Senior Staff Project Engineer

Elbit America, Inc.; Merrimack (NH); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation

401(k) program

Medical, dental, vision coverage

Life Insurance

Flexible VAC/PTO

Parental Leave

Employee Referral Program

Tricare supplements

Job summary

Elbit America, Inc. seeks a Senior Staff Project Engineer to lead cross‑functional engineering teams on complex defense programs at Merrimack, NH. The role emphasizes ethics, teamwork, and high integrity in an inclusive, collaborative environment.

You will own project execution, cost/schedule baselines, risk management, and customer reviews, while mentoring staff and coordinating with PMs and CAMs to meet program objectives.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, Physics or relevant technical discipline.
• PMP certification is preferred.
• Earned Value Management experience is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary technical POC with the customer and lead the engineering team in technical reviews.
• Mediate and adjudicate conflicts within the engineering team and with the program manager.
• Lead engineering project execution including cost, schedule, and technical baselines.
• Staff and resource plan with PMs and CAMs to ensure plan alignment.
• Develop and maintain IMS, WBS, and risk/opportunity registers.
• Mentor and coach project team members to improve efficiency.

Skills

Leadership skills

EVMS experience

PMP certification

Customer liaison

Team mentoring

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical/Mechanical/C.S./Physics

Job description

Job Summary

We are currently recruiting for a Senior Staff Project Engineer-- but we are looking for more than an impressive skill set. We are looking for the type of person who respects others for their knowledge, skills, and experience as individuals and as team members. We want someone who is highly ethical, honest, fair…because that's who we are. If you are the type of person who has high integrity and would thrive in an inclusive environment of camaraderie with your fellow teammates, we're pretty confident you'll love it here.

Responsibilities and Tasks

Project Execution

• Primary technical POC with the customer, lead engineering team in the development of the technical review packages and lead customer technical reviews
• Mediate and Adjudicate conflicts that arise within the engineering team and between engineering and the program manager Support the business unit in identification, mitigation, and management of risks, issues, and opportunities, specifically focused on the technical and engineering aspects
• Lead engineering project execution to include the cost, schedule and technical baselines for all engineering activities
• Partner with PM's, Engineering Functional Managers, and Functional CAMs to ensure the project is being staffed and executed to plan
• Manage project scope ensuring budget/schedule changes are made with corresponding scope changes

Cost and Schedule Management

• Utilize EVMS (scaled as appropriate) to monitor and control engineering cost and schedule performance
• Ensure IMS is kept up to date with support from appropriate PP&C personnel or schedulers
• Work with team to develop both technical and process improvement work arounds to mitigate potential cost and schedule variances
• Coordinate/document variance reporting with the CAMs, or leads, as appropriate
• Update WBS as required
• Conduct project reviews as required, reporting program status to senior management
• Continuously work with the team to identify ways to improve efficiency of the technical team's performance
• Mentor/coach project team members to help achieve efficient and effective project execution.

Bids and Proposals

• Develop/coordinate engineering program bid and execution baselines (technical, scope, cost, schedule, risk, opportunities…) IAW defined scope and objectives
• Partner with Systems Engineers and Director(s) to provide innovative technical solutions to fit within budget and schedule constraints
• Develop/Lead the development of bids and BOE's IAW company policy, using historical data wherever possible
• Develop engineering WBS, IAW company standards tailored as appropriate to meet specific project requirements
• Develop/support the development of the IMS, developing work packages and staffing requirements
• Coordinate and document process tailoring activities for specific project requirements
• Document risks and opportunities associated with the Engineering Bid
• Develop bid package and obtain approval from relevant stakeholders

Project Planning

• Develop/refine engineering WBS, IAW company standards tailored as appropriate to meet specific project requirements
• Clearly define and document project scope and deliverables
• Coordinate and integrate the different functional inputs into a coherent executable project plan.
• Establish, negotiate and allocate budgets to the CAMs
• Coordinate the development of the engineering portion of the resource loaded IMS
• Coordinate the development of the initial risk and opportunity register
• Communicate staffing requirements to functional management in support of the engineering resource planning process

Resource Management

• Develop and maintain staffing requirements (by skill and time phased) - ideally through a resource loaded schedule.
• Negotiate staffing requirements with Engineering Functional leadership
• Enter and maintain staffing requirements into workforce planning tool.
• Support functional staffing analysis for future work
• Partner with functional management in employee performance assessment, development, and corrective action
• Identify and report variances between staffing levels vs plan

Process

• Execute role IAW project management process and other relevant procedures
• Support company level process initiatives and audits
• Continually seek ways to improve efficiency and performance
• Partner with functional management to establish process tailoring. Identify risks associated with tailored tasks.

People/Relationships

• Establish and maintain business unit partnerships
• Establish and maintain key Elbit, customer, and engineering functional management relationships
• Establish and maintain relationships with Applications Engineering

Expected Leadership Characteristics

• Encourages and builds mutual trust, respect, and cooperation among team members
• Fosters an environment where employees are valued and cost effectiveness and efficiency is rewarded
• Clearly explains project assignments, expectations, priorities, and follows up to ensure they are met
• Practices the philosophy of communicate, negotiate, elevate when dealing with others
• Delegates tasks as appropriate
• Agile and open to change, embracing it to deal with unpredictable or unexpected events
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Assumes responsibility for their project's performance
• Practices self-improvement
• Looks for outside opinions and advice
• Exemplifies the company core values (Ethics, Customer Focus, Respect, and Excellence
• Coaches/develops others and is open to coaching and feedback

Knowledge (Education/License/Certification, Prior Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, Physics or relevant technical discipline with advanced technical degree(s) preferred.
• 20 years relevant product development experience (Military products preferred)
• CAM experience preferred
• PMP certification preferred
• Earned Value Management experience strongly preferred

Skills and Abilities

• Demonstrated leadership skills
• Strong written and verbal communication skills

Here Are Some of the Great Benefits We Offer:

• Most locations offer a 9/80 schedule, providing every other Friday off
• Competitive compensation & 401(k) program to plan for your future
• Robust medical, dental, vision, & disability coverage with qualified wellness discounts
• Basic Life Insurance and Additional Life & AD&D Insurances are available
• Flexible Vacation & PTO
• Paid Parental Leave
• Generous Employee Referral Program
• Voluntary Benefits Available: Longer Term Care, Legal, Identity Theft, Pet Insurance, and more
• Voluntary Tricare Supplement available for military retirees

This job description does not list all the duties of the job. You may be asked by your supervisors or managers to perform other duties. The employer has the right to revise this job description at any time. The job description is not an employment contract. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position. Twenty‑Six Defense is an equal opportunity employer as to all protected groups, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.

*For Virginia-based positions only*

In accordance with Virginia DOL requirements, the listed salary range reflects the anticipated base pay range for this role. Actual compensation will be determined based on factors including skills, experience, education, certifications, business needs, internal equity, and geographic location. Compensation may vary in different locations based on market conditions and cost‑of‑labor considerations.