Project Chief Engineer- Active Secret (Onsite)

Lehigh Heavy Forge Corporation; Cedar Rapids (IA); On-site; USD 132,000 - 252,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Three weeks vacation

Job summary

Collins Aerospace is seeking a Project Chief Engineer to lead complex integration, experimentation, and field demonstrations for military customers. You will provide hands-on technical leadership across engineering domains, field environments, and secure facilities, shaping future connected battlespace capabilities.

You will guide technical execution, planning, and controls; coordinate proposals, budgets, and schedules; direct design direction and testing; resolve issues and coordinate

Qualifications

• 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.

Responsibilities

• Guide Technical Execution: Lead cross‑discipline technical 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.
• Proposals, Business Plans, and Contract Support: Coordinate technical inputs to proposals, budgets, and contractual terms for their product or customer area.
• Design Direction, Development, and Execution: Guide team to build design concepts, criteria, and engineering direction for research, development, integration, and test.
• Issue Resolution and Resource Coordination: Monitor progress, identify deviations, and drive timely resolution of technical issues.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Serve as the technical interface with management, program management, customers, and suppliers.
• Travel: Ability and willingness to travel up to 25%.

Skills

Technical leadership

Cross-domain coordination

Stakeholder management

Communication

Education

STEM degree

Advanced degree

Tools

Mission systems

Secure environments

Job description

Location: US-IA-CEDAR RAPIDS-121 ~ 350 Collins Rd NE ~ BLDG 121

Position Role Type: Onsite

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.

This is an opportunity to work at the intersection of technology, mission, and customer need, influencing what comes next while seeing your technical leadership translate into real‑world mission capabilities.

What You Will Do

• Guide Technical Execution: Lead cross‑discipline technical 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, identify deviations from plan, and drive timely resolution 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, business objectives, and contractual obligations.
• Ability and willingness to travel up to 25%, including to customer sites, test ranges, and field demonstration locations.

Qualifications You Must Have

• 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.

Qualifications We Prefer

• 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

What We Offer

• 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 illness insurance, 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!

Collins Aerospace makes modern flight possible. Of course, that wouldn't be possible without the capabilities and technologies of our organization, as well as our engineers - a highly skilled, accomplished network that spans more than 180 sites, 24 countries and 6 Strategic Business Units (SBUs).

Our industry‑leading experts are setting the standards for the aerospace industry and paving the way for the future. But as new challenges present themselves, we need fresh, creative and motivated minds to overcome these hurdles, help us break barriers and achieve new levels of innovation. Do you have what it takes to join a global organization that doesn't shy away from big opportunities? If so, we invite you to join our ranks and create the next generation of aerospace technologies.

Together, we will nurture an engineering culture that values intellectual curiosity, risk takers and integrity. A place where we will challenge ourselves, our teams, and the status quo and where we will work to find a way - the right way - to achieve what others can only dream of.

*Please ensure the role type (defined below) is appropriate for your needs before applying to this role.

Onsite: Employees who are working in Onsite roles will work primarily onsite. This includes all production and maintenance employees, as they are essential to the development of our products.

At Collins, the paths we pave together lead to limitless possibility. And the bonds we form - with our customers and with each other -- propel us all higher, again and again.

Employee Referral Eligible

As part of our commitment to maintaining a secure hiring process, candidates may be asked to attend select steps of the interview process in‑person at one of our office locations, regardless of whether the role is designated as on‑site, hybrid or remote.

The salary range for this role is 132,400 USD - 251,600 USD. The salary range provided is a good faith estimate representative of all experience levels. RTX considers several factors when extending an offer, including but not limited to, the role, function and associated responsibilities, a candidate's work experience, location, education/training, and key skills.

Hired applicants may be eligible for benefits, including but not limited to, medical, dental, vision, life insurance, short‑term disability, long‑term disability, 401(k) match, flexible spending accounts, flexible work schedules, employee assistance program, Employee Scholar Program, parental leave, paid time off, and holidays. Specific benefits are dependent upon the specific business unit as well as whether or not the position is covered by a collective‑bargaining agreement.

Hired applicants may be eligible for annual short‑term and/or long‑term incentive compensation programs depending on the level of the position and whether or not it is covered by a collective‑bargaining agreement. Payments under these annual programs are not guaranteed and are dependent upon a variety of factors including, but not limited to, individual performance, business unit performance, and/or the company's performance.

This role is a U.S.-based role. If the successful candidate resides in a U.S. territory, the appropriate pay structure and benefits will apply.

RTX anticipates the application window closing approximately 40 days from the date the notice was posted. However, factors such as candidate flow and business necessity may require RTX to shorten or extend the application window.

RTX is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability or veteran status, or any other applicable state or federal protected class. RTX provides affirmative action in employment for qualified Individuals with a Disability and Protected Veterans in compliance with Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act.