Director, Mission Systems

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a multidisciplinary organization spanning operational analysis, aircraft survivability, communications, and integrated mission systems.
• Establish organizational priorities, accountability, technical strategy, capability roadmaps, and investment priorities aligned with aircraft programs, customer requirements, and business goals.
• Oversee integrated mission-system architectures involving sensors, payloads, avionics, weapons, secure communications, autonomy, and aircraft survivability.
• Direct modeling, simulation, wargaming, and system-of-systems analysis to evaluate mission effectiveness, threats, and aircraft design alternatives.
• Lead cross-functional trade studies balancing mission capability, survivability, technical risk, cost, schedule, manufacturability, and program maturity.
• Oversee execution from requirements and architecture development through hardware-in-the-loop testing, signature validation, flight test, certification, fielding, and sustainment.
• Partner with engineering, product, program management, business development, and aircraft leadership teams.
• Engage Department of Defense customers, operators, suppliers, and government stakeholders to shape requirements and concepts of operations.
• Recruit, coach, and develop people managers and senior technical leaders.
• Ensure compliance with system safety, airworthiness, cybersecurity, security, and certification requirements.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, science, mathematics, or another relevant technical discipline.
• 10+ years of experience supporting complex military aircraft, autonomous systems, or aerospace and defense programs.
• Experience leading and developing multidisciplinary engineering organizations, including people managers and senior technical leaders.
• Broad knowledge of mission systems, operational analysis, modeling and simulation, survivability, secure communications, avionics, sensors, payloads, or weapons integration.
• Experience establishing organizational and technical strategies while managing technical, programmatic, and organizational risk.
• Ability to balance mission performance and engineering requirements with cost, schedule, product maturity, and business priorities.
• Experience overseeing aircraft capabilities across the product lifecycle, from requirements and architecture through integration, testing, certification, fielding, and sustainment.
• Executive-level communication and stakeholder-influence skills.
• U.S. citizenship and an active Secret security clearance, with the ability to obtain and maintain a Top Secret clearance and required SAP/SAR accesses.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree or PhD in aerospace engineering, systems engineering, electrical engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• Leadership experience on military UAS, advanced autonomous aircraft, collaborative combat aircraft, or fifth-generation fighter programs involving integrated mission systems and survivability.
• Experience advancing products or major capabilities from customer shaping and early concept development through acquisition, integration, flight test, validation, and tactical deployment.
• Experience with multidomain operational analysis, CONOPS development, force-on-force modeling, threat assessment, or survivability analysis in contested environments.
• Knowledge of model-based systems engineering, SysML, Department of Defense acquisition and JCIDS processes, electronic warfare, low-observable communications, and AI-enabled sensors or payloads.
• Experience developing modular, open-system mission architectures supporting rapid capability insertion and third-party payload integration.
• Active Top Secret clearance with SCI eligibility and experience supporting classified Department of Defense or Intelligence Community programs.