Chief Engineer, Advanced Air Vehicle Architect

ABOUT THE TEAM

The Air Dominance and Strike (AD&S) Chief Engineering Team is a driving force behind the technical execution and strategic vision of our most critical programs. They are responsible for architecting a vision for product development and guiding multi-disciplinary teams to deliver effectively. They are expected to own the mission and to be deeply involved in building the eco-system that enables execution.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

As our Chief Air Vehicle Architect, you will be the senior technical authority for conceptual design, applied S&T, and experimental development of advanced flight platforms. You will be highly creative, deeply understand customer needs, and personally drive technical execution through modeling, experimentation, build, and test of these air systems.

Concept Creation & Applied Science

• Lead early conceptual design of entire advanced air vehicle platforms: configuration exploration, trade studies, and performance modeling.
• Apply first-principles thinking across air vehicle engineering: aerodynamics, structures, propulsion, flight controls, GNC, low observables, autonomy, and mission systems to evaluate concepts.
• Identify and mature key scientific and technical breakthroughs for new operational capability through novel air vehicle designs.
• Balance creativity with engineering realism, ensuring executable technology paths for complete air vehicle solutions.

Systems Architecture & Integration

• Define holistic system architectures integrating air vehicle design, mission systems, autonomy, and manufacturing from the outset.
• Lead cross-disciplinary trade studies and modeling to understand interactions, sensitivities, and failure modes across the entire flight system.
• Guide concepts from exploration to prototype-ready air vehicle designs.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, Systems Engineering, or related technical field (advanced degree preferred).
• 10+ years direct experience in conceptual design, architecture, or advanced development of complete air vehicle platforms.
• Demonstrated experience leading conceptual design and early-phase system architecture for full aircraft or complex flight systems.
• Strong systems-level thinking across all air vehicle engineering domains.
• Hands-on experience with real flight hardware, experimentation, or test activities.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Prior experience with DOW technology development organizations (e.g., DARPA, AFRL) on advanced flight programs.
• Experience transitioning entire flight systems from early research through prototype and operational demonstration.
• Background in experimental or flight test environments, including test planning and execution for novel air vehicles.
• Experience working on advanced or classified air vehicle platforms, including low-observable or signature-constrained designs.
• Deep technical expertise in multiple core air vehicle domains (e.g., aerodynamics, flight controls, GNC, propulsion, structures, aircraft integration).
• Demonstrated ability to thrive in fast-paced, non-traditional aerospace environments.
• Currently obtains a Top Secret level clearance or higher