Chief Engineer - Mission Delivery

Forterra • Clarksburg, MD

128d

About The Position

The Chief Engineer is accountable for delivery of assigned Forterra products and systems in accordance with customer contracts. They are responsible for the Scope, Schedule, Budget, and Quality associated with the contract and manages all aspects of the design and build process including—but not limited to— requirement specification, bill of material development, material procurement, manufacturing, commissioning, delivery, and customer acceptance. Additionally, this role is charged with defining the margin target for each project, developing and managing budgets, assessing and managing risk, monitoring non-conforming costs, and managing complex budgets that meets or exceeds margin and profit targets.
To meet or exceed customer expectations the Chief Engineer partners with Integration and Growth Leads, and other cross-functional personnel prior to contract award to ensure a seamless transition from presales to execution. This transition—completed in accordance with the Forterra Product/Program Development Process (PDP)—occurs no later than the Kickoff Gate of the PDP lifecycle.
The Chief Engineer organizes and leads teams consisting of software engineers, hardware engineers, technicians, commissioning personnel, and various other subject matter experts to deliver on contracts. The Chief Engineer regularly reports on progress, financial health, risk management, schedule attainment, and quality metrics throughout the lifecycle of the contract. The Chief Engineer is a member of the Forterra Engineering Leadership Team (SLT) and reports to the VP of Mission Delivery.

Requirements

• BS or advanced degree in Engineering or Business Administration or equivalent combination of education and experience that includes both engineering and business management
• Minimum 10+ years of experience in robotics, automotive, automation and/or defense technology market
• Experience understanding and assessing technical concepts
• Mastery of project and operations management relating to Scope, Schedule, Budget, and Quality
• Experience managing large budgets ($20M or greater) for a technical product
• Experience coordinating multiple internal and external teams
• Ability to sustain periods of increased travel (up to 50%) that includes domestic and international travel

Nice To Haves

• Understanding of the ground autonomy and defense contacting space including market drivers, trends, customer needs and sales processes
• Project Management Certification from relevant standards-based organization such as PMI and/or Six Sigma Green Belt
• Experience contributing to the development of business management systems or similar organizational level process governance
• Familiarity with Enterprise Resource Platform (ERP) systems
• Familiarity to Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems
• Expert project management skills and familiarity with multiple project management disciplines and execution methodologies (eg. Agile, Design-Build, etc)
• Experience managing complex selection processes and leading negotiations
• Understanding and proficiency across wide expanse of business functions including manufacturing, production, supply chain, capital projects, inventory management, shipping/receiving, and financial analysis, accounting, and reporting
• Ability to teach, coach, and mentor junior resources

Responsibilities

• Be responsible for everything that happens or fails to happen within assigned contract delivery associated with a Forterra program.
• Be responsible for all aspects of systems, engineering, and delivery of complex hardware-software integrated engineered solution in support of program team objectives
• Contribute to and exemplify process discipline codified in The Forterra Way (business and quality management system)
• Manage a team of engineers, production technicians, and other technical and business resources to deliver successful implementations
• Develop employees; train resources, plan and lead team members throughout contract delivery
• Confirm scope of contract and deliverables
• Develop and manage project and delivery schedules
• Maintain budget, drive margin adherence, and manage contingency funds in accordance to adopted risk strategy
• Rigorously enforce all Quality and Safety standards
• Define work breakdown structure (WBS), processes and workflows, and reporting structure to optimize team performance and progress while delivering
• Define and implement engineering, efficiency, and productivity improvements
• Design and manage technical standards; lead the development of project execution strategies
• Lead cross-functional efforts to develop tools sets and adopt new Forterra products and tools

Benefits

• Premium Healthcare Benefits: Three plan options, including an HSA-eligible plan, with Forterra covering 80% of the plan premium for you and your dependents.
• Basic Life/AD&D, short and long-term disability insurance plans 100% covered by Forterra, plus the option to purchase additional life insurance for you and your dependents.
• Extremely generous company holiday calendar including a winter break in December.
• Competitive paid time off (PTO) offering 20 days accrued per year.
• A minimum of 7 weeks fully paid parental leave for birth/adoption.
• A $9k annual tuition reimbursement or professional development stipend.
• Fully stocked beverage refrigerators with all the Celsius your little heart desires.
• 401(k) retirement savings plan, including traditional, Roth 401(k), and after-tax deferral with company match up to 4%.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 251-500 employees