Senior Manager, Airworthiness and Certification

Merlin Labs; United States; Remote; USD 198,000 - 263,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Unlimited vacation

401(k) with match

Equity

Job summary

Merlin Labs is seeking a senior leader to own civil certification (FAA Part 23/25) while guiding the Military Airworthiness Lead and Cyber Certification Lead and their teams. You will report to the VP of Airworthiness & certification and drive certification strategy across civil and defense programs on a demanding schedule.

You will build and scale processes, engage regulators, and translate evolving guidance into defensible, schedule-friendly certification plans that enable Merlin to deliver

Qualifications

• Direct, hands-on experience achieving FAA Part 23 and/or Part 25 type certificates or STCs, including EASA validation.
• Bachelor’s degree in aerospace/ mechanical engineering, computer science, or related field; master’s preferred.
• Minimum 12+ years aerospace certification experience with 5+ years leading or managing a technical team.
• Proven ability to lead certification efforts for complex aircraft technologies interfacing with regulators.

Responsibilities

• Lead civil certification strategy with FAA and foreign authorities, serving as primary technical authority and liaison.
• Manage new civil certification projects: standardization, assessments, plans, risk papers, and compliance.
• Grow Military Airworthiness and Cyber Certification teams; mentor, standardize, and review technical work.
• Oversee military airworthiness strategy for defense programs; escalate to mitigate risks.
• Oversee MIL-HDBK-516C, MIL-STD-882E and DEF STANs documentation and closure of related items.
• Oversee cyber certification strategy across civil and military programs; integrate with safety processes.
• Partner with process assurance and discipline leads to align certification with broader framework.
• Drive continuous improvement based on audits, lessons learned, and DoD guidance.
• Report program health and roadmap to the VP; oversee cross-discipline process improvements.
• Build scalable certification frameworks to support civil and defense program portfolio growth.

Skills

Leadership

Regulatory liaison

Cross-functional leadership

Communication

Project management

Designee appointment & ODA management

Education

Bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, or related field

Master’s degree preferred

Tools

DO-178C

DO-254

MIL-STD-882E

14 CFR Part 21/23/25/183

MIL-HDBK-516

Job description

About Merlin

Merlin (NASDAQ: MRLN) is a publicly traded aerospace and defense company building a non-human pilot to deliver full-stack autonomy for any aircraft from takeoff to touchdown. The Merlin Pilot autonomy system powers a growing range of aircraft and mission profiles and has been proven through hundreds of autonomous flights from Merlin's global flight test facilities, including Kerikeri, New Zealand; Quonset Point, Rhode Island; and soon, Bedford, Massachusetts. Headquartered in Boston, Merlin is expanding its organization to accelerate the development and deployment of its autonomy platform, helping customers solve some of aviation's most pressing challenges, from pilot shortages to improving flight safety. Backed by some of the world's leading investors prior to its public listing, Merlin continues to advance the certification and commercialization of autonomous flight across commercial and defense aviation.

About You

This role pairs deep, personal expertise in civil certification with the people leadership needed to manage two additional, interdependent certification disciplines: military airworthiness and cyber security certification. You are a proven certification leader with extensive, hands-on experience managing complex civil certification programs through FAA Part 23 and Part 25, EASA CS-23 and CS-25, and foreign validations. You also bring working experience in military airworthiness through MIL-HDBK-516C and MIL-STD-882E compliance. You understand the process rigor and collaborative relationships required to achieve airworthiness approvals across civil and military domains, and how airborne cyber security assurance requirements must be part of the initial design concepts on every new program. You lead by building relationships within the organization and externally with regulators, sponsoring offices, and your own team of certification leads, and you know how to translate emerging and often ambiguous guidance into a defensible, schedule-compatible certification strategy.

Merlin Labs builds autonomous aviation systems for civil and defense customers, and the engineering organization behind that work needs a leader who is personally expert in civil certification and who can manage the work of the military airworthiness lead and Cyber Certification Lead. You will own civil certification (FAA Part 23 and Part 25) directly, while leading the military airworthiness lead and cyber certification lead and their teams, reporting to the VP of Airworthiness & certification. If you want to grow and lead the certification and airworthiness teams that enable Merlin to field robust, certifiable autonomous systems to civil and defense customers on a demanding schedule, this is the role for you.

