Engineering Lead

Metrea; Washington (District of Columbia); Hybrid; USD 155,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive medical plan options

HSA/FSA accounts

Dental and vision coverage

6% employer 401(k) match

Fully paid parental leave

Generous PTO

Life and disability insurance

Long-term and Short-term disability

AD&D Coverage

Pet Insurance

Employee Assistance Program

Subsidized gym membership

Job summary

Metrea, based in Washington, DC, seeks an Engineering Lead to guide our flight simulation product within a product-led, cross-functional team. The ideal candidate will foster an engineering culture focused on growth, mentorship, and continuous knowledge sharing, while ensuring delivery excellence and strategic alignment with product goals.

The role emphasizes people management, strong communication, and a servant-leadership mindset in a fast-moving defense-adjacent environment.

Qualifications

• Experience leading software teams in flight simulation or similar complex systems.
• Proven ability to mentor engineers and grow careers.
• Strong written and verbal communication across technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Skilled in agile software development in a matrix environment.
• Demonstrated ability to align engineering efforts with product goals.

Responsibilities

• Own delivery outcomes for the team and drive timelines.
• Mentor and develop engineers, overseeing career growth.
• Collaborate with product management and tech leadership to refine requirements.
• Align team work with strategic goals and future resource planning.
• Maintain relationships with Tech Lead and Product Manager for delivery.
• Improve engineering processes, release management, and documentation.
• Support recruitment and onboarding of new teammates.

Skills

Engineering leadership

People management

Mentoring engineers

Communication skills

Agile methodologies

Cross-functional collaboration

Job description

Company Overview

Metrea delivers effects-as-a-service to national security partners across five domains and more than a dozen mission areas. These include airborne ISR, electronic warfare, secure communications, aerial refueling, special air missions, aerial firefighting, and advanced simulation. We own the whole stack: designing, building, and operating turnkey capabilities that give our partners decisive, asymmetric advantage against rapidly evolving threats.

Our operating model is built around three interlocking pillars. The Support Groups provide a global shared-service – spanning people, finance, platform, operations, legal, and engagement. This frees up our Core Groups, who develop and own mission capabilities end-to-end, to focus entirely on delivery. The Market Groups apply a regional lens, ensuring that our agile and adaptable capabilities remain aligned to the wicked problems that matter most to our partners across the Americas, EMEA, and Asia-Pacific.

At the heart of our model is a simple but powerful idea: be a true partner with skin in the game. Our partners need effects, not just equipment. By owning the full stack – from the lab to the field – we are able to drive a continuous cycle of innovation that keeps our partners ahead. It’s a fast-moving, intellectually demanding environment where talented people are given real responsibility, work on problems that matter, and contribute to an enterprise that is growing quickly and deliberately.

Headquartered in Washington, DC, with facilities across the United States, the United Kingdom, as well as Continental Europe and Asia-Pacific.

Group Overview

Digital and Synthetic (D&S)Group is committed to providing mission-driven information solutions that seamlessly bridge the digital and physical realms. Leveragingcutting-edgetechnologies and advanced platforms, we empower operational readiness and elevatesituational awareness across diversedomains—including air, maritime, and space.

Position Summary

We are looking for an Engineering Lead to provide leadership for our flight simulation product as part of a Product-led cross-functional team. Candidates should have solid knowledge and experience of best practices across the software development lifecycle, as well as People Management skills; they can be relied upon to build and maintain an engineering culture which is sustainably professional and positive, in which high-performing engineers can grow and thrive. Metrea is a people-first organisation, and candidates should have strong communication skills and the desire to proactively elevate their team through continuous knowledge sharing, collaboration, feedback, and mentorship.

What You’ll Do

• Own delivery outcomes for the team; not writing code yourself but driving the team to meet delivery timelines whilst balancing sustainability, quality and team well-being.
• Mentoring, coaching and leading a team of highly talented engineers, taking responsibility for both their career and personal development.
• Supporting product management and technical leadership in refining requirements and shaping the deliverables the team will work.
• Helping to align team efforts with the broader strategic goals of the organisation, helping to plan for future resource requirements and technology adoption.
• Developing and maintaining a deep relationship with the team’s Tech Lead and Product Manager to ensure alignment and support delivery.
• Collaborate with other Engineering Leaders across the business, to improve engineering processes, code quality, release management and documentation.
• Supporting the recruitment process and taking responsibility for onboarding and integrating new teammates.

What You Bring

• Experience in engineering management, having previously mentored and helped to develop the careers of software engineers
• Great interpersonal skills, a servant-leadership mindset and the ability to confidently communicate with others, conveying technical content clearly and articulatively to non-technical team members.
• Experience in employing agile methodologies in software development processes whilst working in a matrix organisation to help support the team establish and develop their ways of working.
• Experience leading teams in fast-growing companies where you play a part in shaping ways of working rather than follow pre-defined ones.
• A deep passion for personal development with a drive to be constantly learning and furthering your professional knowledge.
• Strong organisational skills with an ability to work independently whilst planning, prioritising and managing your workload.

Additional Eligibility Qualifications

• A passion for aviation and flight simulation
• Prior experience in working with defence contracts is a plus

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical plan options
• HSA/FSA accounts
• Dental and vision coverage
• 6% employer 401(k) match
• Fully paid parental leave for all new parents
• Generous PTO
• Life and disability insurance
• Long-term and Short-term disability coverage
• AD&D Coverage
• Pet Insurance
• Employee Assistance Program
• Subsided gym membership / plans throughWellhub

Work Authorization / Security Clearance

Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States and must be a U.S. citizen.

Role may require adherence to export control regulations (ITAR/EAR).

AAP / EEO Statement

The company is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race,color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteranstatusor other characteristics protected by law.

Position Type and Expected Hours of Work

This is a full-time position with typical working hours of Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Hours and work shifts may changein accordance withdepartment and business needs.

Work Environment

This position is available on a hybrid working basis, with an expectation of three days per week in the office.

Travel

This role may require occasional travel to other Metrea offices.

Base Pay Range

The compensation range shown below is a good faith estimate and reflects the expected base pay for this position upon hire. This is just one component of Metrea’s overall approach to total rewards and final compensation decisions, including the ultimate salary or hourly rate agreed upon, may vary depending on factors such as job location, job-specific knowledge, skills, experience, and the overall negotiated compensation package. Eligible full-time employees also receive a comprehensive benefits package designed to support their health, wellbeing, and long-term success.

Pay Range

$155,000—$200,000 USD

Our Firmware

At Metrea, our single core value is Rooted in Humility, and our four cornerstone attributes are Entrepreneurial, Systematic, Discerning, and Over-Deliver. These form what we call our Teammate Firmware. Just like technical firmware connects software and hardware, our Firmware is the constant interface between our mission and our people. It defines how we show up, how we work together, and how we solve complex problems.

Our team Firmware creates a web-like, hyper-collaborative, dynamically hierarchical way of working that helps us adapt quickly, communicate openly, and distribute decision-making to where expertise actually lives. It enables groups to self-organize around hard problems, shift fluidly as priorities evolve, and operate with the trust, curiosity, and discipline required in a complex mission space. This foundation allows us to deliver elegant, effective solutions and uphold our purpose: protecting our precious inheritance.