Director of Sustainment Engineering

Red Cat Holdings; Torrance (CA); On-site; USD 158,000 - 247,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity package

Job summary

Red Cat Holdings seeks a Director of Sustainment Engineering to lead the team responsible for reliability, maintainability, availability, and lifecycle support of in-service drone platforms.

This leader owns the technical strategy for sustaining engineering, obsolescence management, reliability and failure analysis, field support, and engineering change management, bridging the gap between design engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, and operations/customer support.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a related engineering discipline (Master's preferred).
• 10+ years of engineering experience in aerospace, defense, or unmanned systems, including 5+ years in sustainment, reliability, product support, or in-service engineering.
• 3+ years of people leadership experience, managing engineers and cross-functional teams.
• Demonstrated experience with root-cause analysis methodologies (e.g., 8D, Fishbone/Ishikawa, FRACAS, FMEA).
• Working knowledge of reliability engineering principles, RM&A metrics, and lifecycle sustainment planning.

Responsibilities

• Own the engineering strategy and roadmap for sustainment of fielded drone systems, including airframes, propulsion, avionics, payloads, and ground control systems.
• Build, lead, and mentor a multidisciplinary sustainment engineering team (reliability, field/product support, obsolescence, and configuration engineers).
• Lead RCCA investigations for field failures and in-service issues; drive closed-loop corrective actions.
• Partner with Design Engineering to translate field data into design improvements, ECOs, and product upgrades.
• Establish and maintain RM&A metrics; drive data-driven fleet health decisions.
• Own obsolescence management and DMSMS planning for components.
• Direct development of technical manuals, maintenance procedures, and training materials.
• Manage engineering support for depot-level and field-level repair and modification programs.
• Serve as senior engineering contact for customer sustainment reviews and program reviews.
• Collaborate with Supply Chain and Manufacturing on spares provisioning and supplier qualification.
• Ensure sustainment activities comply with FAA, DoD, and customer airworthiness/configuration requirements.
• Own the sustainment budget, staffing plan, and departmental goals; report fleet health to exec leadership.
• Support proposal efforts and new program capture with sustainment scope and cost estimates.

Skills

Leadership

RCCA

Reliability

RM&A

Communication

Education

Bachelor's in engineering

Tools

Configuration management

Engineering change processes

Job description

Position Summary

The Director of Sustainment Engineering leads the engineering discipline responsible for the reliability, maintainability, availability, and total lifecycle support of fielded drone platforms. This leader owns the technical strategy for sustaining engineering, obsolescence management, reliability and failure analysis, field support, and engineering change management, bridging the gap between design engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, and operations/customer support. The role builds and leads a team of sustainment, reliability, and field support engineers and serves as the primary engineering authority for in-service issues.

Essential Duties And Responsibilities

• Own the engineering strategy and roadmap for sustainment of fielded drone systems, including airframes, propulsion, avionics, payloads, and ground control systems.
• Build, lead, and mentor a multidisciplinary sustainment engineering team (reliability, field/product support, obsolescence, and configuration engineers).
• Lead root-cause and corrective action (RCCA) investigations for field failures, anomalies, and in-service issues; drive closed-loop corrective and preventive actions.
• Partner with Design Engineering to translate field data and lessons learned into design improvements, engineering change orders (ECOs), and product upgrades.
• Establish and maintain reliability, maintainability, and availability (RM&A) metrics; drive data-driven decisions on fleet health and readiness.
• Own obsolescence management and diminishing manufacturing sources (DMSMS) planning for electronic and mechanical components.
• Direct development of technical manuals, maintenance procedures, repair schemes, and training materials in support of fielded systems.
• Manage engineering support for depot-level and field-level repair, overhaul, and modification programs.
• Serve as the senior engineering point of contact for customer sustainment reviews, technical interchange meetings (TIMs), and program reviews.
• Collaborate with Supply Chain and Manufacturing on spares provisioning, repair vendor qualification, and total lifecycle cost reduction.
• Ensure sustainment engineering activities comply with applicable FAA, DoD, and customer airworthiness and configuration management requirements.
• Own the sustainment engineering budget, staffing plan, and departmental goals; report fleet health and program status to executive leadership.
• Support proposal efforts and new program capture with sustainment engineering scope, staffing, and cost estimates.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical, or a related engineering discipline (Master's preferred).
• 10+ years of engineering experience in aerospace, defense, or unmanned systems, including 5+ years in sustainment, reliability, product support, or in-service engineering.
• 3+ years of people leadership experience, managing engineers and cross-functional teams.
• Demonstrated experience with root-cause analysis methodologies (e.g., 8D, Fishbone/Ishikawa, FRACAS, FMEA).
• Working knowledge of reliability engineering principles, RM&A metrics, and lifecycle sustainment planning.
• Experience with configuration management and engineering change processes in a regulated manufacturing environment.
• Familiarity with unmanned aircraft systems, avionics, or small-UAS platforms.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to represent engineering to customers, program management, and executive leadership.
• U.S. Person status required due to ITAR

Additional Desired Qualifications

• Experience supporting fielded military or government UAS/drone programs through their full lifecycle.
• Familiarity with MIL-STD reliability/maintainability standards (e.g., MIL-STD-1629A, MIL-HDBK-217) and airworthiness sustainment requirements.
• Experience standing up or scaling a sustainment/product support engineering function.
• Six Sigma / Lean or reliability engineering certification (CRE).

Physical Requirements and Working Conditions

• Must be able to walk, stand, and navigate large indoor and outdoor facilities for extended periods of time.
• Ability to lift, carry, and move materials and equipment weighing up to 25 lbs on a regular basis.
• Use of personal protective equipment (PPE) may be required in designated areas or when performing specific tasks, in accordance with safety protocols and company policy.
• May be required to climb ladders, stoop, kneel, or crouch during inspections, maintenance walk-throughs, or emergency response situations.
• Regular exposure to facility operations including noise, dust, temperature fluctuations, and industrial equipment.
• Occasional off-hours or weekend work required for emergency facility responses or projects as needed
• Requires frequent use of a computer and other standard office equipment for documentation, communication, and coordination tasks.

Background Check

This position will require successfully completing a post-offer background check. Qualified candidates with a criminal history will be considered and are not automatically disqualified, consistent with federal and state law.

EEO and ITAR/EAR Work Authorization Disclosure

Red Cat Holdings provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This position requires direct or indirect access to hardware, software, technology or technical data controlled under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). Successful candidates for positions subject to ITAR/EAR restrictions must provide proof of U.S. Citizenship or Permanent Residence and must not require sponsorship for export-restricted work authorization.

E-Verify

The company participates E-Verify ensure eligibility for employment and compliance with Right to Work rules.

Compensation: Pay Range: $158,240 - $247,250, plus generous annual equity package and potential bonuses.