Engineering Operations Lead

AeroVironment • Huntsville, AL

5d

About The Position

AeroVironment is seeking an Engineering Operations Lead to support the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) Targets and Countermeasures Program Directorate (MDA/DTT), within the Chief Engineer / Targets Systems Engineering Division (MDA/DTTE). The role is the central operational integrator and technical synchronization point for Targets Systems Engineering, managing executive engineering rhythms, tasker operations through government systems such as ETMS2, lifecycle and governance baseline documentation, and cross-directorate communications among stakeholders, contractors, and partner organizations.

The position manages recurring technical and executive briefings, including weekly division staff meetings, agency and directorate updates, and engineering technical reviews. It consolidates technical and programmatic inputs, coordinates presentations and logistics, tracks milestones, and delivers post-review summaries to leadership.

As DTTE’s primary ETMS2 Action Officer, the role triages, routes, monitors, and closes Congressional, OSD, and internal agency taskers. It handles classified and unclassified tasking across SIPRNet and NIPRNet, processes industry media engagement and public-release packages, coordinates reviews, and prepares Staff Summary Sheets. The role also leads annual historical-summary collections and coordinates FFRDC data calls and technical conference nominations.

The Engineering Operations Lead supports systems engineering governance and lifecycle documentation, including the annual Targets CARD update, biennial PESHE updates, baseline plans, and SOPs. Responsibilities include coordinating inputs, consolidating appendices, adjudicating comments, routing packages for executive approval, and maintaining configuration-controlled archives across agency SharePoint portals, DOD365 environments, and SIPR shared networks.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering or an equivalent technical/scientific discipline specifically related to the area of specialty.
• 10 or more years of related professional experience.
• Active DoD Secret clearance; U.S. citizenship is required.
• Ability to maintain clearance and access to classified environments, including SIPRNet.
• Demonstrated experience managing operational battle rhythms, consolidating executive briefings, and executing technical meetings for senior military and civilian leaders.
• Direct experience tracking and adjudicating review comments using formal systems such as DoD Form 100 comment matrices.
• Familiarity with DoD acquisition lifecycle documentation, such as CARD, SEP, RMP, PESHE, and TEMP.
• Strong administrative rigor in routing executive correspondence, Staff Summary Sheets, and official action packages.
• Expert proficiency in Microsoft 365, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, and SharePoint.
• Working knowledge of task-tracking systems such as ETMS2 or similar DoD correspondence management tools.
• Ability to provide documentation verifying U.S. person status for ITAR/EAR compliance.

Nice To Haves

• Master's degree in Systems Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Operations Management, Technical Management, or a related STEM discipline.
• 12 or more years of professional experience supporting DoD or federal program offices, preferably in a SETA, A&AS, or SE&I capacity.
• Direct experience supporting the Missile Defense Agency, particularly the Targets and Countermeasures Directorate (DTT) or Engineering Directorate (DE).
• Working familiarity with DoW or MDA workflows.
• Experience coordinating across multi-organization teams, including US Army DEVCOM (S3I), prime target hardware vendors, and national labs or FFRDCs.
• Proven ability to operate semi-autonomously, establish deadlines, and de-conflict competing technical and programmatic priorities under tight turnarounds.

Responsibilities

• Manage the end-to-end operational rhythm for weekly Targets Systems Engineering division staff meetings, including chart inputs, presentation consolidation, portal uploads, facility logistics, and leadership pre-brief packages.
• Coordinate and submit executive updates on requirements baselines, schedule changes, and technical accomplishments for MDA Directorate for Engineering weekly staff meetings.
• Aggregate and format Directorate-wide programmatic and technical status briefings for bi-weekly DTT staff calls.
• Track, de-conflict, and report 30/60/90-day major target program technical milestone reviews across target portfolios; deliver post-review Executive Summaries to agency leadership within required timeframes.
• Serve as the primary DTTE Action Officer in ETMS2, triaging, distributing, monitoring, and driving timely closure of Congressional, OSD, and internal agency taskers.
• Ingest and route classified and unclassified tasking across SIPRNet and NIPRNet while following OPSEC and information-handling guidelines.
• Process industry media-engagement requests and MDA public-release packages; coordinate reviews with Acquisition, Legal, and Strategic Communications, and draft Staff Summary Sheets.
• Lead the annual DTTE Historical Summary collection and coordinate FFRDC data calls and technical conference attendance nominations.
• Integrate and coordinate the annual DT Targets CARD update, including kickoff alignments across project management teams, consolidation of classified and unclassified appendices, comment adjudication through Form 100, preparation of Staff Summary Sheets, and executive sign-off routing.
• Manage biennial PESHE updates in coordination with Targets Quality and Environmental Management.
• Oversee review cycles, administrative accuracy, Form 100 comment-matrix adjudication, formal routing, and publishing of baseline plans and SOPs.
• Maintain configuration-controlled baseline archives on agency SharePoint portals, DOD365 environments, and SIPR shared networks.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage.
• 401(k) with company matching.
• Flexible work schedule options.
• Depending on business unit, role, and customer contract requirements, select programs may offer a 9/80 work schedule and paid holiday shutdown.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior