Senior Production Chief Engineer – Systems Integrity

Roboticsconnected; Petaluma (CA); On-site; USD 170,000 - 272,000; Full time

Job summary

AeroVironment seeks a Chief Engineer – Production to provide senior technical leadership for MUAS production, sustainment, and lifecycle support. You will be the primary technical authority for production programs, ensuring safety, reliability, manufacturability, and compliance with customer and business requirements.

Lead resolution of complex issues, guide engineering changes, and coordinate across engineering, operations, quality, supply chain, PM, and customer support.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering from an accredited institution.
• 15+ years of progressive engineering experience in aerospace, defense, unmanned systems, or related field.
• Experience as a technical lead or chief engineer.
• Experience with engineering/change/configuration/requirements management.
• Led cross-functional technical teams and resolved complex production issues.
• Root-cause analysis and reliability improvement experience.
• Knowledge of systems engineering, integration, verification, validation, and test processes.
• Strong written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Ability to obtain/maintain U.S. government security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Serve as senior technical authority for MUAS production and sustainment programs.
• Maintain product baseline ownership: architecture, requirements, interfaces, configuration, performance.
• Lead engineering support for products in production and deployed in the field.
• Drive resolution of complex technical issues across design, manufacturing, testing and supply chains.
• Lead root-cause investigations and ensure effective corrective actions.
• Provide technical direction for engineering changes, deviations, waivers, and nonconformances.
• Evaluate proposed product and supplier changes for impact.
• Collaborate with manufacturing to improve producibility, yield, and quality.
• Support production readiness, rate increases, and acceptance testing.
• Lead or participate in design reviews, production reviews, and program reviews.
• Mentor engineers and promote technical rigor and continuous improvement.

Skills

Technical leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Systems engineering knowledge

Root-cause analysis

Engineering change management

Requirements management

Configuration management

Communication skills

Decision making under constraints

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering

Master’s degree in engineering

Job description

AeroVironment seeks a Chief Engineer – Production to provide senior technical leadership for MUAS production, sustainment, and lifecycle support. You will be the primary technical authority for production programs, ensuring safety, reliability, manufacturability, and compliance with customer and business requirements.

Lead resolution of complex issues, guide engineering changes, and coordinate across engineering, operations, quality, supply chain, PM, and customer support.