Program Chief Engineer, Cyclops (Remote considered)

Program Chief Engineer, Cyclops
DESCRIPTION
The Chief Engineer for Cyclops is the ultimate technical authority for Long Wall’s major interceptor product. This role owns the technical baseline, architecture, requirements, configuration, verification strategy, and overall technical mission success of interceptor products. The chief engineer operates as a peer to program management, jointly leading the program while ensuring that technical integrity is never compromised by schedule pressure or external commitments. This role integrates the work of systems engineering, mission assurance, engineering disciplines, and project management into a coherent, defensible technical execution plan. The chief engineer ensures that all technical decisions are traceable, analytically supported, and aligned with customer expectations and mission needs.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

- Serve as the technical authority for the Cyclops product, owning the system architecture, requirements, technical baseline, and verification strategy.

- Define and maintain the system’s technical configuration, ensuring all design changes follow disciplined evaluation and protect system integrity.

- Lead technical decision making across propulsion, avionics, structures, mechanisms, GNC, software, materials, manufacturing engineering, and integration.

- Coordinate closely with systems engineering to maintain requirements traceability, ICDs, architecture, and verification planning.

- Partner with mission assurance to evaluate reliability, safety, and readiness, ensuring technical decisions reflect disciplined risk assessment.

- Work as a peer leader with project management, protecting technical integrity while ensuring realistic schedule and resource alignment.

- Lead technical reviews (architecture, design, integration, verification planning, readiness reviews) and ensure technical artifacts are complete, defensible, and configuration controlled.

- Guide cross discipline engineering teams to ensure development, integration, and test work remains aligned with the technical baseline and long‑term mission needs.

- Resolve cross functional technical issues, adjudicate design trades, and maintain system level coherence across fast paced development cycles.

- Represent the technical state of Cyclops product to executive leadership, external stakeholders, and government customers, ensuring clarity on risk, maturity, and technical readiness.

- Mentor engineering discipline leads and help grow Long Wall’s technical foundations by establishing standards, processes, and review discipline.

- Support expansion of chief engineering into a fully staffed technical authority function as the company scales across future product lines.

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

- Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Aerospace, Systems Engineering, or related engineering discipline.

- 12+ years of experience in complex aerospace or defense system development, with significant ownership over systemlevel design, integration, or technical leadership.

REQUIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

- Demonstrated experience leading multidisciplinary engineering teams and owning technical baselines in mission critical environments.

- Experience supporting government customers, milestone reviews, and structured engineering documentation

- Deep technical fluency across aerospace subsystems (structures, propulsion, avionics, mechanisms, GNC, software, manufacturing).

- Proven ability to define requirements, architecture, ICDs, verification plans, and configuration control structures.

- Strong analytical foundation and ability to challenge designs, analyses, and technical assumptions.

- Demonstrated capability to lead technical teams through ambiguity, rapid development, shifting priorities, and fast paced integration cycles.

- Excellent communication skills for briefing executive leadership, engineering teams, and government customers on technical status, risks, and decisions.

- Strong understanding of reliability, safety, and mission assurance principles for flight critical systems

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

- Prior experience as a system chief engineer, technical director, principal engineer, or equivalent leadership role for missile, interceptor, launch vehicle, or military systems.

- Experience working with the Missile Defense Agency, DoD, or other government customers on technical baseline management.

- Familiarity with government test readiness processes, hazard analyses, and mission assurance frameworks.

- Experience scaling engineering governance from prototype development into rate production or multiple program environments.

- Active or recent security clearance (Secret or above).

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

- Ability to sit or stand for extended periods.

- Ability to use a computer for assignments and communicate effectively in person, telepresence, and phone.

- Ability to travel between customer and company sites as required.

ITAR Requirement
This position requires access to information protected under US export control laws, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations and/or the Export Administration Regulations.  As such, US person status (including US citizens, U.S. permanent residents, individuals granted U.S. asylum status, or individuals admitted in U.S. refugee status) is a required qualification for this position.
 
Equal Opportunity Employer
We are an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, genetics, or citizenship status (when otherwise legally authorized to work and access export-controlled data) and will not be discriminated against on the basis of such characteristics or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate. We encourage applicants of all ages.

P5 - $190,000 to $235,000/yr
P6 - $225,000 to $275,000/yr
The posted pay range reflects the base salary range for this role in California only, and is the lowest to highest compensation range we reasonably and in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range, and the range may be modified in the future. An employee’s pay position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to, relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, performance, and business or organizational needs.
In addition to base pay and equity, we offer:
Heavily employer-subsidized medical, dental, and vision insurance plans
Long Wall paid life insurance and LTD coverage
4% 401k match
Student loan repayment assistance program
Paid parental leave
Family planning assistance program
Long Wall paid financial wellness program
Paid time off for non-exempt employees and flexible vacation policy for exempt employees