Electrical Engineering Manager
About The Position
Zone 5 Technologies is seeking an Electrical Engineering Manager to manage its electrical and avionics engineering team and technical development supporting unmanned aircraft systems. The role owns capability development, technical excellence, functional wellbeing, and staffing across multiple programs and integrated product teams (IPTs). It ensures the discipline delivers high-quality architectures, hardware, and integration support while meeting the speed, rigor, and safety needs of aerospace and weapons-system development. The manager partners with Programs, Engineering, and Manufacturing to support program execution and develop the processes, tools, and people needed to scale. The position is based in San Luis Obispo, California; the posting also lists compensation ranges for San Luis Obispo and DFW.
Requirements
- Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related discipline.
- At least 8 years of experience designing and delivering electrical systems for aerospace, defense, or complex hardware products.
- At least 2 years of technical leadership experience as a team lead, supervisor, or engineering manager.
- Strong expertise in electrical system architecture, power distribution, harnessing, or embedded electronics.
- Demonstrated ability to lead engineering teams in a fast-paced, high-accountability environment.
- Experience working within a structured engineering framework involving requirements, verification and validation, and configuration management.
Nice To Haves
- Master of Science in Electrical Engineering or Systems Engineering.
- Prior experience in UAS, missiles, loitering munitions, or safety-critical avionics.
- Familiarity with Altium, Cameo MBSE, DO-178/254, FMEA/FMECA, and environmental testing.
- Experience collaborating with manufacturing teams in a vertically integrated environment.
Responsibilities
- Lead, mentor, and develop electrical engineers at all levels, supporting technical capability and functional wellbeing.
- Define and maintain electrical engineering discipline standards, design practices, and verification methods.
- Assign electrical engineering resources to programs and IPTs based on skills, workload, and priority.
- Ensure delivery of electrical engineering architectures, schematics, harness designs, power budgets, and integration documentation.
- Support IPT standups and cross-functional coordination, escalating electrical risks early.
- Provide senior technical guidance on architecture decisions, component trades, and risk mitigation.
- Oversee design reviews, including PDR, CDR, and TRR, ensuring rigor, completeness, and configuration control.
- Ensure compliance with relevant aerospace standards, including AS9100, DO-160, and MIL-STD-704/461.
- Guide root-cause analysis and corrective actions for electrical issues arising during integration, test, or production.
- Identify and drive improvements in tools, processes, and test infrastructure.
- Contribute electrical engineering architectures, cost and schedule inputs, and staffing plans to proposals.
Benefits
- Competitive total compensation package.
- Comprehensive benefit package options, including medical, dental, vision, life, and more.
- 401(k) with company match.
- Three weeks of paid time off each year.
- 40 hours of sick time.
- 12 annual company holidays.
- Opportunities for professional development and career advancement.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Manager
