Chief Engineer, Artificial Intelligence and Autonomy

Chief Engineer, Artificial Intelligence and Autonomy

Company:

The Boeing Company

At Boeing’s Space Mission Systems, we innovate and collaborate to advance connectivity for a better world. We are committed to fostering an environment for every teammate that is welcoming, respectful, and inclusive, with exceptional opportunity for professional growth. Find your future with us.

SMS is seeking a Chief Engineer, Artificial Intelligence and Autonomy to lead the establishment, growth, and operational maturation of the enterprise AI function across the full portfolio of SMS programs in Seal Beach or El Segundo, CA.

This is a newly created management position responsible for increasing the adoption and integration of AI capabilities throughout SMS engineering programs, manufacturing operations, and flight systems.

This Chief Engineer will define and execute the Company’s AI strategy across strategic domains including manufacturing intelligence, constellation autonomy, spectrum orchestration, and AI-assisted engineering. The role reports to Engineering VP and Space Missions Systems Chief Engineer, with a dotted-line report to the VP of Program Management and cross-functional authority across Engineering, Flight Operations, and Manufacturing.

Position Responsibilities:

Enterprise AI Strategy & Program Coordination:

• Develop and maintain a comprehensive enterprise AI strategy that increases the use of AI across the full portfolio of SMS programs, serving as the primary coordinator between programs and engineering leadership

• Define and present the enterprise AI roadmap to Segment Leadership, the VP of Program Management, and the executive leadership team, including business case definition, value propositions, technology readiness level (TRL) reduction plans, and program on-ramp strategies for AI-assisted engineering and space edge compute

• Coordinate between SMS programs and engineering organizations on the adoption and deployment of AI-assisted coding tools and autonomous software agents to accelerate development velocity and reduce engineering cycle times

• Identify, evaluate, and manage strategic AI partnerships, vendor relationships, and technology acquisitions that accelerate the Company’s AI capabilities

• Mature and facilitate the intake, qualification, and prioritization of AI, analytics, and automation projects across programs, ensuring the right problems are addressed with executive sponsorship

Organizational Design & Team Building:

• Establish the AI & Autonomy function as a new organizational capability from the ground up, defining structure, operating model, and governance

• Recruit, hire, and lead a cross-functional AI team spanning AI/ML engineers, data engineers, data scientists, MLOps engineers, and domain specialists

• Build and manage an independent AI budget, compute infrastructure (GPU clusters), tooling, and vendor partnerships

AI-Assisted Engineering & Autonomous Agents:

• Drive the adoption of AI-assisted coding and autonomous agents across SMS engineering programs, enabling engineers to leverage generative AI, code copilots, and agentic workflows for design, analysis, and verification tasks

• Develop the business strategy, TRL reduction roadmap, and program on-ramp plans for integrating AI into engineering workflows and space edge compute flight systems, from concept through flight qualification and operational deployment

• Facilitate discovery workshops with engineering and program leaders to define problems, quantify value, and scope AI solutions across the portfolio

Factory AI Automation & Manufacturing Intelligence:

• Lead development and deployment of AI automation for factory processes, including photographic and computer vision–based quality inspections of satellite components and assemblies

• Implement AI-driven engineering buy-off automation, accelerating verification and validation across integration and test workflows through autonomous review and decision support

• Deploy autonomous research capabilities enabling AI-assisted document analysis, anomaly flagging, and compliance verification across satellite build records and End Item Data Packages (EIDPs)

• Deliver a fully integrated Factory Product Assurance Automation Platform supporting satellite production at scale

Flight Edge Computing & Machine Learning:

• Create and own the business strategy, TRL reduction plan, and technology maturation roadmap for AI-assisted engineering of space edge compute systems, flight inference processors, and onboard machine learning architectures—from early concept through flight qualification and operational deployment

• Define hardware architecture for space edge compute, onboard storage, and flight inference systems, enabling AI-driven data store-and-forward, real-time ML inference, and autonomous decision-making capabilities on operational satellites

• Develop and deploy ML models for constellation scheduling optimization, including beam allocation, power management, thermal budget optimization, and coverage planning

• Close the sim-to-reality gap by using on-orbit performance truth data to continuously improve predictive models and feed insights back into factory integration and test procedures

Spectrum Orchestration & Autonomous Operations:

• Develop and deploy AI-driven dynamic interference mapping and avoidance protocols across the constellation’s operating spectrum, leveraging physics-informed models validated against on-orbit telemetry

• Build AI-optimized beam-hopping and resource scheduling systems that dynamically allocate spectrum and power resources based on real-time demand, interference conditions, and orbital geometry

