Manager Applications Engineering

Leonardo DRS, Inc.

Dallas (TX)

On-site

USD 120,000 - 160,000

Full time

5 days ago

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Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision coverage

401(k) with company match

Telemedicine

Life and disability insurance

Flexible work schedules with 9/80

Paid parental leave

Community service hours

Job summary

Leonardo DRS in Dallas, TX is seeking a Technical Support Team Leader for the EOIS line. This role leads applications engineering and drives go-to-market support for uncooled EO/IR cameras and UAV/UGV integration.

You will build and guide a high-performing team, develop KPIs, and collaborate with Product, Sales, and Marketing to deliver robust customer solutions while ensuring regulatory compliance and export controls. US citizenship and clearance support are required.

Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Systems Engineering, or another relevant technical discipline.
Five or more years of progressively responsible experience in applications engineering, systems engineering, technical customer support, product engineering, or related role.
Demonstrated experience leading technical teams and establishing work-prioritization and case-management processes.
Strong hands-on capability in electronics design/debug/productization, embedded or application software, or camera integration.
Ability to travel domestically and internationally up to 30%.

Responsibilities

Establish, lead, coach, and scale a high-performing applications engineering and technical support team.
Define team roles, capacity plans, service levels, escalation paths, and operating processes.
Implement mechanisms to prioritize, assign, track, and close customer requests and field issues.
Develop team capability in uncooled EO/IR cameras, thermal imaging, software tools, and unmanned platforms.
Partner with Product Management, Marketing, and Sales to embed applications engineering in GTM strategy.
Provide pre- and post-sales technical support, including demonstrations, proof-of-concept, and training.
Lead documentation efforts and customer-facing demonstrations; manage customer communications via Sales.
Coordinate interoperability testing and support product development kit evolution.
Develop KPIs for support performance and drive continuous improvement.

Skills

Leadership experience

Team coaching

Customer-facing communication

Technical depth in EO/IR

Travel up to 30%

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Systems Engineering, or another relevant technical discipline

Job description

Location: Dallas, TX, US, 75243

Job Summary

The Electro Optical InfraredSystems (EOIS) line of business within DRS has locations in Dallas and Austin, TX, Melbourne, FL, and Cypress, CA. EOIS develops, manufactures, and supports infrared and electro-optical solutions for soldiers, ground vehicles and airborneplatforms. We offer an exciting and challenging work environment, a competitive salary and benefits package, and a business culture that rewards performance.

Employing the world’s brightest. Supporting the world’s bravest.

Job Responsibilities

Technical Support Team Leadership

Establish, lead, coach, and scale a high-performing applications engineering and technical support team aligned to the Uncooled OEM Camera Business growth strategy.
Define team roles, capacity plans, service levels, escalation paths, and operating processes for the technical support function.
Implement mechanisms to prioritize, assign, track, and close customer technical requests, design-in activities, field issues, and corrective actions.
Develop team technical capability in uncooled EO/IR cameras, thermal imaging, camera interfaces, software tools, and customer application domains, with particular emphasis on unmanned platforms.

Sales & Marketing Build-Out — Technical Support Team Duties

Partner with Product Management, Product Marketing, and Sales to make applications engineering an integral part of the go-to-market model for direct, distributor, and OEM/integrator channels.
Provide responsive pre-sales technical support, including customer discovery, solution architecture, product demonstrations, proof-of-concept support, and design-in guidance.
Deliver post-sales technical support through email, phone, virtual, and on-site engagement; manage customer cases; replicate and resolve technical issues; and coordinate clear customer communications through Sales.
Support customer, partner, and distributor training; trade-show demonstrations; customer demonstrations; and technical content for marketing campaigns and channel enablement.
Establish a closed-loop voice-of-customer process that converts application needs, competitive observations, feature requests, and recurring support issues into actionable product-roadmap and market inputs.

