DIRECTOR, AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS

Job DetailsLevel: SeniorJob Location: Seattle Engineering Center - SEC - Seattle, WA 98108Position Type: Full TimeEducation Level: 4 Year DegreeSalary Range: $209,000.00 - $255,000.00Job Shift: DayJob Category: EngineeringAeroTEC is an aerospace engineering company providing a wide array of high-end services and turnkey solutions ranging from aircraft level analysis and design engineering, all the way to prototype flight testing and complete airworthiness certification. Our highly experienced aerospace engineering, testing, and program management teams work closely with customers to address their unique needs in a safe and cost-effective manner, utilizing proven in-house development methodologies and tools.

About the Team

AeroTEC’s Engineering Department provides comprehensive, full-service aerospace engineering across the full aircraft development lifecycle — design, analysis, integration, test, and certification. Spanning Structures and Flight Sciences, Design and Stress, Mechanical Systems, Aircraft Systems, Systems Engineering and Certification, Test and Evaluation, and Product Innovation, the Department delivers the technical capability behind AeroTEC’s customer programs and its own products, and is central to the company’s mission to pioneer the future of sustainable aerospace. 

About the Role

As Director of Aircraft Systems, you will provide strategic and technical leadership across AeroTEC’s aircraft systems engineering disciplines — spanning Mechanical Systems, Avionics Systems, Electrical Power Systems and Electrical Wiring Interconnection Systems (EWIS). You are responsible for the systems integration, certification rigor, and engineering quality that underpin every aircraft program AeroTEC executes. This is a senior leadership role at the intersection of deep technical authority and organizational vision — owning the direction, capability, and performance of some of the Department’s most complex and cross-functional engineering disciplines. If you thrive building high-performing teams, driving systems integration across disciplines, and operating at the boundary of what aerospace engineering demands, this role was built for you. 

In This Role You Will:

Team Leadership & Organizational Development 

Lead an integrated, multi-disciplinary organization spanning mechanical, electrical and avionics systems, and EWIS — building a group defined by technical excellence, systems thinking, accountability, and mutual respect.  
Provide direct line leadership to the Managers, Group Leads and Principal Engineers, within the Aircraft Systems organization — establishing clear expectations, aligned priorities, and coherent ways of working across all disciplines.  
Establish clear structures of delegation so that managers, group leads, and senior engineers can own daily execution, freeing you to operate strategically; hold direct reports accountable to those expectations. 
Conduct timely, constructive performance reviews and develop individualized technical and leadership growth plans for each direct report, including succession planning for key roles within the group.  
Identify capability gaps proactively across Mechanical Systems, Avionics Systems, Electrical Power Systems and EWIS; recruit, develop, or partner to close them before they constrain program delivery. 
Cultivate a culture of engineering rigor across all functions — one where assumptions are challenged, analyses are defensible, systems integration is a shared responsibility, and quality is non-negotiable. 

Resource Deployment & Financial Management 

Deploy resources across responsible teams appropriately, optimized for experience level, billing structure, and timeliness; ensure blended rates meet program proposal assumptions and objectives.  
Build team capacity or partner with external entities to ensure resources match workload across responsible disciplines, keeping the cost basis competitive while maintaining required levels of expertise. 
Develop and manage partnerships with external systems engineering firms to provide surge capacity and cost-competitive support.  
Oversee Earned Value Management (EVM) discipline within the group — ensuring managers apply EVM principles to plan, baseline, measure, forecast, and recover work; review variance analyses and corrective action plans. 
Support and adhere to fiscal controls; contribute to proposal development as a Subject Matter Expert across aircraft systems scope as appropriate.  
Continuously monitor utilization rates across all disciplines; smooth resource loading across programs and departments to maximize revenue capture. 

Technical Leadership & Program Oversight 

Set the technical and methodological direction for mechanical systems engineering, including mechanical, air, powerplant and fuel, and fire protection systems — spanning requirements definition, installation design, analysis, qualification, and certification.  
Set the technical direction for