Chief Engineer, Missile Defense System Architect

Longwall; Long Beach (CA); Remote; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Long Wall Company is seeking a Program Chief Engineer for the Cyclops interceptor to own the system architecture, requirements, and verification strategy. The role requires leadership across propulsion, avionics, structures, GNC, software, and manufacturing engineering while ensuring technical integrity and readiness for government customers.

You will mentor discipline leads, coordinate with mission assurance, and lead architecture reviews to deliver a coherent technical execution plan under

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Aerospace, Systems Engineering, or related engineering discipline.
• 12+ years of experience in complex aerospace or defense systems.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary engineering teams and owning technical baselines.
• Experience with government customers and milestone reviews.
• Active or recent security clearance (Secret or above).
• Ability to travel between customer and company sites.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the technical authority for Cyclops, owning the system architecture and verification strategy.
• Define and maintain the system's configuration and manage design changes.
• Lead technical decisions across propulsion, avionics, structures, GNC, software.
• Coordinate with systems engineering to maintain traceability and verification planning.
• Mentor engineering leads and grow Long Wall's technical foundations as the company scales.
• Represent the technical state to executives, government customers, and stakeholders.
• Lead technical reviews and ensure artifacts are defensible and configuration controlled.

Skills

System architecture

Engineering leadership

Verification planning

Mission assurance

Government experience

Security clearance

Technical authority

Cross-disciplinary leadership

Executive briefing

Travel willingness

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

Long Wall Company is seeking a Program Chief Engineer for the Cyclops interceptor to own the system architecture, requirements, and verification strategy. The role requires leadership across propulsion, avionics, structures, GNC, software, and manufacturing engineering while ensuring technical integrity and readiness for government customers.

You will mentor discipline leads, coordinate with mission assurance, and lead architecture reviews to deliver a coherent technical execution plan under