Director of Engineering — Defense & Aerospace Leader

Northwest Partners LLC; Huntsville (AL); On-site; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health Insurance

Vision Insurance

Dental Insurance

Short term Disability

Long-term Disability

Life Insurance

Education Benefits

Job summary

Northwest Partners LLC seeks an experienced Director of Engineering to set the technical direction for rugged, mission-critical hardware solutions. You will lead multidisciplinary teams across defense and aerospace domains, guiding architecture, reviews, and lifecycle management from concept to end-of-life.

The role demands 15+ years of leadership in complex hardware environments, strong program strategy skills, and the ability to obtain a security clearance.

Qualifications

• 15+ years of progressive engineering leadership experience.
• Background in defense, aerospace, rugged electronics, mission systems, or similar complex hardware environments.
• Proven experience leading engineering teams and high-level technical decisions.
• Strong understanding of planning, lifecycle management, manufacturing readiness, and configuration control.
• Experience with MIL-STD, AS9100D/ISO 9001, ITAR/export compliance, cybersecurity, and government contracting requirements.
• Experience with ERP/PLM systems, BOMs, drawings, revision control, and engineering change management.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Lead engineering strategy in line with business and customer objectives.
• Develop technology and product roadmaps across rugged computing, embedded systems, displays, and related technologies.
• Serve as the senior engineering authority across architecture, design reviews, risk, and engineering decisions.
• Lead execution from concept and prototype through qualification, production, sustainment, and end-of-life.
• Partner with Operations, Quality, Supply Chain, and Program teams to support product development and manufacturing.
• Drive systems engineering, verification and validation, configuration management, and technical reviews.
• Support customer engagements, proposals, technical solutions, and business development.
• Build and lead high-performing multidisciplinary engineering teams.
• Develop engineering talent through mentoring, recruiting, succession planning, and leadership development.
• Ensure compliance with defense, aerospace, quality, cybersecurity, and export requirements.

Skills

Engineering leadership

Strategic planning

Cross-functional leadership

Security clearance eligibility

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical, Mechanical, Computer, or Systems Engineering

Tools

ERP/PLM systems

BOMs & revision control

Job description

Northwest Partners LLC seeks an experienced Director of Engineering to set the technical direction for rugged, mission-critical hardware solutions. You will lead multidisciplinary teams across defense and aerospace domains, guiding architecture, reviews, and lifecycle management from concept to end-of-life.

The role demands 15+ years of leadership in complex hardware environments, strong program strategy skills, and the ability to obtain a security clearance.