Responsibilities

• Support current New Zealand CAANZ certification activities for the U.S. based aspects and lead Merlin's civil certification strategy with the FAA and other foreign authorities, serving as primary technical authority and primary liaison with regulatory authorities for U.S. certifications.
• Manage all aspects of new civil certification projects: Core process standardization, A&C initial assessments, compliance strategies and A & C plans, issue papers and risk assessments, and guide the Merlin team to final compliance.
• Lead and grow the Military Airworthiness and Cyber Certification teams, setting priorities, establishing and standardizing core processes, mentoring, and reviewing technical work while the team executes day-to-day military airworthiness and cyber certification activities.
• Oversee the military airworthiness certification strategy for Merlin's defense programs through the Military Airworthiness Lead, serving as an escalation point to mitigate technical, resource, and capability risks.
• Oversee closure of Military Certification Review Items (MCRIs), Issue Papers, and related airworthiness documentation through the Military Airworthiness Lead, ensuring compliance with MIL-HDBK-516C, MIL-STD-882E, applicable DEF STANs, and JSSG guidance.
• Oversee the cyber security certification strategy across civil and military programs through the Cyber Certification Lead, driving integration of airborne cyber security assurance activities with existing safety and development assurance processes and serve as an escalation point to mitigate technical, resource, capability risks.
• Partner with the process assurance manager and engineering discipline leads to integrate civil certification, military airworthiness, and cyber security certification processes with Merlin's broader process assurance and configuration management framework.
• Drive continuous improvement of civil certification, military airworthiness, and cyber security certification processes based on audit findings, program lessons learned, and evolving regulatory and DoD guidance.
• Report to the VP of Airworthiness & certification on program health for civil certification and military airworthiness projects as well as the process improvement roadmap across all three disciplines.
• Build scalable, repeatable civil certification, military airworthiness, and cyber security frameworks to ensure the success of all three functions as Merlin adds civil and defense programs to their portfolio.

Qualifications

• Direct, hands-on experience achieving FAA Part 23 and/or Part 25 type certificates, amendments, or Supplemental Type Certificates, including EASA CS-23/CS-25 or other foreign validation experience.
• Bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field; master’s degree in a related field preferred.
• Minimum of 12+ years of aerospace certification experience, including significant exposure to FAA and foreign certification processes and 5+ years of experience leading or managing a team of engineers, including hiring, mentoring, and performance management across technical disciplines.
• Proven ability to lead certification efforts for complex new or novel aircraft technologies: interfacing directly with regulatory authorities and managing certification projects from establishment of certification basis, resolution of issue papers and risk assessments, through certification closure or airworthiness approval.
• Strong leadership and project management capabilities in cross-functional environments.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to produce high-quality certification documentation.
• Experience with designee appointment and management processes and Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) management.
• Strong working knowledge of 14 CFR Part 21, 23, 25, and 183.
• Familiarity in 14 CFR Part 43 and 145 procedures and Part 91 and 135 operations.
• Working knowledge of:
  • Systems engineering principles — requirements decomposition, V&V planning, and configuration management.
  • Software and hardware assurance standards (DO-178C, DO-254, MIL-STD-882).
  • Safety assessment methodologies: FHA, FMEA/FMECA, FTA, common cause analysis.
  • Airworthiness standards relevant to military platforms — MIL-SPECs, MIL-STDs, JSSG-2001, and MIL-HDBK-516.
  • DoD cybersecurity and information assurance frameworks (e.g., RMF, NIST SP 800-53, CMMC) as they apply to airborne systems and Controlled Unclassified Information on defense programs.
  • Airborne cyber security assurance standards (DO-326A/ED-202A, DO-356A/ED-203A) and how cyber security risk assessments integrate with ARP4754A/ARP4761A safety processes
  • Emerging aerospace technologies such as UAVs or advanced air mobility.

Nice to Have

• Experience with ASTM F3230 and F3061 consensus standards, or other Part 23 / consensus-based certification bases relevant to small and autonomous aircraft.
• Background in autonomous or unmanned aviation systems (UAS/UAV).
• Prior experience in military operational environments.
• Familiarity with machine learning-based software assurance and its intersection with cyber security certification.
• Experience building or scaling certification functions in a growing company.
• Experience in AI applications used in standardization of processes, procedures and requirements.

$197,800 - $263,055 a year

The compensation range provided is a good-faith estimate based on a wide range of factors, inclusive of base salary only. The actual offer will be determined by a variety of factors including the candidate's qualifications, skills, experience, education, and training. Highly competitive equity grants are considered part of Merlin's total compensation package. Additionally, Merlin offers top-tier benefits for full-time employees.

Merlin Labs offers an innovative, entrepreneurial, and team-focused startup environment. We also offer a top-notch benefits package (health, dental, life, unlimited vacation, and 401k with match) and work/life integration. Being part of the Merlin team allows you to become part of a small team that supports professional development while working together to achieve our mission.

Merlin Labs is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, genetic information, sex (including pregnancy), gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, military service or obligation or disability status, or any other characteristic protected by law. All job offers are contingent upon the candidate passing background and reference checks.

At this time, we are unable to provide visa sponsorship or consider candidates who require visa transfers. Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States without the need for visa sponsorship now or in the future.

In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire.

If you require reasonable accommodation in completing an application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please direct your inquiries to: [e-mail]

Merlin Labs does not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than directly from candidates.