Senior Director of Engineering - AI-Driven Vehicle Systems

ND Defense; Madison Heights (MI); On-site; USD 170,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

ND Defense LLC seeks an engineering leader to deliver across new programs, guide a multi-disciplinary team, and serve as the senior technical voice in customer engagements. The role emphasizes software-defined, electrified, and automated product development with strong ITAR governance.

Ideal candidates have 10–15 years' engineering progression, 5+ years leading teams, and experience with heavy vehicle systems and DoD contracts. U.S. Person status per ITAR is required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in mechanical, electrical, or systems engineering.
• 10–15 years engineering experience with ≥5 years leading multi-disciplinary teams.
• Familiarity with heavy truck or vehicle systems integration.
• Experience with DoD/government contracts (FAR/DFARS, ITAR, CMMC) preferred but not required.
• Must be a U.S. Person as defined by ITAR.

Responsibilities

• Lead the engineering function across new program starts, delivering on schedule and within budget.
• Participate in architecture and design decisions across mechanical, electrical, systems, software, and test disciplines.
• Function as a working engineer when workload overflow dictates and manage staffing/external resources.
• Ensure ITAR/export control and MIL-SPEC/MIL-STD compliance in programs.
• Lead customer engagements and bid support with technical inputs.

Skills

Team leadership

Program delivery

Cross-functional collaboration

AI tools adoption

Risk & ambiguity management

Hands-on vehicle systems

Education

Bachelor's degree in mechanical, electrical, or systems engineering

Job description

ND Defense LLC seeks an engineering leader to deliver across new programs, guide a multi-disciplinary team, and serve as the senior technical voice in customer engagements. The role emphasizes software-defined, electrified, and automated product development with strong ITAR governance.

Ideal candidates have 10–15 years' engineering progression, 5+ years leading teams, and experience with heavy vehicle systems and DoD contracts. U.S. Person status per ITAR is required.