Director of Hardware
Leads hardware engineering for aircraft systems from design through production, testing, and field reliability. Oversees structures, avionics, power, and integration while managing team and technical decisions in fast-paced environment.
About the job
What You'll Do
- Own aircraft hardware execution across structures, avionics, power, and system integration.
- Lead and grow the hardware engineering team with a strong emphasis on quality, accountability, and velocity.
- Make and drive critical technical decisions through design reviews, trade studies, and system integration.
- Take hardware from prototype to production with a focus on manufacturability and reliability.
- Partner closely with manufacturing, supply chain, and flight test to close the loop between design, production, and operations.
- Establish hardware standards, documentation, and test practices that scale with the fleet.
- Support certification, compliance, and customer driven requirements as programs mature.
What You'll Bring
- Proven experience shipping complex hardware systems into production.
- Experience leading hardware teams while staying close to design and integration work.
- Strong background in avionics, aircraft systems, or tightly integrated electromechanical platforms.
- Experience with UAVs, aircraft certification environments, or defense programs.
- A track record of building hardware that performs in real operational environments.
- Comfort operating in fast moving teams with real schedule, cost, and mission constraints.
- Willingness to be on the floor, at the flight line, and in the loop when things break.
Bonus Points
- Experience scaling hardware from early production to higher volume.
- Startup experience building teams, processes, and systems from the ground up.
Skills
Avionics, Aircraft Systems, Electromechanical Systems, Uavs, Design Reviews, Trade Studies, System Integration, Hardware Manufacturing, Reliability Engineering, Aircraft Certification
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