Aerospace & Defense Engineering Project Lead

Mercury-Systems; Andover (MA); Hybrid; USD 84,000 - 168,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, life and disability insurance

Stock-based awards

9/80 work schedule

Job summary

Mercury Systems is seeking a Principal Engineering Project Leader to guide development of mission-critical aerospace and defense products in the Andover, MA area. You will lead cross‑functional teams within Mercury’s Secure Line of Business to turn concepts into fielded systems.

The role requires a strong engineering background with 6+ years in design, experience in design reviews, EVMS, and complex hardware/software integration.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, or a STEM discipline.
• Typically requires a minimum of 6+ years in an engineering design role.
• Experience in aerospace and defense projects, including participation in formal design review processes.
• Experience in Project management skills, particularly in new hardware product development.
• Experience with scheduling, tracking, and risk management tools and methodologies.
• Experience in identifying and implementing process improvements across engineering organizations.
• Experience with full product development lifecycle; from requirements through design, implementation, integration, and manufacturing release.
• Experience developing and delivering technical presentations to internal and external stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Lead integration and coordination across functional teams including electrical, mechanical, software engineering, system architecture, integration, quality, and documentation to ensure on-time and on-budget delivery of Mercury’s products and system solutions.
• Serve as the primary liaison between the engineering project team and key stakeholders, including Operations, Program Management, Product Management, Technical Support, and Senior Leadership.
• Own the success of assigned projects, ensuring they are delivered within budget, on schedule, and aligned with customer expectations.
• Engage with stakeholders to understand business needs, communicate project status, and build relationships that support satisfaction and minimize risk.
• Develop comprehensive project plans, including risk mitigation strategies, tasks, budgets, deliverables, dependencies, and resource requirements to ensure timely execution.
• Oversee project deliverables and intervene as needed to adjust priorities, resolve delivery and customer issues, and optimize for quality, timeliness, and flexibility.
• Facilitate synchronization and communication among all key project team members and stakeholders.
• Collaborate with Senior Management and functional managers to resolve resource allocation and organizational challenges.
• Tackle complex issues requiring in-depth analysis of variable factors and cross-disciplinary input.
• Demonstrated experience leading multidisciplinary engineering teams through complex development cycles.
• Strong ability to influence without authority, aligning stakeholders across Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, Program Management, and Senior Leadership.
• Proven record of driving clarity, making decisions, and maintaining momentum in ambiguous or high-pressure environments.
• Ability to develop engineers and foster high-performance team culture.
• Skilled at communicating technical and programmatic decisions to executives and customers.
• Ownership mindset — accountable for engineering execution, readiness for gate reviews, and overall project success.

Skills

Engineering leadership

Project management

Aerospace & defense

Scheduling & risk mgmt

Cross-functional coordination

Technical presentations

Design reviews

EVMS

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering or STEM

Tools

Jira

Confluence

Microsoft Project

Job description

Mercury Systems is seeking a Principal Engineering Project Leader to guide development of mission-critical aerospace and defense products in the Andover, MA area. You will lead cross‑functional teams within Mercury’s Secure Line of Business to turn concepts into fielded systems.

The role requires a strong engineering background with 6+ years in design, experience in design reviews, EVMS, and complex hardware/software integration.