Director of Engineering - Defense Electronics

Director, Engineering – Defense Electronics

We’re hiring a Director of Engineering to lead and grow a high-impact, agile engineering team responsible for delivering mission-critical systems for defense and aerospace customers. You’ll drive technical execution across various products and program types – Delivering on time, on budget, and to exacting customer and industry standards. This role is key to shaping our future as we grow and scale our business.

As a dynamic and agile Sr Leader, you will be responsible for design, development, test, qualification, and production of Aerospace & Defense Modular Open Standard Architecture (MOSA) based critical solutions for use in weapons systems, solving our government and prime contractors’ most difficult challenges. Solutions range from single specialized card-level weapon controls to large and complex high performance processing systems for sensor management and complex signal processing systems. Our customers expect our engineering team to be the experts in creating technology solutions with open standards to meet the toughest battlefield digital infrastructure challenges.

LOCATION: Santa Clarita, CA

SALARY: $200,000 - $230,000 plus bonus.

Salary Information

Salary range information provided is a general guideline only, reflecting a position. Criteria such as the candidate’s qualifications and relevant experience, the scope of the specific position, as well as market and business considerations will be evaluated when extending an offer.

BENEFITS

We Take Care of Our People

Paid Time Off I 401K with Employer Match and Profit Sharing I Health and Wellness Benefits I Learning and Development Opportunities I Referral Program I Competitive Pay I Recognition I Employee Stock Purchase Plan I Inclusive & Supportive Culture *

Our Director of Engineering will:

• foster the agility required to create rapid prototypes and proposals for business capture and technology risk mitigation
• expect the system engineering thoroughness required to execute a development program in accordance with the contractual obligations, statement of work, required documentation, and detailed performance specification of firm-fixed or cost-plus defense programs
• guide and mentor development teams in the detailed design of subassemblies, critical parts, and software
• ensure methodical testing design and implementation
• understand and meet the challenges of dynamic product support and debugging activities required for development and production deliveries
• represent and advocate for the engineering team’s success while balancing challenging business constraints
• speak with authority and knowledge of engineering activities, challenges, and progress to both internal and external stakeholders and customers

To be successful you will have a proven track record of developing an engineering organization that develops innovative products with very high quality, attracting and retaining talent, and successful staff development (mentoring, coaching, and training).

YOUR CHALLENGE

• Oversee and manage the five unique engineering teams: Prototyping, System Design & Integration, Hardware Design, Test Design, and Product Debug / Support
• Mentor, manage, and lead across multiple levels, including coaching engineers & managers
• Work with the Program Management Office and Operations teams to deliver documentation, systems, and test equipment on time, budget, and scope.
• Coordinate with engineering and technology leadership within Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions to deliver solutions to meet customer needs
• Manage existing and develop new partnerships with technology vendors
• Provide normal development scheduling, budgets, and workload management
• This position expects some level of technical design knowledge and experience to best lead the engineering teams through difficult and challenging situations, hands‑on when needed
• Ensure our processes are followed in accordance with AS9100 while continuing to foster a culture to seek optimizations and better ways to do our business
• Ensure technical design packages are complete and ready to transition to production
• Provide technical support to the factory of existing products in terms of problem identification/resolution, process improvement, and minor product improvements.
• Integrate closely and regularly with Director of Operations and Director of Program Management to balance priorities, schedules, and budgets across multiple efforts
• Champion and lead (when necessary) Root Cause and Correct Action (RCCA) activities
• Provide technical insight and guidance as background and skills allow.
• Other duties as assigned

WHAT YOU BRING

• 5+ years’ experience in a Director level position with demonstrated track record of success
• 15+ years’ experience in a solution design organization of a Defense Electronics technology company with increasing responsibility