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Salary: USD 153,615 - 199,400 / annual
Voyager Technologies is seeking a Chief Engineer V (Team Manager) for Controllable Solid Propulsion in Strategic Systems, based in Folsom, CA. This is a hybrid role reporting to the Director of Engineering.
You will serve as an autonomous technical leader responsible for end-to-end mission success of solid rocket propulsion system programs. The role combines deep technical leadership (approximately 80% of duties) with people management (approximately 20% of duties) for a team of approximately 10 engineers.
Technical Responsibilities:
- Direct the end-to-end technical lifecycle of programs by leading cross-functional teams through rigorous design reviews and qualification milestones, ensuring systems are producible, compliant with technical data requirements, and balanced against cost and schedule constraints.
- Lead the engineering team in meeting all program milestones by maintaining focus on the critical path, proactively deconflicting resources, and driving schedule performance through aggressive management of task span-times and alternative execution strategies.
- Establish and maintain lean technical scope baselines by eliminating contingency budgeting, monitoring cost performance indices (CPI) to mitigate variances, and rigorously challenging budget change requests to preserve management reserves.
- Serve as the primary technical spokesperson for programs, managing internal and external stakeholder relationships by presenting programmatic material, cultivating new business, and ensuring customer requests remain within authorized scope while providing data-driven technical alternatives.
- Drive organizational engineering process improvements, knowledge management, and best practices.
People Leadership Responsibilities:
- Foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement within the engineering team.
- Mentor and develop team members, providing coaching, feedback, and opportunities for growth.
- Identify training needs and support career development initiatives.
- Conduct performance appraisals aligned with company, department, and individual goals.
- Contribute to the Engineering Department annual operating plan with recommendations for capital and expense budgeting.
- Ensure team adherence to engineering best practices, standards, and processes.
- Identify resource needs, allocate staffing, and participate in recruitment and hiring.
Travel up to approximately 20% of the time is required. Must be able to obtain and maintain a U.S. Security Clearance at the appropriate level.
Requirements:
- Ten (10) years of systems engineering experience.
- Bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, or another relevant engineering discipline from an accredited college/university; equivalent experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.
- Advanced technical and organizational leadership skills, with the ability to manage ambiguity and competing priorities.
- Strong analytical, communication, and presentation skills, with the ability to engage executive and customer audiences.
- Proficiency with engineering management and project planning tools such as Microsoft Project, Primavera, or equivalent.
- Experience with data-driven decision making, technical trade analysis, and configuration control.
- Strong interpersonal skills for guiding and motivating diverse, high-performing teams.
- Demonstrated ability to lead, mentor, and develop team members in a professional engineering environment, including experience supporting the leadership of an engineering technical team of approximately 10 engineers.
- Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance at the appropriate level.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Rocket motor design and testing experience.
- Master's degree in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, or another relevant engineering discipline from an accredited college/university.
