Chief Engineer, Systems

AeroVironment•Petaluma, CA

22h•Onsite

About The Position

The Chief Engineer, Systems provides technical leadership and oversight for engineering activities on assigned programs, ensuring technical integrity, systems integration, and delivery of compliant solutions. The Chief Engineer, Systems serves as the primary technical authority for a program and is the interface between engineering, program management, and the customer. In this role, you will oversee a portfolio of engineering projects and work with a talented group of engineers to drive those projects to completion. This role will operate as part of the design and development team and will report directly to the MUAS Business Unit Chief Engineer.

Requirements

Bachelor's Degree in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering or Math) field.
15 years of experience in an engineering design or development environment
3 years of project management experience.
Experience with integrating new capabilities onto platforms, requiring flow-down of requirements to lower-level systems.
Experience project planning in terms of schedule, budget, and resource estimations.
Must be willing to work on government contracts and have the ability to obtain a security clearance.

Nice To Haves

PMP or CAPM certification a plus.
Master’s Degree in a Mechanical, Aerospace, Electrical, or Systems Engineering discipline (or equivalent)
Direct experience with design or development in the Aerospace or Defense industries (UAVs or Military aviation preferred)

Responsibilities

Establish and maintain overall system architecture, ensuring alignment with customer requirements and program constraints
Lead technical decision-making across all engineering disciplines (mechanical, electrical, software, systems)
Lead engineering review boards (SRR, PDR, CDR, TRR) and technical risk review meetings
Resolve cross-functional technical issues and trade-offs
Mentor and develop engineering team members across disciplines
Oversee requirements flow-down, allocation, and traceability from system to subsystem level
Ensure proper interface control between subsystems and with external systems
Direct system integration activities and resolve integration issues
Maintain technical baseline and configuration control
Lead technical interchange meetings (TIMs) with customer and subcontractors
Support development of integrated master schedule for engineering deliverables
Identify technical risks and develop mitigation strategies
Allocate technical resources and guide work prioritization
Ensure engineering work packages are properly scoped, estimated, and tracked
Drive make/buy decisions and technical evaluation of suppliers
Establish verification and validation approach for system and subsystem requirements
Oversee development of test plans, procedures, and acceptance criteria
Review test results and approve closure of verification activities
Support qualification testing, flight testing, and operational demonstrations
Lead root cause analysis and corrective action for technical issues
Serve as primary technical point of contact with customer engineering team
Present technical approach, status, and risk at program reviews
Support proposal development with technical solutions and cost estimates
Negotiate technical requirements and acceptance criteria with customer
Coordinate with subcontractor chief engineers on integrated solutions
Ensure compliance with applicable military standards (MIL-STDs), industry standards, and contractual requirements
Drive best practices in systems engineering processes (EIA-632, ISO 15288, etc.)
Maintain technical quality and engineering rigor across all deliverables
Ensure proper documentation per contract data requirements list (CDRL)