Test Operations Supervisor

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems; Palmdale (CA); On-site; USD 89,180 - 155,825; Full time

Job summary

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) seeks a seasoned Test Operations Leader to plan and manage daily activities at our High Desert Flight Operations Facility in Palmdale, CA.

This role ensures safe, compliant ground and flight testing of avionics, airframe, and powerplant systems, coordinating with customer teams. The incumbent will supervise schedules, allocate resources, and guide cross-functional teams to meet program objectives while maintaining cost and schedule.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a related technical field and 9+ years of progressive professional experience in manufacturing processes, planning, scheduling, and budget management.

Responsibilities

• Manage and coordinate planning, scheduling, and activities of Test Operations personnel to meet objectives safely and effectively.
• Schedule daily work assignments with consistent personnel support for medium- to long-term test programs.
• Lead cross-functional teams to configure unmanned aircraft system software and hardware to meet test objectives with internal and external customer engineering teams.
• Provide high-level technical assistance to test and sustainment teams in troubleshooting complex systems.
• Track and document test performance and provide feedback to customers.
• Develop processes to improve consistency and reliability of test execution methods across multiple platforms.

Skills

Project management

Leadership

Analytical skills

Verbal and written communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in a related technical field

Job description

Job Summary

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), an affiliate of General Atomics, is a world leader in proven, reliable remotely piloted aircraft and tactical reconnaissance radars, as well as advanced high‑resolution surveillance systems. We have an exciting opportunity for a motivated, well‑organized leader in the Test Operations department at GA-ASI. This position is responsible for planning and managing the daily activities of Test Operations at one of our High Desert Flight Operations Facilities. This includes ground and flight test execution, routine maintenance, modification, troubleshooting, and repair of highly complex avionics, airframe and powerplant systems used in air vehicles, ground control stations, ground data terminals, and ground support equipment. It manages and coordinates activities to ensure the safe and effective operation of customer fleets while maintaining cost and schedule, providing a quality test environment to meet customer objectives. The role includes cross‑functional collaboration with internal and external customers, decision making that may impact the department such as schedule changes or resource allocation, and ensuring regulatory compliance with FAA, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Army standards and practices. It oversees daily activities including planning, supervision, and assignment of work to Test Operations personnel and provides oversight and insight for on‑the‑job training activities.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Manage and coordinate the planning, scheduling, and activities of Test Operations personnel to achieve company and customer objectives safely and effectively.
• Manage and schedule daily work assignments ensuring consistent personnel are available to support medium‑to‑long term test programs.
• Lead cross‑functional teams to ensure unmanned aircraft system software and hardware is properly configured to meet test objectives, collaborating with internal and external customer engineering teams.
• Provide high‑level technical assistance to test and sustainment teams in troubleshooting highly complex systems.
• Track and document test performance, providing feedback to internal and external customers.
• Develop processes to improve consistency and reliability of test execution methods employed across multiple customer platforms.

Job Qualifications

• Typically requires a Bachelor’s degree in a related technical field and nine or more years of progressive professional experience in manufacturing processes and procedures, planning, scheduling, and budget management with at least three of those years leading manufacturing processes and/or personnel. Equivalent experience may be substituted for education.
• Must demonstrate a strong technical understanding of airframe and powerplant or avionics principles and practices.
• Must have proven project management and leadership skills, including organizing, planning, scheduling, and coordinating workloads to meet established deadlines or milestones.
• Must have the ability to identify issues, analyze and interpret data, and develop innovative solutions to a variety of complex problems, along with strong analytical, verbal, and written communication skills to accurately document, report, and present findings to a variety of audiences.
• May be required to represent the company on external projects, work extended hours, and travel as needed.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a DoD Security Clearance is required.

Job Type and Compensation

Job Type: Full‑Time Salary. Salary range: 89,180 - 155,825.