Senior Configuration Manager

Airbus • Bingen, WA

1d • Onsite

About The Position

Airbus is seeking a detail-oriented Sr. Configuration Manager to establish and maintain the configuration control framework for the Flexrotor unmanned aerial system. This is a high-impact role responsible for the "Digital Thread," ensuring seamless synchronization between requirements, hardware design, and software baselines. You will lead Configuration Control Boards (CCB), manage engineering change workflows, and support the evolution of our PLM data structures. With at least 10 years of experience in aerospace or complex robotics, you will play a critical part in ensuring our systems remain auditable, traceable, and ready for flight test and deployment.

The Airbus Helicopters Flexrotor Program offers one of the most sophisticated small tactical unmanned aerial systems (STUAS) with vertical take-off and landing (VTOL). It can be used day or night by US and allied forces for a diverse range of intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) on land and at sea.

Nestled in the heart of the spectacular Columbia River Gorge in Bingen, WA, our workplace offers innovation and the ability to contribute to game-changing solutions while enjoying the flexibility to spread your wings. Whether it's solving complex challenges, or celebrating victories, you’ll be part of a cohesive crew that thrives on innovation and the beauty that the Northwest has to offer!

A full job description will be provided to candidates who progress to the interview stage or any candidate upon request.

Requirements

• Possess a Bachelor’s degree in engineering, Computer Science, Information Systems, or related technical discipline.
• Have ten (10) + years of configuration management experience in aerospace, defense, robotics, or complex product environments.
• Experience managing product baselines, engineering change processes, and configuration audits.
• Experience supporting Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems and configuration data structures.
• Experience with software configuration management and version control practices.
• Strong understanding of configuration management standards and best practices.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and collaboration tools (JIRA/Confluence).
• Must be a US Person under ITAR definition (U.S. Citizen, green card holder or person covered under our existing ITAR license)
• Vision: able to see and read computer screens and other electronic equipment with screens, able to read documents, reports and engineering drawings. Daily.
• Hearing: able to participate in conversations in person and via teleconference or phone and to hear sounds on the production floor including safety warnings or alarms. Daily.
• Speaking: able to speak in conversations and meetings, deliver information and participate in communications. Daily.
• Equipment Operation (personal computer, telephone, copies, fax machine, and related office equipment and using electronic identification card to enter building floors and internal doors): able to operate most office and personal electronic equipment and some tools including production tools such as hydraulic lifts. Daily.
• Carrying: able to carry documents, tools, drawings, electronic equipment up to 30lbs/14kgs. Daily.
• Lifting: able to lift documents, tools, drawings, electronic equipment up to 30lbs/14kgs. Occasionally.
• Pushing / Pulling: able to push and pull small office furniture and some equipment and tools. Occasionally.
• Sitting: able to sit for long periods of time in meetings, working on the computer. Daily.
• Squatting / Kneeling: able to squat or kneel to retrieve or replace items stored on low shelving. Occasionally.
• Standing: able to stand for discussions in offices or on the production floor. Daily.
• Travel: able to travel independently and at short notice. Monthly.
• Walking (include routine walking such as to a shared printer to retrieve documents): able to walk through office and production areas including uneven surfaces. Daily.
• Steel-toed shoes are required for all shop floor visits, appropriate hearing/eye protection may also be required when visiting the shop floor.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree in engineering, Systems Engineering, or related field.
• Experience with ARAS or similar PLM tools.
• Experience supporting MBSE or digital engineering environments.
• Familiarity with EIA-649 or CM2 configuration management principles.
• Experience supporting UAS or aerospace certification programs.
• CM2 certification or equivalent .
• ARAS Innovator, 3DX or TCE or similar enterprise PLM platforms
• Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) toolsets (e.g., Cameo/MagicDraw, SysML environments

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain the Configuration Management Plan for the Flexrotor program.
• Establish and control configuration baselines aligned with product development cycles (Kickoff, CoDR, P0, P1, P2, P3).
• Define and maintain Mission Allocation Tables mapping mission capabilities to system functions, payload options, and autonomy features.
• Develop and manage Configuration Allocation Tables to align product configurations with approved product strategy, variants, and customer use cases.
• Ensure allocation structures support scalability of payloads, autonomy capabilities, and future product variants.
• Manage end-to-end change control processes including ECRs, ECNs, and engineering release workflows.
• Lead Configuration Control Board (CCB) activities and facilitate change review forums.
• Ensure configuration identification, status accounting, and traceability are maintained.
• Monitor configuration integrity across engineering, manufacturing, autonomy, and flight test environments.
• Assess change implementation effectiveness and impact on cost, schedule, certification basis, and product roadmap alignment and recommend process optimizations.
• Support PLM configuration schema and data structure development.
• Ensure requirements baselines are traceable to system architecture, verification artifacts, and product structure.
• Support requirement management workflows from a configuration control perspective.
• Define effectivity, variant management, and product structure governance Engineering/Manufacturing bill of materials (EBOM/MBOM).
• Enable digital thread continuity from requirements through as-built and as-tested configurations.
• Support configuration data readiness for design reviews and certification documentation.
• Manage software configuration baselines, version control, and release traceability.
• Ensure synchronization between software releases, autonomy algorithms, and hardware baselines.
• Support configuration control of autonomy training datasets and validation baselines.
• Coordinate with software and autonomy teams to ensure reproducible builds and traceable releases.
• Support audits and compliance reviews for software configuration management processes.

Benefits

• Competitive base salary, incentive compensation which may include profit sharing schemes, retirement savings plan and the ability to participate in an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (“ESOP”)
• Paid time off including personal time, holidays and a generous paid parental leave program.
• Comprehensive insurance coverage including medical (traditional and high-deductible health plans), prescription, dental, vision, life, disability, Employee Assistance Plan (“EAP”) and other supplemental benefit coverages.

What This Job Offers

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