Senior Hardware Engineering Leader – Avionics & UAM Systems

AVIA; Grand Rapids (MI); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

None

Job summary

Acron Aviation is seeking a Hardware Engineering Manager for its Surveillance product line. You will lead a diverse team across RF, FPGA/Firmware, Electrical, Mechanical, CAD, and Component Engineering to deliver mission-critical avionics hardware from concept through certification and lifecycle support.

You will shape strategy, workforce planning, and execution, building high-performing teams and accelerating product development while ensuring cost, schedule, and compliance objectives are met.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical, Computer, Mechanical, Aerospace, or related engineering discipline.
• 10+ years of engineering experience in aerospace, avionics, defense, or related industries.
• 3+ years of engineering leadership or management experience with direct reports.
• Demonstrated success managing complex hardware development programs across the full product lifecycle.
• A people-first leadership record: talent development, coaching and mentoring, performance management, and team building.
• Experience supporting manufacturing, production, and fielded-product environments.
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to lead through influence in a matrixed organization.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a multidisciplinary hardware engineering team, empowering subject-matter experts to drive technical excellence and innovation.
• Build a high-performing engineering culture: coach and mentor engineers and emerging leaders, own succession and workforce planning, and champion employee engagement.
• Drive execution of new product development, product enhancement, and sustaining engineering to cost, schedule, quality, and performance objectives.
• Provide technical oversight of hardware architecture, design reviews, trade studies, and verification activities across the product lifecycle.
• Champion Design for Excellence (DFX): manufacturability, cost, test, reliability, and supportability.
• Own component selection, obsolescence management, and long-term sustainment strategy for the product line.
• Partner with senior leaders, program managers, customers, and functional stakeholders to drive successful program outcomes and organizational effectiveness.
• Support proposals, basis-of-estimate development, and customer technical engagements.
• Collaborate with product management, software engineering, systems engineering, and other stakeholders to define product requirements and roadmaps.
• Act as the hardware technical liaison with customers, suppliers, and regulatory agencies when required.
• Utilize AI tools and workflows to augment and optimize hardware engineering staff.

Skills

Engineering leadership

People management

Hardware engineering

Cross-functional collaboration

Strategic planning

AI tooling awareness

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical/Computer/Mechanical/Aerospace

Master’s degree desirable

Tools

RF testing tools

DO-254 knowledge

Manufacturing/testability tooling

Job description

Acron Aviation is seeking a Hardware Engineering Manager for its Surveillance product line. You will lead a diverse team across RF, FPGA/Firmware, Electrical, Mechanical, CAD, and Component Engineering to deliver mission-critical avionics hardware from concept through certification and lifecycle support.

You will shape strategy, workforce planning, and execution, building high-performing teams and accelerating product development while ensuring cost, schedule, and compliance objectives are met.