Lead, Mechanical Engineering - Secret Clearance Sign on bonuses starting at $15K

L3Harris Technologies•Town of Gates, NY

3d•$106,000 - $197,000•Hybrid

About The Position

L3Harris is seeking a Lead, Mechanical Engineering to provide technical and organizational leadership for the development, integration, delivery, and support of Airborne EO/IR solutions. This hybrid management and technical contributor role leads the mechanical engineering team through the full system lifecycle while directly contributing engineering expertise to mission-critical programs. The role works with engineering, operations, manufacturing, and program management teams to design, develop, build, and test high-performance solutions, ensuring alignment with customer needs, contractual obligations, and organizational objectives. The position combines people leadership and hands-on engineering work in a dynamic aerospace and defense environment. Mechanical engineering contributions include designing and evaluating mechanical and electro-mechanical components, subsystems, and systems; conducting structural and thermal analysis; developing CAD designs and fabrication drawings; preparing design specifications and recommendations; supporting product development and proposals; completing design documentation and bills of materials; and maintaining existing products through engineering change orders. The role is located in Rochester, New York, and follows a 9/80 schedule: employees work 9 out of every 14 days, totaling 80 hours, with every other Friday off. The position requires an active DoD Secret clearance. The New York salary range is $106,000–$197,000; the final offer may vary based on factors such as experience and geographic location. Sign-on bonuses start at $15,000.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree and at least 9 years of relevant experience; or a graduate degree and at least 7 years of related experience; or, in lieu of a degree, at least 13 years of relevant experience.
Active DoD Secret clearance.

Nice To Haves

Progressive engineering experience, including exposure to defense, aerospace, avionics, mission systems, C4ISR, weapons, space, radar, communications, or other complex regulated environments.
Experience managing technical teams, engineering organizations, or major engineering work scopes.
Ability to balance strategic technical leadership with day-to-day execution in a fast-paced, high-consequence aerospace and defense environment.
Experience with requirements decomposition, functional analysis, architecture development, interface management, integration, verification, validation, and configuration control.
Development experience with complex EO/IR systems, including optics, visible/infrared detector arrays, detector cryogenic coolers, digital/analog video, signal-processing electronics, solid-state lasers, pointing and stabilization instruments, control algorithms, search/track algorithms, and image reconstruction or exploitation algorithms.
Strong interpersonal, facilitation, written, and verbal communication skills with technical and non-technical audiences.
Strong organizational and multitasking skills, including the ability to manage priorities, resolve conflicts, and meet deadlines.
SolidWorks modeling and drafting experience.
Basic knowledge of geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T) and ANSI Y14.5.
Knowledge of analysis techniques including linear finite element stress modeling, heat transfer, and computational fluid dynamics (CFD).
Experience with advanced shock and vibration analysis and fatigue-conscious design.
Experience in system development involving machine design, theory of mechanisms, thermal design considerations, and materials selection for demanding environments and applications.
Knowledge of mechanical part fabrication processes.
Experience designing electric motors, gears, bearings, and flexures.
Knowledge of electronics packaging.
Knowledge of stabilization, guidance, and control.
Hardware integration and troubleshooting experience.
Strong mechanical and geo-spatial comprehension skills.
Experience with control-system modeling using Matlab/Simulink.

Responsibilities

Lead a mechanical engineering team in support of program, functional, and business objectives.
Direct, prioritize, and coordinate engineering activities across organizations.
Contribute engineering expertise to Airborne Solutions programs, including design, development, integration, verification, troubleshooting, and technical execution.
Translate customer and program requirements into engineering plans, deliverables, staffing needs, and performance expectations.
Ensure engineering work products meet technical requirements, quality standards, contractual obligations, and program milestones.
Partner with business leadership to balance technical execution, staffing, cost, schedule, and risk.
Support technical planning, basis-of-estimate development, proposal activities, and resource forecasting.
Review and approve technical approaches, engineering deliverables, and key decisions according to organizational processes.
Coordinate with engineering, operations, quality, supply chain, manufacturing, and program office teams to resolve issues and maintain execution alignment.
Mentor, coach, and develop engineering personnel through technical guidance, performance management, and career development.
Support workforce planning, recruiting, retention, succession planning, and skills development.
Support design, technical, and readiness reviews, customer meetings, and internal status reviews.
Promote accountability, inclusion, continuous improvement, and technical excellence.
Ensure compliance with company policies, engineering processes, regulatory requirements, and customer commitments.
Design, develop, modify, and evaluate complex mechanical and electro-mechanical components, subsystems, and systems.
Prepare design specifications, analyses, and recommendations for presentation and approval through formal review.
Analyze and recommend design approaches that meet production requirements for new or improved products and processes.
Interface with optical, electrical, software, and systems engineers; provide structural and thermal engineering analysis and CAD design from product inception through released fabrication drawings.
Support product development and proposals with conceptual CAD layouts and cost estimates.
Complete documentation and bills of materials for the lifecycle of new or improved designs.
Support existing product designs through production by incorporating engineering change orders.