Chief Engineer, Long-Range Missile Systems

Chaos Industries; El Segundo (CA); On-site; USD 220,000 - 300,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

401k matching

Relocation assistance

Onsite lunch & kitchen

Job summary

CHAOS Industries seeks a Chief Engineer to own the technical direction of a long range missile program, from concept to production. You will lead a multidisciplinary team and serve as the senior technical authority across airframe, guidance, propulsion, integration, and test in a build-and-fly environment.

You will guide system verification, manage risk, and drive design reviews while partnering with PM, manufacturing, and customers to turn mission needs into executable plans.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, Systems, or Electrical Engineering.
• 15+ years in missile, munition, or high-TRL flight systems with technical leadership.
• Experience with full lifecycle development including flight test.
• Current or recent DoD SECRET clearance.
• Strong systems engineering practices and safety standards per DoD.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the senior technical authority for missile system architecture, requirements, and design decisions.
• Lead system-level trade studies and design reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR, TRR).
• Direct integration of airframe, guidance and navigation, propulsion, and avionics subsystems.
• Own system verification and validation, including test planning and flight test readiness.
• Provide technical leadership across mechanical, electrical, software, firmware, and systems teams, mentoring engineers.
• Partner with program management, manufacturing, and customers to translate mission needs into executable technical plans.
• Drive configuration control and transition from prototype to production and fielding.

Skills

Systems engineering

Technical leadership

Missile systems

Airframe & propulsion

DoD standards

Education

Bachelor's degree in Aerospace/Mechanical/Systems/Electrical Engineering

Job description

CHAOS Industries is redefining modern defense with a multi-product portfolio that gives the ultimate advantage—domain dominance. The company's products are powered by Coherent Distributed Networks (CDN™), empowering warfighters, commercial air operators, and border protection teams to act faster, adapt rapidly, and stay ahead of evolving threats.

CHAOS Industries was founded in 2022 and has raised a total of $1 billion in funding from leading investors, including 8VC, Accel, and Valor Equity Partners. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles, with offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, San Diego, and London. For more information, please visit www.chaosinc.com .

Role Overview:

CHAOS is seeking a Chief Engineer to own the technical direction of our long range missile program, from concept and architecture through qualification, flight test, and production transition. You will lead a multidisciplinary engineering team and be the senior technical authority across airframe, guidance, propulsion, integration, and test. This is a build-and-fly environment where you will be accountable for getting real hardware flying.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the senior technical authority for missile system architecture, requirements, and design decisions
• Lead system-level trade studies, technical risk management, and design reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR, TRR)
• Direct integration of airframe, guidance and navigation, propulsion, and avionics subsystems
• Own system verification and validation, including test planning and flight test readiness
• Provide technical leadership across mechanical, electrical, software, firmware, and systems teams, and mentor senior engineers
• Partner with program management, manufacturing, and customers to translate mission needs into executable technical plans
• Drive configuration control and the transition from prototype to production and fielding
• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, Systems, or Electrical Engineering, or a related field
• 15+ years of experience developing missile, munition, or high-TRL flight systems, including technical leadership of a program or major subsystem
• Demonstrated experience taking a system through full lifecycle development, including flight test
• Detailed understanding of tactical aircraft carriage environments and missile employment envelopes
• Intuitive knowledge of propulsion systems and airframe controls as well as guidance/navigation techniques for long range strike systems
• Detailed understanding of target phenomenology and defeat mechanisms
• Strong command of systems engineering practice and DoD standards for safety, environments, and test
• Current or recent DoD SECRET clearance

Preferred Requirements:

• Master's degree or higher
• Current or recent DoD TOP SECRET security clearance; eligibility for SAP and/or SCI indoc.
• Prior role as Chief Engineer, Lead Systems Engineer, or Technical Director on a fielded missile program
• Detailed understanding of ground launcher and shipboard integration environments
• Full grasp of the long-range kill chain starting at intelligence collection, mission planning, pre-launch and post-launch mission execution
• Experience with a prime integrator or in a fast-moving defense startup

Why CHAOS?

• Health Benefits: Medical, dental, and vision benefits 100% paid for by the company
• Additional benefits: 401k (+ 50% company match up to 6% of pay), FSA, HSA, life insurance, and more
• Our Perks: Free daily lunch while you're working onsite, fully-stocked kitchen, unlimited PTO, casual dress code
• Compensation Components: Competitive base salaries, generous pre-IPO stock option grants, relocation assistance, and (coming soon!) annual bonuses
• Team Growth: 500+employees and counting across 5 global offices

Salary Range: $220,000 - $300,000

The stated compensation range reflects only the targeted base compensation range and excludes additional earnings such as bonus, equity, and benefits. If your compensation requirements fall outside of the range, we still encourage you to apply. The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary offer may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations.

Recruiting Agencies: CHAOS Industries does not accept unsolicited resumes or outreach. Unsolicited submissions will not be reviewed or compensated.

#LI-onsite

Please note this position does not necessarily require eligibility to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance.

EXPORT CONTROLS - This position may require access to information and technology that is subject to U.S. export controls. Your responses to the questions below will be used solely to determine your eligibility under U.S. law to receive information and materials subject to U.S. export controls.

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey.Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiringprocess or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in aconfidential file.

As set forth in CHAOS Industries’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection.As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measurethe effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categoriesis as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service‑connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.