Senior Engineering Director

Rocketdyne; Redmond; On-site; AUD 362,000 - 506,000; Full time

Job summary

Rocketdyne invites an accomplished engineering leader to shape its next chapter. As Senior Director of Engineering, you will drive strategy, technical excellence, and execution across a 350+ engineer organization across multiple locations, partnering with senior leaders to define direction and capabilities.

You will balance innovation with rigor, develop leaders, and navigate programs that shape mission-critical systems for defense and space.

Qualifications

• 20+ years of progressive engineering experience with leadership in complex environments.
• Experience leading large cross-functional and multi-site engineering organizations.
• Bachelor's degree in Engineering or related technical discipline; advanced degree welcomed.
• Experience with government/defense customers and large-scale transformation is valuable.

Responsibilities

• Define engineering strategy, technical excellence, and execution across Rocketdyne.
• Lead an engineering community of 350+ engineers across locations.
• Partner with senior leadership to set direction and invest in capabilities.
• Balance innovation with engineering rigor and manage program risk.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Cross-functional leadership

Executive communication

Risk assessment

People leadership

Engineering judgement

Strategic planning

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering

Advanced degree welcomed

Tools

EVMS

Job description

LOCATIONS - Redmond WA,; Mason, OH; Jupiter, FL; Canoga Park, CA

Help Build the Next Chapter of Rocketdyne Engineering

Few names in aerospace carry the engineering legacy of Rocketdyne. For more than 70 years, Rocketdyne technologies have helped power some of the most consequential missions in space exploration. More than 22,000 spacecraft engines have been delivered, over 500 upper-stage rockets have flown successfully, and Rocketdyne propulsion and power technologies have supported missions across our solar system.

Rocketdyne is independent again — and we have an opportunity to build on that heritage while creating what comes next.

We are looking for a Senior Director of Engineering to help lead that next chapter. This is not a role focused on maintaining an established engineering organization. It is an opportunity to help shape one. You will lead an engineering community of 350+ engineers across multiple businesses and locations, partnering directly with Rocketdyne's senior leadership team and President/CEO to define our technical direction, strengthen engineering execution, build critical capabilities and ensure we have the people, processes and technology required for the missions ahead.

The mandate is broad: protect the rigor that has defined Rocketdyne Engineering while challenging us to evolve where we need to.

Position Summary

As Senior Director of Engineering, you will have enterprise responsibility for engineering strategy, technical excellence and execution across Rocketdyne. You will help answer some of the most important questions facing our engineering organization: Where do we invest? What capabilities will our customers and missions require next? How do we accelerate innovation while maintaining the rigor required of mission-critical systems? What engineering practices should define the newly independent Rocketdyne? And how do we develop the next generation of technical leaders who will carry that work forward? You will translate those questions into action.

What Will Make You Successful Here

We are looking for an accomplished engineering leader, but experience alone will not define success in this role.

You should be comfortable operating at both the strategic and execution level — capable of discussing long-range technology and investment priorities with executive leadership and equally willing to get into the details when a program, proposal or technical challenge requires it.

You have led large, technically complex organizations and understand how to create alignment across disciplines, programs, and locations. You know how to balance innovation with engineering rigor and how to make thoughtful decisions when cost, schedule, technical performance, and mission requirements compete.

Just as importantly, you are energized by the opportunity to build.

Rocketdyne is entering a new chapter as an independent company. Not everything will already be defined. The right leader will see that not as a limitation, but as an opportunity to influence how we operate, what we prioritize and what kind of engineering organization we become.

Required Experience

• 20+ years of progressive engineering experience, with significant leadership responsibility in technically complex environments
• Demonstrated success leading large, cross-functional and/or multi-site engineering organizations
• Significant depth within one or more engineering disciplines such as aerospace engineering, design and analysis, avionics, systems engineering, materials, processes or component engineering
• Experience leading complex aerospace, defense, space or similarly mission-critical engineering programs
• Strong technical and programmatic judgment with the ability to identify risk and drive decisions
• Experience partnering with senior executives, customers and cross-functional business leaders
• A track record of building strong engineering teams and developing technical and people leaders
• Bachelor's degree in Engineering or a related technical discipline; advanced degree welcomed
• Experience with government or defense customers, EVMS, bid and proposal estimating, digital engineering, IRAD strategy and large-scale organizational transformation would be particularly valuable.
• An active Top Secret/SCI clearance is preferred.

Preferred Additional Skills

• Significant experience across one or more engineering disciplines including Aerospace Engineering, Design & Analysis, Avionics, and/or Systems, Materials, Process, or Component Engineering
• Experience working with government and/or defense customers
• Experience across the Aerospace Industry
• Experience applying multiple B&P estimation methodologies (engineering, bottoms-up, Stim-To, Delphi, parametric, etc)
• Deep experience with Earned Value management (EVMS), metrics, and data driven decisions
• Experience in Digital Engineering concepts, methodologies, and tools
• Experience navigating matrixed organizations to identify key stakeholders and create efficiencies in related efforts
• Experience leading cross functional discipline engineering teams
• Demonstrated problem solving and technical/programmatic judgment
• Demonstrated experience leading large teams with proven ability to quickly build rapport and establish trust with senior leaders, colleagues, and subordinates

Why Rocketdyne. Why Now.

There are established companies where the engineering model, organization and ways of working have already been defined.

This is different.

Rocketdyne has the heritage, technology, people and mission history of one of the most recognized names in aerospace — combined with the opportunity that comes from becoming an independent company again.

For the right engineering leader, that creates a rare opportunity: honor what made Rocketdyne exceptional, help determine what needs to change, and leave a meaningful imprint on what Rocketdyne Engineering becomes next.