Project Chief Engineer- Active Secret (Onsite)
Collins Aerospace
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Benefits offered by this job
Job summary
Collins Aerospace is seeking a Project Chief Engineer in Cedar Rapids, IA, to lead complex integration, experimentation, and field demonstrations for military customers and mission-critical systems. The role requires hands-on technical leadership across secure environments and multi-domain integration, shaping next-generation connected battlespace capabilities.
You will influence customer requirements, validate solutions through demonstrations, and drive early competitive advantage in Collins’
Qualifications
- Requires STEM degree and 8+ years experience, or advanced degree with 5+ years experience.
- Active and transferable U.S. government secret clearance required prior to start.
- U.S. citizenship required for security clearance eligibility.
- Experience in mission systems, aerospace, defense, or military-relevant systems.
Responsibilities
- Lead cross-disciplinary technical execution across engineering domains to deliver cohesive solutions.
- Plan and control engineering work, schedules, costs, and technical plans for JEDI programs.
- Coordinate inputs to proposals, budgets, statements of work, and technical specifications.
- Guide design direction for product research, development, integration, and testing.
- Monitor progress and resolve technical and execution issues to minimize delays.
- Engage stakeholders to align technical decisions with business objectives and contracts.
Skills
Education
Job description
Location:
US-IA-CEDAR RAPIDS-121 ~ 350 Collins Rd NE ~ BLDG 121
Date Posted:
2026-08-13
Country:
United States of America
Location:
US-IA-CEDAR RAPIDS-121 ~ 350 Collins Rd NE ~ BLDG 121
Position Role Type:
Onsite
U.S. Citizen, U.S. Person, or Immigration Status Requirements:
Active and transferable U.S. government issued security clearance is required prior to start date. U.S. citizenship is required, as only U.S. citizens are eligible for a security clearance
Security Clearance Type:
Secret - Current
Security Clearance Status:
Active and existing security clearance required on day 1
Shape the Future of the Connected Battlespace
Applied Research & Technology (ART) is seeking an experienced Project Chief Engineer to lead complex integration, experimentation, and field demonstration activities supporting military customers and advanced mission-critical systems. In this highly visible role, you’ll provide hands-on technical leadership across customer engagements, field events, secure environments, and multi-domain integration efforts, helping transform emerging technologies into operational capabilities.
As a key member of the JADC2 Experimentation, Demonstration & Integration (JEDI) Team, you’ll help customers envision the future battlespace through demonstrations and experimentation that create demand and drive early advantage for Connected Battlespace implementation. You’ll work at the forefront of emerging technology to:
- Identify, prioritize, and rapidly mature emerging capabilities that address evolving mission needs.
- Influence key customer requirements and validate innovative solutions through experimentation, integration, and real-world demonstrations.
- Create new opportunities and drive early competitive advantage, increasing the probability of win (Pwin) for Collins technical proposals.
What You Will Do
- Guide Technical Execution: Leadcross-disciplinetechnical execution across engineering domains, ensuring that all elements work together as a cohesive solution.
- Operational Planning and Project Controls:Design, communicate, and implement JEDI PMT technical plans, including engineering work breakdowns, schedules, and cost estimates. Lead the execution of project controls, monitoring progress against plan and ensuring that technical work is aligned with program cost, schedule, and quality targets.
- Proposals, Business Plans, and Contract Support: Coordinate technical inputs to proposals, business plans, work statements, specifications, budgets, and contractual terms for their product or customer area. Ensure that commitments are technically sound,feasible, and consistent with family architectures and standards.
- Design Direction, Development, and Execution: Guides team to build design concepts, criteria, and engineering direction for product research, development, integration, and test within their scope. Ensure that validation and certification/qualification activities are planned and executed to meet customer and regulatory requirements.
- Issue Resolution and Resource Coordination: Monitor technical and operational progress,identifydeviations from plan, and drivetimelyresolution of technical and execution issues to minimize delays. Work with Engineering Resource Management and functional leaders to secure and coordinate the resources necessary to meet commitments.
- Stakeholder Engagement: Serve as the technical interface for their product/segment/customer scope with General Management, Program Management, customers, and suppliers, ensuring alignment between technical decisions, businessobjectives, and contractual obligations.
- Ability and willingness to travel up to 25%, including to customer sites, test ranges, and field demonstration locations.
- Typically requires a degree in Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) and minimum 8 years prior relevant experience or an Advanced Degree in a related field and minimum 5 years of experience
- Active and transferable U.S. government issued secret security clearance is required prior to start date
- U.S. citizenship is required, as only U.S. citizens are eligible for a security clearance
- Extensive experience in Mission Systems, aerospace, defense, or military‑relevant system roles.
- Demonstrated experience working across multiple security domains and adhering to classified information handling, security, and safeguarding procedures.
- Demonstrated project engineering experience leading complex, cross-functional programs involving systems integration, technical execution, customer engagement, and field demonstrations.
- Active Top Secret (TS) Security clearance
- Excellent communication skills with the ability to brief military customers and translate complex technical concepts.
- Experience leading integration and demonstrated activities for military systems or in secure operational environment
- Strong troubleshooting skills across embedded systems, hardware interfaces, networking, and secure communications technologies
- Experience supporting military platform integration (airborne, ground, maritime, or C2 systems)
- Familiarity with secure lab operations, classified networks, and cross‑domain solutions
- Background in systems engineering, real‑time embedded software, mission networking, or advanced avionics architectures
- Prior experience delivering high‑visibility capability demonstrations to military customers or senior stakeholders
- Medical, dental, and vision insurance
- Three weeks of vacation for newly hired employees
- Generous 401(k) plan that includes employer matching funds and separate employer retirement contribution, including a Lifetime Income Strategy option
- Tuition reimbursement program
- Student Loan Repayment Program
- Life insurance and disability coverage
- Optional coverages you can buy pet insurance, home and auto insurance, additional life and accident insurance,critical illnessinsurance, group legal, ID theft protection
- Birth, adoption, parental leave benefits
- Ovia Health, fertility, and family planning
- Adoption Assistance
- Autism Benefit
- Employee Assistance Plan, including up to 10 free counseling sessions
- Healthy You Incentives, wellness rewards program
- Doctor on Demand, virtual doctor visits
- Bright Horizons, child and elder care services
- Teladoc Medical Experts, second opinion program
- And more!
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