearance or higher, and you can obtain and keep Special Access Program (SAP) clearance.
• You have experience with software development, avionics integration, systems engineering (including modeling and simulation and verification at subsystem and system level), and integration and test in lab and flight test environments.
• Preferred, not required: an active TS/SCI clearance, an advanced degree in a relevant field (MS or PhD), experience with Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) systems, experience with radar systems and satellite communication, experience with airworthiness certification or MIL-HDBK 516, and experience with product lifecycle through sustainment and operations.

Conditions

The base salary range is $212,100.00 to $318,100.00. Final pay depends on factors such as scope of the role, your experience, education, skills, and current market conditions.

The role is full-time, on-site in San Diego, CA, with no remote, hybrid, or telework option.

Travel is required 50% of the time.

A Top Secret clearance is required for start, and relocation assistance may be available.

The application window is estimated at 20 days from the posting date and may be shortened or extended based on business needs and candidate availability.

The company is an equal opportunity employer.

Benefits

• Depending on the role, you may be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus on top of base pay. Annual bonuses reward individual contributions and let you share in company results.
• Vice President and Director roles may be eligible for Long Term Incentives.
• Benefits include health insurance, life and disability insurance, a savings plan, paid company holidays, and paid time off (PTO) for vacation or personal business.