Technical Manager - Systems Engineering

Technical Manager Systems Engineering

The Technical Manager - Systems Engineering provides technical and organizational leadership for the development, integration, and delivery of complex defense and aerospace systems. This role includes leadership of a team of Chief Systems Engineers who drive systems engineering activities across the full system lifecycle, from concept development and requirements definition through integration, verification, validation, production transition, and sustainment support. This hybrid management / practitioner role also includes practice as a Systems Engineer responsible for managing teams supporting mission-critical programs while ensuring alignment with customer needs, contractual obligations, airworthiness or mission assurance expectations, and organizational objectives. The ideal candidate brings strong people leadership, deep systems thinking, and demonstrated success leading multidisciplinary engineering efforts in a highly regulated aerospace and defense environment.

Essential Functions:

• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of systems engineers supporting defense and aerospace programs, platforms, or technology initiatives.
• Direct experience in a Lead systems engineer or Chief systems engineer role driving execution across the program lifecycle, including concept of operations, requirements analysis, system architecture, interface definition, integration, verification, validation, and operational support.
• Ensure technical execution aligns with customer requirements, program cost and schedule constraints, mission performance objectives, and contract deliverables.
• Oversee development and maintenance of system requirements, interface control documentation, verification traceability, and technical baselines.
• Contribute directly to program performance leveraging technical expertise and experience to system architecture, design, implementation, test, integration and sustainment.
• Lead root cause corrective action investigations, provides independent review team perspective, participate in non-advocate reviews.
• Lead technical planning, risk management, trade studies, design decision support, and system-level problem resolution.
• Support major program reviews and customer reviews, including SRR, PDR, CDR, TRR, PRR, and related milestone events.
• Collaborate with program management, chief engineers, software, hardware, test, manufacturing, quality, supply chain, and field support teams to ensure integrated program execution.
• Drive compliance with defense, aerospace, safety, quality, airworthiness, cybersecurity, and mission assurance requirements, as applicable.
• Manage staffing, workload planning, performance management, employee development, and succession planning within the systems engineering organization.
• Provide technical leadership for integration and test planning, requirements verification, anomaly resolution, and qualification activities.
• Support proposal efforts, technical volume development, basis of estimate preparation, technology roadmaps, and capture activities for new business opportunities.
• Identify and mitigate technical, programmatic, and integration risks across complex system-of-systems environments.
• Promote continuous improvement in systems engineering processes, digital engineering practices, MBSE adoption, and technical rigor.
• Serve as a key interface to customers, suppliers, subcontractors, and senior leadership on program status, technical issues, and strategic engineering matters.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree with a minimum of 12 years of prior related experience. Graduate Degree with a minimum of 10 years of prior related experience. In lieu of a degree, minimum of 16 years of prior related experience.
• 9+ years of progressive engineering experience, including significant systems engineering experience in defense, aerospace, avionics, mission systems, C4ISR, weapons, space, radar, communications, or other complex regulated environments.
• 5+ years of leadership experience managing technical teams, engineering organizations, or major engineering work scopes.
• Ability to obtain and a secret security clearance

Preferred Additional Skills:

• Experience supporting space systems programs.
• Master's degree in Systems Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Engineering Management, or a related discipline.
• Active security clearance.
• Familiarity with model-based systems engineering tools and methods.
• Experience with requirements and lifecycle management tools such as DOORS or similar platforms.
• Knowledge of digital engineering, simulation, system modeling, and mission-level analysis approaches.
• Experience with military standards, aerospace standards, mission assurance practices, and airworthiness or certification processes, as applicable.
• INCOSE certification, PMP certification, or other relevant engineering leadership credentials.
• Experience supporting competitive captures, proposal strategy, technical solution development, and customer briefings.
• Understanding of cybersecurity, system safety, reliability, maintainability, and human systems integration considerations in defense systems.
• Demonstrated success leading teams through complex integration, test, and fielding activities.
• Ability to balance strategic technical leadership with day-to-day execution in a fast-paced, high-consequence environment.
• Demonstrated experience applying systems engineering processes across the full lifecycle of complex aerospace or defense systems.
• Experience with requirements decomposition, functional analysis, architecture development, interface management, integration, verification, validation, and configuration control.
• Experience leading cross-functional engineering teams in a matrixed program environment.
• Strong knowledge of DoD, aerospace, or other regulated development frameworks, technical review processes, and program execution disciplines.
• Experience with technical risk management, failure analysis, root cause investigation, and corrective action planning.
• Strong communication and presentation skills, with the ability to engage effectively with customers, program leadership, and executive stakeholders.
• Familiarity with classified or export-controlled environments and the ability to work within those constraints.

In compliance with pay transparency requirements, the salary range for this role in New York is $133,000 - $247,000. This is not a guarantee of compensation or salary, as final offer amount may vary based on factors including but not limited to experience and geographic location. L3Harris also offers a variety of benefits, including health and disability insurance, 401(k) match, flexible spending accounts, EAP, education assistance, parental leave, paid time off, and company-paid holidays. The specific programs and options available to an employee may vary depending on date of hire, schedule type, and the applicability of collective bargaining agreements.

L3Harris Technologies is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. L3Harris is committed to treating all employees and applicants for employment with respect and dignity and maintaining a workplace that is free from unlawful discrimination. All applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, national origin, ancestry, ethnicity, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding or other related medical conditions), gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, disability, genetic information, citizenship status, characteristic or membership in any other group protected by federal, state or local laws. L3Harris maintains a drug-free workplace and performs pre-employment substance abuse testing and background checks, where permitted by law.

Please be aware many of our positions require the ability to obtain a security clearance. Security clearances may only be granted to U.S. citizens. In addition, applicants who accept a conditional offer of employment may be subject to government security investigation(s) and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information.

By submitting your resume for this position, you understand and agree that L3Harris Technologies may share your resume, as well as any other related personal information or documentation you provide, with its subsidiaries and affiliated companies for the purpose of considering you for other available positions.

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