Aeronautical Engineer Level 5

Lockheed Martin; Fort Worth (TX); On-site; USD 129,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision care

Flexible work arrangements

Job summary

Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth seeks an F-35 Flight Test - Weapons Variant Lead to orchestrate long‑range development flight test planning for all weapons on the F‑35 platform. You will lead technical teams, define test requirements, and coordinate with JSF JPO, F‑35 DT Test Sites, Production, and LM IPTs to keep programs progressing.

Travel approx. one week per month; final Secret clearance required; bachelor's degree in engineering or a technical field; strong leadership, planning, and customer

Qualifications

• Flight Test Execution or Flight Test Strategic Planning experience.
• Technical Project Management experience.
• Technical Team Leadership experience.
• Customer interface experience.
• Bachelor’s Degree in Technical field (Engineering preferred).

Responsibilities

• Lead long-range development flight test planning for Weapons on the F-35 platform.
• Coordinate with JPO, F-35 DT Test Sites, Production, and LM IPTs to resolve constraints.
• Define test aircraft configuration requirements (hardware/instrumentation).
• Act as Project Lead for programs at Test Sites and maintain project status/forecasts.
• Represent Flight Test at forums and lead communications with stakeholders.

Skills

Flight Test Execution

Technical Project Management

Technical Team Leadership

Customer Interface

Engineering Degree

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering

Job description

F-35 Flight Test - Weapons Variant Lead The Flight Test Engineering Team is a portion of Test and Evaluation (T&E) Directorate within the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Engineering and Technology Functional Engineering Organization. This Team is responsible for strategic planning of the F-35 Development Test (DT) Fleet, supporting coordination for DT data requirements, aircraft configuration management, and near‑term execution constraint resolution.

Standard Job Description

The Flight Test Engineering Team is a portion of Test and Evaluation (T&E) Directorate within the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Engineering and Technology Functional Engineering Organization. This Team is responsible for strategic planning of the F-35 Development Test (DT) Fleet, supporting coordination for DT data requirements, aircraft configuration management, and near‑term execution constraint resolution.

This position serves as the Flight Test Subject Matter Expert and primary consultant for LM Aero T&E, varied F-35 Teams and F-35 Program Leadership for all things related to F-35 Weapons Flight Test - status, procedures/practices, schedule, asset forecasts, etc. This role represents T&E F-35 Flight Test Leadership at JPO and Integrated Test Force/Integrated Test Team forums, F-35 product reviews, and F-35 working groups by effectively presenting and advocating for the T&E position.

Requirements

The Weapons Variant Lead position is responsible for leading long‑range development flight test planning and coordination associated with all Weapons planned for delivery from the F-35 platform. This position will serve as a technical lead and provide tasking oversight for junior team members. Tasks for this role include coordination, planning, prioritization, and constraint resolution of Flight Test requirements through interfacing with multiple organizations such as JSF Program Office (JPO), F-35 DT Test Sites, Production, and LM IPTs. Additional tasks for this position include:

• Support the Test Planning process by participating in Test Planning Working Groups, writing test requirements, and test planning documents
• Define test aircraft configuration requirements including hardware and instrumentation needs to enable test objectives
• Act as Project Lead for programs under execution at the Test Sites providing liaison with Fort Worth IPTs as necessary to keep flight test programs progressing.
• Maintain Project status and forecasts as the Project Lead for various assigned Flight Test activities
• Interact with Program Managers to resolve contract constraints
• Provide estimates for future projects as requested by the T&E Flight Test proposal team
• Support Metrics Reporting (prior Jira experience beneficial)
• Represent Flight Test Organization to other Departments and Organizations

In addition, this position will support other special assignments and flight test consulting tasks as required.

This position will require traveling on average one week per month, based on Customer requirements. Travel locations are typically to the JPO in Arlington, VA, the F-35 Test Sites, (Edwards AFB, CA and Patuxent River NAS, MD), and various Weapon Vendor sites.

This position requires special access and a final Secret clearance to start.

Basic Qualifications

• Flight Test Execution or Flight Test Strategic Planning Experience
• Technical Project Management Experience
• Technical Team Leadership Experience
• Customer Interface Experience
• Bachelor’s Degree in Technical field (Engineering preferred)

Desired Skills

• Experience as a Flight Test Engineer (Test Conductor or Test Director)
• Extensive background in planning and executing Flight Test
• Experience defining test requirements and data needs for fighter aircraft development test platforms
• F-35 Aircraft and Program experience
• Prior air-delivered Weapons experience (F-35 not required, but beneficial)
• Weapons Test Planning and/or Execution experience
• Ability to effectively collaborate and communicate complex issues with a variety of stakeholders from highly Technical SMEs to Executive Leadership.
• Leadership experience with a track record of achieving results in a multi-faceted team environment.
• Extensive Customer Interface experience with USAF, USN, or USMC
• Demonstrated strong verbal and written communication and technical planning skills

Pay Information

Full‑Time Salary Range: $129000.00 - $239600.00

At Lockheed Martin, we know mission success starts with taking care of our people. Our Total Rewards program is designed to attract top talent, support your well‑being, and help you grow—both professionally and personally.

The salary range for this position is as listed on the requisition. Please note that the salary information listed is a general guideline only. Lockheed Martin considers factors such as (but not limited to) scope and responsibilities of the position, candidate's work experience, education/ training, key skills as well as market(work location) and business considerations when extending an offer.

Benefits offered

Medical, Dental, Vision, Flexible work arrangements and schedules (e.g., 4x10), 401(k) match, Paid time off, Holidays, Parental Leave, EAP, Flexible Spending Accounts, Education Assistance, Life Insurance, Short-Term Disability, and Long-Term Disability.

• Annual short-term and/or long-term incentive compensation programs may be offered depending on the position. Payments under these annual programs are not guaranteed and can vary from year to year and are tied to a range of performance metrics.
• For (Washington state applicants only) Non-represented full‑time employees: accrue at least 10 hours per month of Paid Time Off (PTO) to be used for incidental absences and other reasons; receive at least 90 hours for holidays. Represented full time employees accrue 6.67 hours of Vacation per month; accrue up to 52 hours of sick leave annually; receive at least 96 hours for holidays. PTO, Vacation, sick leave and holiday hours are prorated based on start date during the calendar year.