Staff Aircraft Configuration Manager

What you'll do

Enterprise Configuration Source of Truth

• Maintain the authoritative catalog of approved aircraft configurations across the enterprise: every variant, build standard, payload combination, and software baseline currently in operation or planned.
• Reconcile configuration data tracked separately by Engineering, Sustainment, Customer Success, and Field Operations into a single ground-truth record.
• Resolve discrepancies between departments and own the corrected master state.

Quarterly Update Planning & Execution

• Receive configuration release packages from Engineering each quarter and build the rollout plan that determines which aircraft get updated when, by whom, and in what sequence.
• Coordinate installation windows with Sustainment, AVOs, Field Operations, and customers on deployed aircraft.
• Track update status from kickoff through 100% fleet compliance and report progress to Mission Control and senior leadership.

Cross-Functional Configuration Coordination

• Serve as the primary Fleet Strategy interface to Engineering for new configurations, ECPs, and design changes that affect the fielded fleet.
• Coordinate update windows with customers operating deployed aircraft.
• Schedule Sustainment or field teams for installation activities.
• Flag configuration constraints (eligibility, dependencies, downtime impacts) to Mission Control during fleet allocation decisions.

Configuration Change Records & Compliance

• Maintain audit-quality records of every configuration change to every aircraft in the fleet.
• Ensure compliance with contractual configuration requirements per customer and per program.
• Support internal and customer audits with complete documentation of fielded configuration state and change history.

Required qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Aviation Management, Operations Research, or related field.
• 7+ years of experience in aerospace configuration management, program management, or fleet operations.
• Formal configuration management experience: baselines, ECPs, TDP, change control boards.
• Demonstrated ability to coordinate cross-functional rollout plans across multiple internal organizations.
• Strong organizational and documentation skills.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to interface across Engineering, Operations, and customer-facing organizations.

Preferred qualifications

• Advanced degree in Engineering Management or Systems Engineering.
• Prior military experience in aviation maintenance, logistics, or program management with exposure to configuration management.
• Experience managing fleet-wide software or hardware update campaigns.
• Familiarity with V-BAT, fixed-wing UAS, or other unmanned aircraft systems.
• Experience with PLM, ERP, or configuration tracking platforms.
• Understanding of contractual configuration requirements in government contracts (FFP, CPFF, OTA).