Program Chief Engineer – Emerging Innovation (Onsite)

RTX•Goleta, CA

1d•Onsite

About The Position

Raytheon Vision Systems is seeking a Program Chief Engineer to shape and lead the technical execution of our Emerging Innovation Technology portfolio. The Chief Engineer serves as the program’s technical authority, owning requirements, architecture, technical integrity, and cross-functional engineering execution while representing the program to customers and RTX leadership. The Program Chief Engineer will establish and manage a program’s vision, strategy and goals and align the program with customer requirements while leading a multi-disciplined team in resolving complex technical problems. The Chief Engineer ensures the technical integrity of the program and engineering execution across all Integrated Product Teams (IPTs), Cross Product Teams (CPTs), and disciplines within the Program. The PCE is also the primary program technical point of contact with the customer’s senior technical counterparts. This is an onsite position in Goleta, California.

Requirements

Typically requires a degree in Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM) and a minimum of 12 years of prior relevant experience.
Experience as Chief Engineer/Technical Lead for electro-optical or sensing systems.
Experience in EO/IR system development: focal plane arrays, ROICs, optics, cryogenic systems, sensor calibration, and data paths.
Experience with program design reviews, integration & test, verification/validation, and readiness reviews.
Experience with EVMS, risk management, and technical metrics; ability to balance performance/cost/schedule.
The ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government issued security clearance is required.
U.S. citizenship is required, as only U.S. citizens are eligible for a security clearance.
Active and existing security clearance required after day 1.

Nice To Haves

Experience with government advanced development programs (DARPA/AFRL/ONR) and prime integration partners.
Experience with environmental/qualification testing reliability, and manufacturability
Familiarity with cryocoolers, vacuum packaging, microelectronics assembly, and precision opto-mechanical design.
Proposal leadership (SOW/BOE development), WBS planning, staffing forecasts, and cost-volume authorship.
Demonstrated IP generation (patents/disclosures) and publications in relevant technical domains.
Ability to mentor and develop technical leads, IPT owners, and early‑career engineers.
Excellent communication skills; strong customer-facing presence and technical storytelling.
Demonstrated ability to define technology roadmaps, influence product line strategy, and guide long-term investment planning.

Responsibilities

Ensure successful end‑to‑end technical execution, meeting performance, cost, schedule, and risk objectives across the program lifecycle.
Define program technical risk posture and deliver balanced, technically sound risk-mitigation strategies.
Own the system architecture, technical baseline, requirements, and interface control documents (ICDs).
Lead technical trade studies, modeling/simulation, flow-downs, verification/validation strategies, and test plans.
Ensure technical integrity and compliance to performance, cost, schedule, and manufacturability objectives.
Serve as Engineering IPT lead for EI programs (IRAD/CRAD and early-phase CRs), integrating plans across disciplines.
Drive technical risk/opportunity management, performance parameter tracking, and corrective actions using EVMS data.
Serve as the primary technical face with RTX leadership, suppliers, and customers (e.g., DARPA, AFRL, ONR, NAVSEA, MDA, prime integrators).
Author and present technical content: briefs, test reports, demo plans/results, and maturation roadmaps.
Accelerate TRL/MRL growth for EO/IR technologies and subsystems.
Partner with manufacturing, supply chain, and quality to enable DFM/DFT and production transition readiness.