Customer Integration & Product Enablement

Own the development, quality, and maintenance of product technical documentation, including quick-start guides, user guides, design and integration guides, interface control documents, application notes, and technical FAQs.
Lead development and maintenance of product development kits, including hardware and software development kits, camera-control GUI tools, demo kits, accessories, and system-integration tools such as field-of-view and site-planning calculators.
Guide customers in integrating uncooled OEM cameras into UAV, UGV, USV, and other systems, including electrical, mechanical, software, video, and communications interfaces.
Coordinate interoperability testing with adjacent hardware, video-management systems, analytics software, and customer platforms; document findings and application guidance.
Support new-product acceptance, qualification, and design-validation activities by reviewing test plans and conditions, providing application perspective, and performing designated testing.

Cross-Functional Execution & Continuous Improvement

Partner with Engineering, Quality, and Operations to investigate customer issues, evaluate returns/RMAs as needed, and drive root-cause analysis and corrective-action closure.
Provide product-definition and roadmap input based on customer interaction, technology trends, competitive assessments, and feature-priority analysis.
Develop and report KPIs for technical support performance, including response time, case aging, design-ins supported, issue resolution, documentation coverage, training effectiveness, and customer satisfaction.
Ensure all customer-support activities comply with applicable company procedures, export-control requirements, and commercial and defense trade regulations.
Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Required

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Systems Engineering, or another relevant technical discipline.
Five or more years of progressively responsible experience in applications engineering, systems engineering, technical customer support, product engineering, or a related technical-commercial role.
Demonstrated experience leading, coaching, or formally supervising technical teams and establishing effective work-prioritization and case-management processes.
Strong hands-on technical capability in one or more of the following: electronics design/debug/productization; embedded or application software; video and communications interfaces; camera integration; or infrared imaging applications.
Experience supporting customers in technically complex design-in, system-integration, or field-support environments.
Ability to communicate complex technical information clearly to engineers, customers, commercial leaders, and executive stakeholders.
Ability to travel domestically and internationally up to 30% in support of customer, partner, and business needs.

Preferred

Experience with uncooled EO/IR or thermal imaging products and their application in unmanned systems, including UAV, UGV, USV, robotics, or related platforms.
Experience with relevant video and communications protocols, such as Ethernet, TCP/IP, USB, HDMI, Camera Link, serial interfaces, and digital/analog video standards.
Experience supporting OEM, integrator, commercial, defense, security/surveillance, avionics, or video-image-processing customers.
Experience building product documentation, development kits, application notes, technical training, and customer-facing demonstrations.
Working knowledge of export controls and trade-compliance requirements applicable to commercial and defense products.
Advanced degree, relevant technical certifications, or project-management experience.

Core Competencies

Customer Focus — Builds trusted technical relationships and turns customer needs into practical solutions.
Technical Leadership — Establishes technical credibility, develops people, and creates repeatable support processes.
Collaboration — Builds productive partnerships across functions to resolve issues and accelerate customer success.
Execution — Sets clear priorities, uses data to manage performance, and delivers reliable results in a fast-paced environment.
Strategic Perspective — Connects customer insights and technical trends to product, market, and business-growth decisions.

U.S. Citizenship required. This position requires an active DOD security clearance or the ability to obtain such clearance within a reasonable time after commencement of employment.

Taking care of our people is a top priority at Leonardo DRS. We are proud to offer competitive salaries and comprehensive benefits, including medical, dental, and vision coverage, a company contribution to a health savings account, telemedicine, life and disability insurance, legal insurance, and a 401(k) savings plan. We champion wellness programs that focus on physical, emotional, and financial well-being. We develop our talent by offering programs and activities to support career-growth, professional development, and skill enhancement. And we understand there is more to life than work, and the importance of offering flexible work schedules with our 9/80 program, competitive vacation, health/emergency leave, paid parental leave, and community service hours.
*Some employees are eligible for limited benefits only

Leonardo DRS, Inc. and its subsidiaries provide equal opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibit discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.

Our Vision. To be the leading mid-tier defense technology company in the U.S.

Our Values. The Leonardo DRS culture is defined by our Core Values and Principles: