CHIEF Engineer

The Chief Engineer and Deputy Chief Technology Officer serves as Albers Aerospace’s senior enterprise engineering authority for technical integrity, engineering readiness, technical risk, and the successful transition of products and systems from concept through development, qualification, production, fielding, and sustainment. The Chief Engineer provides technical leadership across Albers Aerospace programs and capabilities including aerospace structures, mechanical systems, complex hardware, aircraft modifications, mission systems, manufacturing, sensors, munitions, fuzes, digital engineering, modeling and simulation, and integrated hardware-software systems. The role establishes and maintains a lean, risk-based engineering operating model that ensures products and solutions are technically sound, manufacturable, testable, producible, scalable, supportable, and aligned with customer, cost, schedule, quality, safety, and mission objectives. The Chief Engineer bridges applied technology, design intent, systems integration manufacturing, and production execution. On customer-controlled build-to-print programs, the position ensures compliance with the customer’s technical baseline and design authority. For Albers-developed products and integrated solutions, the Chief Engineer establishes and maintains the approved technical baseline and engineering decision authority. As Deputy Chief Technology Officer, the Chief Engineer acts on behalf of the CTO when delegated, supports enterprise technology strate4gy and investment decisions, and helps integrate the work of the Chief Scientist, Technical Director, Chief AI and Software Officer, Vice President of Information Technology, program engineering teams, and business-unit leadership. The role must strengthen engineering discipline and scalability while preserving Albers’ culture of speed, ownership, collaboration, customer focus, and minimal administrative burden. These principles are central to the Albers Business System and company operating model. Essential Job Functions: Serve as Albers Aerospace’s senior enterprise engineering authority for technical integrity, engineering readiness, design decisions, and technical risk across hardware, aerospace structures, aircraft integration, mission systems, manufacturing, sensors, munitions, fuzing, digital engineering, and integrated hardware-software systems. Act as Deputy Chief Technology Officer, representing the CTO when delegated and supporting enterprise technology strategy, R&D priorities, engineering investments, workforce planning, and executive decision-making. Establish clear technical decision rights, responsibilities, and escalation paths across Engineering, Operations, Program Management, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Quality, Business Development, and Information Technology. Develop and maintain a lean, risk-based engineering operating model covering requirements, architecture, interfaces, design, analysis, verification, qualification, configuration management, production transition, fielding, and sustainment. Serve as the delegated design authority for Albers-owned products and integrated solutions while ensuring compliance with customer-controlled technical baselines on build-to-print programs. Provide technical oversight for high-risk, strategically important, or complex programs and ensure technical risks are identified, communicated, assigned, and actively managed. Ensure customer commitments, program schedules, and cost estimates reflect engineering complexity, supplier lead times, test and certification requirements, manufacturing readiness, and available technical capacity. Lead Design for Manufacturability, Design for Assembly, producibility, First Article Inspection, qualification planning, and Production Readiness Reviews. Strengthen handoffs among engineering, manufacturing, programming, machinists, operations, quality, and supply chain, including readiness reviews before new or significantly changed designs enter production. Ensure manufacturing, supplier, test, operational, and field changes are reviewed by Engineering and incorporated into the approved technical baseline. Develop enterprise visibility into engineering expertise, equipment, laboratories, software, test assets, certifications, and available capacity across Albers sites, and ensure internal capabilities are considered before outsourcing. Lead engineering workforce and capacity planning, including critical hiring needs, mentoring, succession planning, technical career paths, internal advancement, onboarding, internships, and cross-site development opportunities. Partner with the Chief Scientist and Technical Director to transition emerging technologies, trade studies, prototypes, and demonstrations into disciplined engineering development, qualification, production, and fielded capability. Partner with the Chief AI and Software Engineering leader to integrate software, firmware, AI, modeling, simulation, digital engineering, and hardware-software interfaces into the broader engineering lifecycle. Partner with the Vice President of Information Technology to define requirements for engineering workstations, CAD and simulation tools, secure environments, technical data, software licenses, cloud services, and laboratory infrastructure. Support customer engagement, business development, proposals, technical volumes, solution architecture, cost and schedule estimates, and the packaging of Albers engineering capabilities as standalone services. Support technical due diligence and integration planning for acquisitions, investments, strategic partnerships, suppliers, and licensing opportunities. Promote engineering excellence, continuous improvement, cross-functional collaboration, and lessons learned while protecting Albers’ culture of