Airworthiness & Safety Engineer, Lead

AeroVironment•Simi Valley, CA

2d•$122,500 - $187,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Lead Airworthiness (AW) & Safety Engineer Leads airworthiness and product safety activities for complex Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) throughout the product lifecycle. Develops certification strategies, plans, requirements, and compliance approaches supporting military and civil authorities. Coordinates cross-functional engineering teams to resolve safety and certification requirements and support flight releases and continued airworthiness. Engages with customers, regulatory agencies, and senior leadership on certification, audits, RFIs, and RFPs.

Requirements

BS degree in Engineering required or equivalent combination of education, training, and experience
Minimum of 8+ years of directly related experience
A minimum of 4 years of relevant experience in Airworthiness related work
Experienced in and has demonstrated strong systems engineering background
Experienced working in a highly technical, fast-paced environment with both Domestic and International customers
Has a detailed understanding of Military, FAA, EU, NATO, and EASA airworthiness and certification processes and standards
Understanding of US Government and international safety requirements (UL, CE, REACH, RoHS, etc)
Has a proven track record of performance on successful programs
Experience communicating with executive level management, Customers, and Customer AW authorities
Takes initiative to own tasks and can perform with little/no daily management or oversight

Nice To Haves

A minimum of 4 years of relevant experience in Product Safety related work desired
Prior experience with Unmanned Aircraft Systems and Unmanned Systems in general desired
Interactions frequently involve special skills, such as negotiating with customers or management or attempting to influence senior level leaders regarding matters of significance to the organization
Demonstrates strong computer skills and proficiency in MS Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook)
Outstanding Leadership skills and experience in a highly technical environment is desire
Demonstrates strong verbal and written communication skills
Able to excel in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment, where small teams share a broad variety of duties
Displays strong initiative and drive to accomplish goals and meet company objectives
Takes ownership and responsibility for current and past work products
Is committed to learning from mistakes and driven to improve and enhance performance of oneself, others, and the company
Uses vision to think beyond the immediate situation, explore multiple potential paths and adapt decision-making style based on the situational circumstances
Inspires, motivates and empowers people to deliver organizational goals, while also delivering value back to employees

Responsibilities

Develops and performs technical airworthiness and product safety planning, internally driven, customer contract and regulatory driven
Product requirements development support based on expected market, customer, and regulatory requirements
Verification support including development of airworthiness and product safety approach, plans, basis of certifications, means of compliance, and certification activities for complex total systems
Ensures the logical and systematic realization of customer airworthiness and product safety compliance into UAS solutions to meet program and business objectives (e.g. flight releases, military certification, type certification and supplemental type certifications, continued airworthiness, and operational or airspace Integration)
Reviews and coordinates with engineering disciplines at all levels of total system including concept development, requirements, design, test, manufacturing, operation, maintenance and disposal
Works with both military and civil airworthiness authorities for certification of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS)
Facilitates changes to product designs, testing, analyses, maintenance, operations and documentation in order to satisfy certification and product safety requirements
Supports Field Service Bulletin and Problem Report support related to Airworthiness and product safety
Tracks and reports product improvements that provide airworthiness certification value, resolve airworthiness or product safety deficiencies or improve airworthiness or safety of products
Participates with other senior managers to establish strategic plans and objectives
Leads Airworthiness efforts with the support of broad cross-functional teams
Facilitates customer Safety and AW Accreditation audits supporting company processes
Supports Requests for Information (RFI) and Request for Proposals (RFP) in the Airworthiness and Product Safety capacity
Communicates AV’s AW and Product Safety position to Customer and Regulatory bodies
Other duties as assigned