Technical Director, UAS Programs

Atropos•San Diego, CA

2d•Onsite

About The Position

We’re a combat-tested group of engineers, operators, and entrepreneurs who believe America’s edge depends on autonomous airpower that’s trusted and deployable today not in 2040. Backed by tier-one investors, we’ve secured the runway - financial, regulatory, and literal - to move at startup speed while tackling a national-security mission that matters. We’ve structured the company for radical ownership: no silos, no “systems integrator” overhead, just tightly knit mission-focused IPTs that live and breathe the hardware and code they ship. If you thrive where hard-tech ambition meets national-security urgency, you’ll build faster here than anywhere else. Let’s get after it. Culture That Ships Strong Core Values, Startup Execution. Integrity, Service Before Self, Excellence, Honor, Courage, Commitment—powered by a bias for action and a “figure it out” mindset. Self-Starters Only. You’ll have clear objectives, a blank sheet of paper, and the trust (plus capital) to move fast. Bureaucracy stays out of your way. One Team, No Tourists. Whether you’re tuning a control law at 2 a.m. or heat-treating a Ti-6Al-4V spar, everyone sweats the details. We celebrate wins together and own failures together. What’s In It for You Mission With a Pulse. Every line of code, bracket, or test you deliver expands the toolbox of the warfighter on Day 1 of a conflict. Resources Without Red Tape. VC speed + DoD customer pull: access to test ranges, flight hours, and operator feedback while retaining startup agility. Career-Defining Upside. Significant equity, best-in-class benefits, and the chance to see your product deliver in months, not decades. About the Role As a Technical Director for Uncrewed Aerial Systems at Atropos, you will serve as engineering leadership for our hardware engineering organization. This group is responsible for the hardware engineering disciplines in the design of uncrewed aerial systems. This includes conceptual and configuration design, aero performance, mechanical systems, structures design and analysis, propulsion integration, and electrical engineering efforts. Areas of responsibility include the end-to-end development of aircraft, from conceptual development to detailed design; to include designing for scaled manufacturing, and designing for flight test and certification. The ideal candidate will be able to ensure the adequacy of the technical designs and solution, as well as drive the long term organizational development of the team. The ideal candidate will have previous experience as the technical lead for a major uncrewed aerial weapon system program or programs, and will also have foundational expertise in one or more engineering disciplines below. You will leverage your technical expertise as well as leadership skills to set program objectives, build a team from zero to one, and drive this team to completion. You are hired for your ability to trust your intuition and prior experience in key technical decisions in order to be decisive in making the right design/analysis/ and test decisions, as well as roadmapping the program’s future engineering path.

Requirements

Deep understanding and previous systems leadership of unmanned aerial weapon systems in major defense acquisitions programs (i.e. Group 5 UAS)
Early previous baseline experience in any of the following disciplines you will be managing
10+ years of real experience in a senior role leading air vehicle programs from initial concept through test and delivery to customers
Experience in mission engineering driving vehicle and systems design
Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical or Software engineering, or equivalent experience in a relevant field.
Experience in building teams from 0 to 1, and leading teams in fast-paced programs
Eligible to obtain and maintain an active U.S. Top Secret security clearance

Nice To Haves

Experience in start-up, or equivalent fast paced culture
Experience in end-to-end aircraft development, from design through certification

Responsibilities

Lead the technical execution of new and existing air vehicle systems design, fabrication, test and productization of unmanned aerial weapon systems
Lead the long term functional engineering team development roadmap to ensure we have the skillsets, capabilities and workflows to enable successful execution of current and future programs
Own the technical success and meet deliverable timelines in all phases of development
Establish a center of excellence in air vehicle design that includes a library of standards, allowables, and tool sets to build upon.
Find, hire, manage, and mentor the team of internal and external subject matter experts, and communicate that vision to them
Partner closely with the business lines in areas of proposal capture, customer interface, resource planning, capital expenditures and program schedules
Partner closely with additional stakeholder disciplines that are not under you direct organizational leadership; these include but are not limited to manufacturing, supply chain, energetics, mission systems integrations, GNC, Flight test and evaluation
Manage the detailed design of the system and subsystems including requirements development, sub-system trades and optimization, risk management to ensure the appropriate consideration of design key performance parameters, schedule, costs and risks
Own the overall model/drawing/documentation package required for initial build and effective production transition
Work with senior leadership to ensure resource plans are adequate

Benefits

Base Salary: $260,000 to 300,000 USD
Highly competitive equity grants are included in the majority of full time offers; and are considered part of Atropos's total compensation package.
Platinum Healthcare Benefits: Atropos offers comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans with 100% employer-paid premiums and little to no cost to you
Basic Life/AD&D and long-term disability insurance 100% covered by Atropos, plus the option to purchase additional life insurance for you and your dependents
Unlimited PTO, with minimum of 15 days enforced
20 weeks of paid Caregiver & Wellness Leave to care for a family member, bond with your baby, or tend to your own medical condition
Family Planning & Parenting Support: Fertility (eg, IVF, preservation), adoption, and gestational carrier coverage with additional benefits and resources to provide support from planning to parenting
Mental Health Resources: We provide free mental health resources 24/7 including therapy, life coaching, and more. Additional work-life services, such as free legal and financial support, available to you as well
Tuition and professional development reimbursement for STEM, MBA, and licenses
Daily Lunch catered
Company-funded child care stipend
Company-funded commuter benefits available based on your region.
Relocation assistance (depending on role eligibility).
401(k) retirement savings plan - both a traditional and Roth 401(k). 6% employer matching contribution