Principal Engineer, Digital Manufacturing

Electra•Manassas, VA

9h•Hybrid

About The Position

Electra is building the EL9, a nine-passenger, hybrid-electric aircraft designed for Ultra Short Takeoff and Landing (eSTOL) capabilities. This technology aims to enable quiet, point-to-point regional travel, bypassing congested airports and reducing noise pollution. Headquartered in Manassas, VA, Electra is supported by major industry players like Lockheed Martin, Honeywell, and Safran. The company is progressing towards FAA Part 23 type certification, with initial test flights planned for 2027 and certification expected by late 2029 or 2030. As a growing company of approximately 100 employees, every new hire is critical to achieving these milestones. The Principal Engineer, Digital Manufacturing role is a key position during this transition from prototype development to serial production.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Information Systems, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
10+ years of experience in Digital Manufacturing, Manufacturing Systems, Manufacturing IT, or Enterprise Systems roles within the aerospace industry.
Demonstrated experience as a key user, solution owner, architect, or implementation leader for ERP and MES systems.
Proven experience integrating PLM, ERP, and MES systems, along with quality and manufacturing support applications.
Strong understanding of aerospace manufacturing processes, production operations, and enterprise business architecture principles.
Experience leading software implementation projects from requirements definition through deployment and go-live.
Strong communication skills, with the ability to translate business requirements into technical solutions and technical concepts into business outcomes.

Nice To Haves

Master's degree in Engineering, Information Technology, Manufacturing Systems, or a related field.
Experience in an aerospace startup or high-production-rate manufacturing environment.
Experience supporting aircraft industrialization and production ramp-up programs.
Knowledge of cloud-based manufacturing platforms, data lake architecture, and manufacturing analytics.
Familiarity with Digital Thread, Model-Based Enterprise (MBE), and Industry 4.0 concepts.
Experience supporting regulated aerospace manufacturing environments and quality management systems.

Responsibilities

Participate in and help shape Electra's Digital Manufacturing strategy across engineering, industrialization, quality, supply chain, and production.
Serve as the master key user for manufacturing systems architecture, defining integration standards across PLM, ERP, MES, production simulation tools, and quality systems.
Lead integration of PLM, ERP, and MES into the production environment, ensuring bills of material, process plans, work instructions, routings, and production execution data stay synchronized.
Participate directly in ERP selection and implementation alongside the production systems team.
Partner with the Automation & Robotics lead once the automation roadmap is defined, bringing equipment and implementation together with PLM/MES/ERP integration.
Support configuration management, data governance, and traceability (As-Built vs. As-Designed) across manufacturing and engineering systems.
Develop deployment roadmaps, testing plans, and adoption strategies for production and logistics systems, from requirements definition through go-live.
Act as a trusted advisor to Engineering, Operations, Industrialization, Quality, Supply Chain, and IT, translating business needs into system architecture and functional specifications.
Mentor engineers and technical leaders in digital manufacturing methodologies and best practices.