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Salary: USD 180,000 - 240,000 / annual
Voyager Technologies is seeking a Chief Engineer for Vertical Takeoff and Vertical Landing (VTVL) systems to lead the end-to-end technical success of VTVL programs. This is an autonomous technical leadership role reporting to the Chief Engineer of Lunar Systems, based in either Mojave or Long Beach, California.
Key Responsibilities:
- Own the vehicle's complete technical architecture, design philosophy, requirements, interfaces, margins, and performance allocations, ensuring safe and mission-capable integration of all subsystems
- Serve as the program's senior technical authority, providing independent judgment on major design decisions, waivers, risks, and readiness assessments; resolve cross-functional technical disagreements on engineering merit
- Lead vehicle-level design and development from concept through qualification, integrated/flight test, and operational deployment
- Manage vehicle performance and technical margins (mass, center of gravity, propellant, delta-V, thrust-to-weight, structural/thermal margins, power, communications, control authority), driving corrective action as needed
- Own technical risk identification and retirement; drive early testing of high-risk technologies and failure modes
- Define the development, qualification, and flight-test approach to retire risk rather than merely demonstrate nominal performance
- Collaborate with the Chief Engineer of Lunar Systems to establish design standards and engineering rigor (analysis methods, margins, safety factors, configuration control, documentation)
- Partner with manufacturing, test, and operations teams to ensure designs are manufacturable, testable, and operable; incorporate field experience into design decisions
This role requires managing multidisciplinary teams, overseeing complex systems engineering processes, and aligning technical execution with budgetary and schedule requirements. Travel up to 25% (including overnight US travel) is expected. The position requires ability to lift/move items up to 50 pounds.
Minimum Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, aerospace engineering, or other relevant engineering discipline with 15 years of engineering experience
- Demonstrated experience as a technical lead of a major component, subsystem, or vehicle for a complex spacecraft, launch vehicle, aircraft, or similarly integrated safety-critical system
- Experience adjudicating complex technical trade-offs and leading or participating in Engineering Review Boards
- Deep understanding of system architecture products, requirements management, and technical risk management
- Familiarity with understanding customer needs, CONOPS, and requirements translation into engineering architecture and detailed design
Preferred Qualifications:
- Served as primary technical spokesperson for a program or project with responsibility for system architecture, requirements, interfaces, design trades, technical risk, verification, and cross-subsystem technical issue resolution
- Direct experience taking flight hardware through development, integration, test, and flight or operational deployment, with demonstrated involvement in major design reviews, test readiness, anomaly resolution, and flight/readiness decisions
- Experience leading liquid propulsion system projects
- Current U.S. Security Clearance or ability to obtain and maintain one
Note: Applicants must be a U.S. Person (US Citizen, lawful permanent resident, or protected individual) and eligible to obtain required export authorizations per ITAR and EAR regulations.
