Associate Project Engineer

Leonardo DRS, Inc.•Dallas, TX

39d•Onsite

About The Position

The Associate Project Engineer serves as the technical lead and program-facing engineering point of contact for assigned hardware and electronics programs within the Electro Optical Infrared Systems (EOIS) line of business. The role coordinates initial designs, redesigns, and respin efforts across electrical, mechanical, software, systems, manufacturing, and supply chain teams. It owns the technical scope, schedule, and cost basis for assigned work packages and translates customer and program requirements into engineering plans, estimates, and deliverables. The position supports the execution of development and production programs, including technical design, configuration control, schedule and cost tracking, proposal estimates, customer interfaces, design reviews, and compliance with applicable engineering, quality, and regulatory requirements. The role is onsite in Dallas, Texas, and follows a 9/80 schedule on the first shift.

Requirements

U.S. citizenship is required.
Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, systems engineering, mechanical engineering, or a related discipline, or equivalent experience.
At least 5 years of engineering experience in a related technical field.
Ability to develop and maintain Basis of Estimate (BOE) packages, Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) estimates, and Statements of Work (SOW).
Ability to build and manage integrated master schedules, track progress and risks, and drive corrective actions.
Ability to coordinate across engineering disciplines to resolve design issues.
Ability to gather technical inputs and historical program data to support proposal development and cost-basis validation.
Ability to interface with program management, customers, and suppliers about technical status, schedules, and engineering changes.
Ability to prepare and present technical reviews to internal stakeholders and customers.
An active DOD security clearance or the ability to obtain one within a reasonable time after employment begins.

Nice To Haves

Experience leading technical programs or projects.
Experience with night vision or EO/IR systems for commercial or military applications, including SBMC applications.
Strong schedule-management skills, including experience with MS Project or equivalent, and ability to manage multiple concurrent work packages.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to synthesize technical histories and documentation into estimates and reports.
Experience presenting technical content at design, program status, and customer reviews, including PDR/CDR and RCA/CAPA boards.
Knowledge of structured root-cause analysis methods such as 5-Whys, Fishbone/Ishikawa, and Fault Tree Analysis.
Experience preparing auditable root-cause and corrective-action reports for internal quality systems and customer delivery.
Understanding of configuration-management processes, including ECO/ECN, drawing control, and change-impact assessment.
Ability to make technical decisions under ambiguity using incomplete test results, program history, and design documentation.
Experience facilitating cross-functional root-cause or failure-review boards involving quality, manufacturing, test, and supply chain.
Familiarity with electronic hardware design and CCA-level engineering, including schematics, layout review, and design for manufacturability.
Experience supporting BOE development for ECPs and redesign or respin efforts.
Familiarity with component obsolescence management and part-substitution engineering.
Working knowledge of Earned Value Management (EVM) and DRS program-control tools.
Experience interpreting test failures, field returns, and qualification anomalies and coordinating analysis with failure-analysis laboratories.
Hands-on bench-level debugging of CCAs and subsystems using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, multimeters, JTAG, or boundary scan.
Experience using Design of Experiments to characterize marginal designs or validate fixes.
Experience with design for manufacturability and testability, test-data analysis, and requirements verification and traceability.

Responsibilities

Execute schedule, cost, and technical performance for assigned projects or new-business pursuits.
Reconstruct program technical history from prior estimates, statements of work, design artifacts, email threads, and other documentation to support new estimates or proposals.
Work with Program Management to oversee development-team activities and drive engineering action plans.
Manage Cost Account Managers when assigned on larger programs.
Understand assigned project scopes and contractual requirements, and communicate those requirements to engineering teams in coordination with Program Management.
Own technical designs, lead design reviews, and hold engineering disciplines accountable for their work.
Serve as the primary technical interface for internal and external customers.
Drive development and production phase requirements through the Product Life Cycle in accordance with DRS processes.
Manage configuration control for assigned hardware baselines, including ECO/ECN development, review, and change-impact assessment.
Coordinate engineering budget estimates with Program Management and complete Estimate at Complete (EAC) metrics for periodic reports.
Coordinate with Program Schedulers to create and manage schedules, including baselines, resource loading, and schedule-performance metrics.
Lead project and program execution meetings and track schedule, cost, technical matters, change control, risks, customer issues, peer reviews, and engineering-process compliance.
Ensure engineering activities comply with DRS quality processes, engineering standards, and regulatory requirements, including ITAR and DFARS.
Mentor associate-level engineers and review their technical work products as needed.
Develop and maintain BOE packages, ROM estimates, and SOWs for proposals, ECPs, and program planning.
Build and manage integrated master schedules for engineering tasks, track progress and risks, and drive corrective actions.
Coordinate with hardware, software, systems, product, and test engineering to resolve design issues, obsolescence, part substitutions, and DMSMS concerns.
Support proposal development by gathering technical inputs and historical program information to establish or validate cost bases.
Interface with program management, customers, and suppliers regarding technical status, schedule commitments, and engineering changes.
Prepare and present technical reviews, including PDRs, CDRs, design reviews, and program status reviews.
Perform failure analysis on non-conforming hardware in coordination with test, quality, and failure-analysis laboratories.
Troubleshoot CCAs and subsystems using bench-level tools to isolate design, manufacturing, or component issues.
Support design-of-experiments activities, design-for-manufacturability and testability reviews, test-data analysis, and requirements verification and traceability.
Perform other duties as assigned in support of program engineering objectives.