Project Engineer

Description

The company was founded in 2023 and builds autonomous defense platforms, with a focus on scalable, decentralized systems that strengthen the United States and its allies.

The company has about 350 employees and works with a startup pace.

This role is listed under the Engineer category and sits within a team running rocket motor, component test, prototype, and R&D projects.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain accurate Gantt charts so hardware, propellant, and test engineers understand critical lead times and delivery dates.
• Keep leadership and technical leads informed on status, critical path, requirements flow, and risks across several projects at once, typically rocket motor development, component test campaigns, prototype hardware, and related R&D.
• Build detailed Gantt charts in Smartsheet or an equivalent tool for several small-to-medium complexity aerospace programs running in parallel.
• Turn statements of work, technical plans, and team input into work breakdown structures, task logic, durations, resource loading, and milestones, linking predecessors and successors to show critical paths.
• Update schedules as actual progress, change requests, and hardware availability shift, and identify critical path and schedule risks.
• Produce schedule reports, look-ahead views, and variance analysis for project leads, engineering managers, and program reviews.
• Work with engineers, technicians, procurement, and test operations to keep dependencies, lead times, and constraints current.
• Help establish baselines, run schedule health checks, and perform what-if analysis when scope or resources change.
• Keep schedule version control and documentation consistent with company and customer requirements.
• Join project kickoffs, status meetings, and after-action reviews, and raise schedule impacts early.
• Take on other duties as assigned across R&D and production work.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, business, project management, or a related field, or an equivalent mix of education and experience.
• 3-7 years of scheduling concurrent projects of small-to-medium complexity without losing detail on any of them.
• Proven experience building and maintaining Gantt charts and logic-driven schedules. Smartsheet and Microsoft Project strongly preferred; Primavera P6 experience a plus.
• Solid understanding of work breakdown structures, critical path method, float, resource leveling, and baseline management.
• Clear written and verbal communication, able to explain schedule status and impacts to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• U.S. citizenship required, and the ability to obtain and maintain a DoD Secret clearance.
• Valid driver's license.
• Preferred: experience supporting rocket propulsion, energetics, or aerospace hardware programs across design, fabrication, and test.
• Preferred: familiarity with AS9100 or similar quality systems and government contracting environments.
• Preferred: PMP, CAPM, or a scheduling-specific certification.
• Preferred: experience with Excel-based schedule analysis and simple dashboards; PowerBI experience a plus.
• Preferred: hands-on comfort working with engineering and shop-floor teams in R&D, test, and manufacturing settings.

Conditions

Available to work extended hours and weekends as needed.

Base salary range of $90,000 - $175,000 USD. This is an estimate and actual offers may vary based on experience, education and training, critical skills, and business considerations.

The role may require access to information controlled under the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Any offer may be conditioned on authorization to receive controlled software or technology without sponsorship for an export license.

ITAR eligibility: you must be a U.S. citizen or national, a U.S. lawful permanent resident, a refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or an asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Benefits

• Performance-based bonus tied to both individual and company results.
• Stock options or equity. Highly competitive equity grants are included in most offers and count toward total compensation.
• Healthcare, dental, and vision plans, retirement savings, and paid time off.
• Funding for continuing education, training, and career growth.
• Openness about compensation tiers and how pay decisions are made.