Head of Drone Hardware
About The Position
The Head of Drone Hardware will lead and scale the engineering organization responsible for drone hardware products, from airframes and mechanical structures through full system integration. This role owns the hardware roadmap and technical strategy for drone and autonomy platforms and leads a multidisciplinary organization spanning Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Integration, and Test. The Head works hands-on with the team throughout the product lifecycle, from concept and prototyping through flight testing and high-volume production, while partnering directly with customers to deliver critical commitments. The role sets technical direction for rugged, high-performance hardware and the tradeoffs among weight, strength, durability, power, and manufacturability. It establishes engineering processes to deliver customer commitments on aggressive timelines, leads failure investigations and root-cause analysis, and promotes design for manufacturability, reliability, and field serviceability. The Head hires, mentors, and develops engineering managers and individual contributors, builds technical leadership, and partners with autonomy, software, program management, and manufacturing leaders to ensure hardware meets mission requirements.
Requirements
- BS, MS, or PhD in Mechanical Engineering, Product Design, or a related technical field.
- 15+ years of hardware engineering experience and 10+ years leading and scaling engineering teams or departments.
- Deep, hands-on mechanical engineering and product design background, including structural design, enclosure design, thermal management, and environmental protection for ruggedized systems.
- Experience taking hardware designs through the full lifecycle, from concept and prototyping through high-volume production, with demonstrated Design for Manufacturing (DFM/DFA) expertise.
- Experience with hardware test and validation methodologies, including environmental stress screening and field or flight testing.
- A proven record of building, leading, and scaling hardware engineering organizations from the ground up.
- Experience working directly with customers to align technical requirements and deliver on committed timelines.
Nice To Haves
- Electrical Engineering background, including PCB design, schematic capture, and power distribution systems.
- Aeronautical or Aerospace Engineering background, with understanding of aerodynamics, stability, and propulsion integration.
- Direct leadership experience in drones, space, uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), or similar complex hardware products.
- A combination of consumer electronics experience and experience in defense, automotive, trucking, construction, mining, or agriculture.
- Experience executing committed deliverables for defense programs or major enterprise customers.
Responsibilities
- Build, lead, and scale a multidisciplinary hardware engineering organization across Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Integration, and Test.
- Own the technical roadmap and architecture for drone hardware products, from airframes and mechanical structures through autonomy system integration.
- Set technical direction on tradeoffs involving weight, strength, durability, power, and manufacturability.
- Drive projects through the full lifecycle, from architecture and prototyping through high-volume production.
- Establish and scale engineering processes to meet customer deliverables on aggressive timelines.
- Lead failure investigations and root-cause analysis, and turn lessons learned into design and process improvements.
- Champion design for manufacturability, reliability, and field serviceability.
- Hire, mentor, and develop engineering managers and individual contributors, building technical leadership.
- Work directly with external customers to align technical requirements and drive customer success.
- Partner with autonomy, software, program management, and manufacturing leaders to ensure hardware designs meet mission requirements.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Director
