Chief Engineer Defense Systems
Position Summary
Our organization is seeking an experienced Chief Engineer to provide technical leadership, strategic direction, and engineering oversight for advanced defense and vehicle-based systems. This role is responsible for guiding engineering teams, supporting business development efforts, ensuring successful project execution, and driving the development of innovative solutions that meet customer requirements and mission objectives.
Reporting to senior technical leadership, the Chief Engineer serves as a key contributor to technical strategy, customer engagement, product development, and organizational growth. The ideal candidate is a defense industry subject matter expert who thrives in a dynamic environment and can balance technical excellence, business objectives, and team development.
Key Responsibilities
Technical Leadership & Program Execution
-
Lead engineering execution across multiple defense programs, ensuring technical quality, customer satisfaction, schedule adherence, and profitability.
- Provide technical oversight for product design, development, integration, testing, and validation activities.
- Review and approve engineering designs, specifications, drawing releases, and design changes.
- Plan and formulate engineering programs in accordance with customer requirements, industry standards, and engineering best practices.
- Resolve complex engineering, integration, testing, and system-level challenges.
- Identify and mitigate technical risks that could impact project success.
- Establish technical objectives and make engineering decisions based on requirements, trade studies, and system performance objectives.
- Integrate engineering best practices across programs and teams.
Business Development & Strategy
-
Support market intelligence efforts, customer engagement activities, and opportunity assessments.
- Participate in customer meetings, scope discussions, and technical proposal development.
- Lead or support proposal efforts, including technical solution development and resource planning.
- Conduct competitive analyses and identify market opportunities, technical differentiators, and strategic advantages.
- Align technical solutions with customer needs, emerging technologies, and industry roadmaps.
Team Leadership & Organizational Development
-
Lead, mentor, and develop engineering personnel across multiple disciplines.
- Foster employee growth, engagement, and technical excellence.
- Support workforce planning, recruiting efforts, and resource forecasting.
- Promote collaboration across engineering, program management, business development, and operations teams.
Customer & Stakeholder Engagement
-
Present technical capabilities, solutions, and program updates to customers, partners, and executive leadership.
- Maintain strong customer relationships and ensure effective communication throughout program execution.
- Coordinate internal and external technical communications to keep stakeholders informed and projects aligned.
- Gather customer feedback and support continuous improvement initiatives.
Financial & Program Oversight
-
Support program planning, budgeting, forecasting, and resource allocation activities.
- Monitor engineering execution to ensure project profitability and efficient use of resources.
- Assist in balancing technical requirements with schedule and cost objectives.
Required Qualifications
Education
-
Bachelors or Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.
Experience
-
Minimum of 15 years of experience within the defense industry.
- Proven experience leading multidisciplinary engineering teams and complex technical programs.
- Experience supporting defense vehicle, weapon system, or mission-critical platform development.
- Ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance.
Technical Expertise
-
Strong understanding of systems engineering principles, system architecture, and system safety.
- Experience with full vehicle design and development, including chassis, propulsion, energy storage, and integrated vehicle systems.
- Experience with verification, validation, testing, and evaluation of complex systems.
- Knowledge of safety-critical systems, software, and functional safety methodologies.
- Understanding of vehicle architecture and subsystem integration.
- Familiarity with lean product development methodologies and engineering optimization tools.
- Experience developing and executing verification and validation strategies.
Preferred Areas of Expertise
Experience in one or more of the following areas is highly desirable:
-
Weapon Systems
- Combat Vehicle Engineering
- Fire Control Systems
- Turret Systems
- Ammunition Handling Systems
- Virtual Training and Simulation Environments
- Battlefield Systems Integration
- Defense Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems
- Advanced Vehicle Systems and Architectures
Additional Qualifications
-
Experience leading technical architecture development, including hybrid and electrified vehicle systems.
- Familiarity with military standards, defense acquisition processes, and industry best practices.
- Hands-on field support, maintenance, or sustainment experience is a plus.
- Strong strategic planning, organizational leadership, and decision-making abilities.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, including Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
Travel & Work Requirements
-
Travel requirements will vary based on program needs and customer support activities.
- Ability to work extended hours when necessary to meet project milestones and customer commitments.
EOE (including Disability/Veterans)
#HRUProfessional
