Sr. Specialist, Systems Engineer (Environmental Qualification)

Acron Aviation; Phoenix (AZ); On-site; USD 130,000 - 195,000; Full time

Job summary

Acron Aviation is seeking aSenior Specialist, Systems Engineer for Environmental Qualifications to provide technical leadership in planning, coordination, execution, and closure of qualification activities for airborne surveillance products.

The role requires DO-160 experience and close collaboration with systems, hardware, software, certification, quality, and program management teams, as well as external labs and suppliers.

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering or related field.
• Minimum 9 years of relevant experience for non-grouped role; 7 years with graduate degree.
• Experience planning, executing, witnessing, or documenting environmental qualification testing per RTCA DO-160.
• Experience developing qualification plans, test procedures, acceptance criteria, and formal test reports.
• Ability to interpret requirements, diagrams, and certification plans.
• Experience coordinating environmental laboratories, instrumentation, and test fixtures.

Responsibilities

• Own environmental qualification approach for assigned avionics products in accordance with RTCA DO-160 and applicable requirements.
• Develop and maintain environmental qualification plans, compliance matrices, and final qualification reports.
• Define DO-160 sections, categories, methods, levels, and test configurations with stakeholders.
• Lead qualification planning, scheduling, and laboratory readiness activities.
• Chair test readiness reviews and ensure readiness before test start.
• Provide onsite or remote technical leadership during testing and interface with test labs.
• Assess anomalies, determine root causes, and lead containment and retest planning.
• Coordinate root-cause investigations and corrective actions, project closures.

Skills

Environmental qualification planning

DO-160 expertise

Test analysis

Project coordination

Leadership

Education

B.S. in Aerospace Engineering

Job description

Acron Aviation designs, engineers, and manufactures certified avionics systems that support safety-critical flight operations across commercial and military aviation. Within Avionics, the Surveillance product line develops and sustains systems that enable aircraft awareness, collision avoidance, and airspace interoperability. Our portfolio includes TCAS, Mode S transponders, ADS-B, and integrated surveillance solutions deployed across commercial, military, and rotorcraft platforms. This work is performed in highly regulated environments and demands deep expertise across systems, hardware, software, and RF throughout the full product lifecycle.

Acron Aviation is seeking a Senior Specialist, Systems Engineer for our Environmental Qualifications to provide technical leadership for the planning, coordination, execution, and closure of environmental qualification activities for airborne surveillance and avionics products. This senior individual contributor will own qualification strategy and execution across assigned programs, ensuring product requirements, certification objectives, test configurations, laboratory activities, and compliance evidence are complete, traceable, and technically defensible.

The successful candidate will combine systems-level judgment with practical qualification-test experience. The role requires close coordination with systems, hardware, software, mechanical, certification, quality, program management, suppliers, customers, and internal or external test laboratories. The engineer will lead test readiness, resolve qualification issues, communicate risks clearly, and drive activities through final reporting and closure.

Responsibilities:

• Own the environmental qualification approach for assigned avionics products and programs in accordance with RTCA DO-160 and applicable customer, regulatory, and internal requirements.
• Develop and maintain environmental qualification plans, compliance matrices, test procedures, test readiness packages, configuration records, discrepancy documentation, and final qualification reports.
• Define applicable DO-160 sections, categories, methods, levels, operating modes, test configurations, monitoring requirements, and pass/fail criteria in coordination with design and certification stakeholders.
• Lead qualification planning and schedule integration, including test sequencing, laboratory reservations, article availability, instrumentation, fixtures, support equipment, staffing, and contingency planning.
• Chair or lead test readiness reviews and confirm that the test article, hardware and software baselines, procedures, laboratory capabilities, calibrated instrumentation, interfaces, and safety controls are ready before test start.
• Provide onsite or remote technical leadership during testing and serve as the primary engineering interface to internal laboratories and third-party qualification facilities.
• Assess test anomalies and failures, determine whether results are attributable to the product, test method, instrumentation, fixture, software, or laboratory setup, and lead containment and recovery planning.
• Coordinate and complete root-cause investigations, corrective actions, procedure updates, retest scope, regression testing, and certification impact assessments.
• Review laboratory data, plots, photographs, logs, calibration records, deviations, and draft reports for accuracy, completeness, traceability, and consistency with approved procedures.
• Maintain configuration control and traceability for qualification articles, modifications, software loads, test equipment, instrumentation, procedures, raw data, and final evidence.
• Provide environmental design guidance and lessons learned during requirements development, architecture reviews, detailed design reviews, and product change assessments.
• Communicate qualification status, schedule risk, failures, recovery plans, and compliance impacts to engineering and program leadership, customers, suppliers, and certification stakeholders.
• Mentor engineers and technicians in DO-160 planning, laboratory execution, data review, anomaly disposition, and qualification documentation.
• Coordinate and execute Environmental Test Campaigns.

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.
• Bachelor's degree with a minimum of 9 years of relevant experience, or a graduate degree with a minimum of 7 years of relevant experience; avionics or aerospace experience is preferred.
• Demonstrated experience planning, executing, witnessing, or documenting environmental qualification testing to RTCA DO-160.
• Experience developing and executing qualification plans, test procedures, acceptance criteria, readiness-review material, discrepancy documentation, and formal test reports.
• Ability to interpret equipment requirements, system requirements, interface control documents, electrical schematics, mechanical drawings, and certification plans.
• Experience coordinating environmental laboratories, instrumentation, test fixtures, monitoring equipment, schedules, and technical support.
• Experience leading test anomaly investigations and making technically sound recommendations for corrective action and retest scope.
• Ability to manage several qualification activities simultaneously and communicate concise status, risks, decisions, and recovery plans.
• Ability to work independently with minimal oversight and lead cross-functional technical teams.

Additional Qualifications:

• Experience across several DO-160 (or MIL-STD-810) disciplines, including temperature and altitude, temperature variation, humidity, operational shock and crash safety, vibration, waterproofness, fluids susceptibility, sand and dust, fungus, salt fog, magnetic effect, power input, voltage spike, audio-frequency conducted susceptibility, induced signal susceptibility, radio-frequency susceptibility, emissions, lightning-induced transients, lightning direct effects, icing, electrostatic discharge, or flammability.
• Experience qualifying airborne surveillance or avionics products such as transponders, TCAS, ADS-B, displays, flight data recorders, or related Line Replaceable Units.
• Knowledge of ARP4754A, DO-178, DO-254, FAA or EASA certification practices, configuration management, and compliance evidence development.
• Experience reviewing third-party laboratory procedures, instrumentation lists, calibration records, raw data, plots, photographs, deviations, and final reports.
• Experience with requirements-management, configuration-control, data-analysis, and issue-tracking tools.

Equal Opportunity Statement

Acron Aviation is proud to be an Afficate…* (continued)

Additional Information:

Acron Aviation maintains a drug-free workplace and conducts pre-employment substance abuse testing and background checks, where allowed by law. Acron Aviation is an E-Verify employer.

U.S. Person Requirement

This position may require access to information, technology, software, or hardware that is subject to U.S. export control laws and regulations. To comply with these requirements, applicants must qualify as a U.S. Person.