• Deliver the integrated Spectrum Allocation Orchestration Platform as an operational system managing dynamic spectrum access across the commercial constellation

Cross-Functional Integration & Stakeholder Engagement:

• Operate with cross-functional authority across Engineering, Flight Operations, Manufacturing, and Product to embed AI into existing workflows, coordinating with the VP of Program Management to align AI initiatives with program schedules and milestones

• Establish standing technical syncs with Engineering, Flight Operations, and Manufacturing leadership to ensure AI initiatives are validated against domain expertise before deployment

• Lead stakeholder communications covering AI strategies, program status, and value delivery across SMS leadership and program teams

• Create materials and media to convey AI strategies and product value, including presentations, demonstrations, visual diagrams, and technical briefings

• Position AI as an amplifier of existing engineering capabilities—not a replacement—ensuring adoption is collaborative and trust-based across the organization

Basic Qualifications (Required Skills/Experience):

• Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering, Engineering Technology (including Manufacturing Technology), Computer Science, Data Science, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry or non-US equivalent qualifications directly related to the work statement

• 5+ years of experience building and leading artificial intelligence/machine learning organizations from inception, including hiring, budgeting, infrastructure provisioning, and delivery of production machine learning systems

• Experience with cross-functional leadership working with different organizations and operations teams

• Experience developing artificial intelligence/machine learning strategies including business case development, TRL (Technology Readiness Level) assessment, and technology transition planning

Preferred Qualifications (Desired Skills/Experience):

• Active TS/SCI clearance

• 10+ years of experience collaborating with and influencing senior management and executive leadership across engineering, operations, and program management functions

• Experience with physics-informed machine learning, custom ML models for hardware systems, and AI deployment in safety-critical or mission-critical environments

• Experience with satellite communications, phased array antenna systems, digital beamforming, or comparable complex RF/signal processing systems

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical field

• Excellent stakeholder management skills including the ability to communicate with and influence people from varying backgrounds, including members of senior leadership teams

• Experience in aerospace and defense satellite programs (constellation management, payload engineering, launch operations)

• Experience with AI-assisted software development tools, autonomous coding agents, and agentic AI workflows in engineering environments

• Experience with manufacturing AI including computer vision quality inspection, predictive maintenance, and factory digital twins

• Background in space edge computing, flight inference systems, onboard ML, and flight computer architectures for space applications, including TRL maturation of compute hardware

• Experience with ASIC/custom silicon architectures and understanding of how DSP hardware intersects with ML inference workloads

• Background in AI product development for telecommunications or enterprise customers

• Experience with AI conversational interfaces, multimodal AI systems, or AI safety evaluation frameworks

• Published research, patents, or demonstrated IP creation in AI/ML, autonomy, or space systems

Drug Free Workplace:

Boeing is a Drug Free Workplace where post offer applicants and employees are subject to testing for marijuana, cocaine, opioids, amphetamines, PCP, and alcohol when criteria is met as outlined in our policies.

Conflict of Interest:

Successful candidates for this job must satisfy the Company’s Conflict of Interest (COI) process.

At Boeing, we strive to deliver a Total Rewards package that will attract, engage, and retain the top talent.  Elements of the Total Rewards package include competitive base pay and variable compensation opportunities. 

The Boeing Company also provides eligible employees with an opportunity to enroll in a variety of benefit programs, generally including health insurance, flexible spending accounts, health savings accounts, retirement savings plans, life and disability insurance programs, and several programs that provide for both paid and unpaid time away from work. 

The specific programs and options available to any given employee may vary depending on eligibility factors such as geographic location, date of hire, and the applicability of collective bargaining agreements.

Pay is based upon candidate experience and qualifications, as well as market and business considerations. 

Summary pay range: $181,900 - $246,100

Language Requirements:

Not Applicable

Education:

Bachelor's Degree or Equivalent

Relocation:

Relocation assistance is not a negotiable benefit for this position.

Export Control Requirement:

This position must meet U.S. export control compliance requirements. To meet U.S. export control compliance requirements, a “U.S. Person” as defined by 22 C.F.R. §120.62 is required. “U.S. Person” includes U.S. Citizen, U.S. National, lawful permanent resident, refugee, or asylee.

Safety Sensitive:

This is not a Safety Sensitive Position.

Security Clearance:

This position requires an active U.S. Top Secret Security Clearance (U.S. Citizenship Required). (A U.S. Security Clearance that has been active in the past 24 months is considered active)

Visa Sponsorship:

Employer will not sponsor applicants for employment visa status.

Contingent Upon Award Program

This position is not contingent upon program award

Shift:

Shift 1 (United States of America)

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