speed, ownership, customer focus, and minimal administrative burden. Note: The duties and responsibilities described on this document are not necessarily a comprehensive list and additional tasks may be assigned to the employee from time to time; and the scope of the job may change as necessitated by business demands. Required Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or a related technical discipline. Demonstrated knowledge of U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) and Department of War (DoW) missions, organizational structures, acquisition processes, operational environments, security requirements, and customer decision-making. Fifteen or more years of progressively responsible engineering experience, including at least five years in a senior technical leadership role such as Chief Engineer, Engineering Director, Technical Director, Program Chief Engineer, or Lead Systems Engineer. Demonstrated experience leading multidisciplinary aerospace or defense programs involving hardware, software, firmware, systems integration, manufacturing, suppliers, test, and fielding. Experience across the full engineering lifecycle, including requirements, architecture, design, analysis, prototyping, integration, verification, qualification, production transition, and sustainment. Demonstrated experience serving as a technical authority and making decisions that balance performance, safety, quality, cost, schedule, producibility, and customer requirements. Experience leading technical reviews, engineering risk assessments, design changes, configuration management, root-cause investigations, corrective actions, and production-readiness activities. Strong knowledge of Design for Manufacturability, Design for Assembly, producibility, First Article Inspection, supplier technical management, and manufacturing scale-up. Experience working across Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations, Program Management, Supply Chain, Quality, Business Development, Information Technology, and executive leadership. Demonstrated ability to develop engineering organizations, mentor technical leaders, assess workforce capacity, and build technical career and succession plans. Experience communicating complex technical issues and recommendations to customers, government stakeholders, executive leadership, and Boards of Directors. Working knowledge of aerospace and defense quality, configuration, qualification, security, CUI, export-control, and government contracting requirements. Demonstrated leadership aligned with Albers’ culture of speed, ownership, collaboration, customer focus, continuous improvement, and minimal administrative burden. Must be a United States citizen. Must possess or be able to obtain and maintain a Top-Secret security clearance. Preferred Qualifications: Master’s degree in engineering, Systems Engineering, Engineering Management, Manufacturing Engineering, or a related technical discipline. Active Top Secret or Top Secret/SCI security clearance. Prior experience supporting Intelligence Community, Department of War, or other national security customers in classified operational and acquisition environments. Experience supporting military aircraft, aircraft modifications, airborne mission systems, weapons integration, munitions, fuzing, sensors, unmanned systems, or advanced manufacturing programs. Working knowledge of AS9100, AS9102 First Article Inspection, configuration management, Material Review Board processes, engineering change management, qualification, and Production Readiness Reviews. Experience with complex machined structures, aerospace assemblies, composites, electromechanical systems, wiring harnesses, mission equipment packaging, or precision manufacturing. Familiarity with environmental qualifications and test requirements, including vibration, shock, thermal, humidity, transportation, and EMI/EMC testing. Experience with model-based systems engineering, digital engineering, product lifecycle management, modeling and simulation, digital threads, or hardware-in-the-loop testing. Experience integrating hardware, firmware, embedded software, mission software, sensors, communications, and other complex subsystems. Experience transitioning research, prototypes, or rapid-development programs into qualified products, repeatable production, and fielded capability. Experience leading Integrated Product Teams and multidisciplinary engineering organizations across multiple programs or locations. Experience operating in a rapidly growing, matrixed, multi-site, or acquisition-driven aerospace and defense organization. Experience supporting technical due diligence, acquisition integration, strategic partnerships, licensing, or technology-transfer activities. Demonstrated ability to develop technical talent, establish communities of practice, and create career paths for both engineering leaders and individual contributors. Physical Requirements: Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer. Must be able to lift up to 15 pounds at times. CONUS/OCONUS travel may be required from time to time. Working Conditions: Ability to work onsite required occasionally in an office or industrial facility environment. Occasional Travel: Depending on business needs, occasional travel may be required. Travel requirements are typically infrequent and planned in advance. Reasonable Accommodations To accomplish this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform, with or without reasonable accommodation, each essential function satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodation may be made to help enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Albers Aerospace is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate. All employment decisions are based upon qualifications, merit, and business need. #J-18808-Ljbffr