{"id":1102633,"url":"https://alion.io/job/aerovironment-chief-engineer-production","title":"Chief Engineer, Production","company":{"id":176366,"name":"AeroVironment","domain":"avinc.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/aerovironment","size_band":"1001-5000","is_staffing_agency":false,"is_intermediary":false,"ats_vendor":"Workday","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":80,"open_postings":11,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.818,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":27,"computed_at":"2026-09-23T05:45:00Z"}},"role":"Industrial Engineering","role_family":"Industrial Engineering","seniority":"head","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Petaluma, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":170000,"max":272000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":272000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":15,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-09-21T00:00:00Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-09-21","last_verified_at":"2026-09-23T01:08:33Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":2,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":2},"description":"Worker Type\nRegularJob Description\nSummary\nAeroVironment is seeking a Chief Engineer - Production to provide senior technical leadership for the production, sustainment, and lifecycle support of products within the MUAS business unit. The Chief Engineer will serve as the primary technical authority for assigned production programs and fielded products, ensuring that systems remain safe, reliable, manufacturable, supportable, and compliant with customer and business requirements.\nThis position will lead the resolution of complex technical issues, guide engineering changes and product improvements, and coordinate cross-functional execution across engineering, operations, quality, supply chain, program management, and customer-support organizations. The ideal candidate will have significant experience supporting aerospace, defense, unmanned, or other complex electromechanical products throughout production and sustainment.\nPosition Responsibilities\nServe as the senior technical authority for assigned MUAS production and sustainment programs.\nMaintain technical ownership of the product baseline, including system architecture, requirements, interfaces, configuration, and performance.\nLead engineering support for products in production and deployed in the field.\nDrive resolution of complex technical issues involving design, integration, manufacturing, testing, reliability, quality, suppliers, and field performance.\nLead multidisciplinary root-cause investigations and ensure effective corrective and preventive actions.\nProvide technical direction for engineering changes, deviations, waivers, nonconformances, and configuration-management activities.\nEvaluate and approve proposed product, process, material, and supplier changes.\nPartner with manufacturing and operations teams to improve producibility, yield, throughput, cost, and product quality.\nSupport production readiness, rate increases, first-article activities, qualification efforts, acceptance testing, and recurring production reviews.\nLead technical assessments of product reliability, maintainability, supportability, and lifecycle risk.\nEstablish priorities for sustaining-engineering activities based on mission impact, customer needs, safety, reliability, cost, and schedule.\nCoordinate with design engineering to incorporate field and production feedback into product enhancements and future configurations.\nSupport product upgrades, modifications, obsolescence mitigation, technology insertions, and end-of-life planning.\nPartner with quality, supplier management, operations, and program management to resolve recurring production and supplier issues.\nProvide technical input to program plans, estimates, schedules, risk registers, proposals, make-or-buy decisions, and investment strategies.\nLead or participate in design reviews, production reviews, failure-review boards, material-review boards, customer reviews, and executive-level program reviews.\nEnsure that technical data, work instructions, test procedures, drawings, specifications, and other production documentation are accurate and properly controlled.\nMonitor and communicate technical, production, reliability, supply-chain, and field-performance risks.\nSupport customer and field-service organizations with technical guidance and timely resolution of product issues.\nMentor engineers and promote a culture of technical rigor, ownership, collaboration, and continuous improvement.\nPerform other duties as assigned.\nBasic Qualifications (Required Skills & Experience)\nBachelor’s degree in engineering from an accredited institution.\nTypically, 15 or more years of progressive engineering experience in aerospace, defense, unmanned systems, or a related technical industry.\nDemonstrated experience supporting complex products through production and sustainment.\nExperience serving as a technical lead, chief engineer, systems engineer, or equivalent engineering authority.\nExperience with engineering change management, configuration management, requirements management, and product-baseline control.\nDemonstrated experience leading cross-functional technical teams and resolving complex production or field-performance issues.\nExperience with root-cause analysis, corrective action, reliability improvement, and failure investigation.\nWorking knowledge of systems engineering, integration, verification, validation, and test processes.\nAbility to make sound technical decisions while balancing performance, cost, schedule, quality, and risk.\nStrong written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.\nAbility to communicate effectively with engineers, manufacturing personnel, program managers, executives, suppliers, customers, and government representatives.\nAbility to obtain and maintain a U.S. government security clearance, if required.\nOther Qualifications & Desired Competencies\nPreferred Qualifications\nMaster’s degree in engineering, systems engineering, or a related technical discipline.\nExperience with unmanned aircraft systems, autonomous systems, mission systems, avionics, payloads, ground-control systems, or other complex electromechanical products.\nExperience with production ramp-up, rate production, product transition, and manufacturing-process improvement.\nExperience with flight testing, environmental qualification, acceptance testing, and fielded-system support.\nExperience with aircraft systems, airworthiness, safety, reliability, maintainability, and supportability analysis.\nExperience with supplier technical management and supplier corrective-action processes.\nKnowledge of AS9100, ISO 9001, or comparable aerospace quality systems.\nExperience applying Lean, Six Sigma, or other continuous-improvement methods.\nExperience with obsolescence management, parts management, and lifecycle planning.\nActive U.S. government security clearance.\nProfessional Engineer license or relevant technical certification.\nDesired Technical Expertise\nExperience in one or more of the following areas is desirable:\nGroup 3 UAS development.\nAvionics, sensors, and RF-based data links.\nRadio-frequency spectrum and modern communication systems.\nSIGINT technologies and sensors, including EO/IR optics.\nGPS navigation systems, including DGPS, SAASM, and M-Code.\nAviation propulsion systems, including internal-combustion engines and electric motors.\nOCONUS military operations.\nDesired Competencies\nTechnical leadership and sound engineering judgment.\nProduct lifecycle ownership.\nSystems thinking.\nProduction and sustainment engineering.\nRoot-cause analysis and structured problem solving.\nReliability and risk management.\nConfiguration and change control.\nCross-functional collaboration.\nCustomer and mission focus.\nClear and concise communication.\nAccountability and decision-making.\nTalent development and mentoring.\nCommitment to technical rigor, ownership, and continuous improvement.\nPhysical Demands\nAbility to work in an office environment (Constant)\nRequired to, stand, sit; talk, hear, and use hands and fingers to operate a computer and telephone keyboard (Constant)\nUse their hands to handle, control, or feel objects, tools, or controls. (Frequent)\nSee details of objects that are less than a few feet away(Frequent)\nOccasional travel may be required\nClearance Level\nSecretThe salary range for this role is:\n$170,000 - $272,000AeroVironment considers several factors when extending an offer, including but not limited to, the location, the role and associated responsibilities, a candidate’s work experience, education/training, and key skills.\nITAR Requirement:\nThis position requires access to information that is subject to compliance with the International Traffic Arms Regulations (“ITAR”) and/or the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”). In order to comply with the requirements of the ITAR and/or the EAR, applicants must qualify as a U.S. person under the ITAR and the EAR, or a person to be approved for an export license by the governing agency whose technology comes under its jurisdiction. Please understand that any job offer that requires approval of an export license will be conditional on AeroVironment’s determination that it will be able to obtain an export license in a time frame consistent with AeroVironment’s business requirements. A “U.S. person” according to the ITAR definition is a U.S. citizen, U.S. lawful permanent resident (green card holder), or protected individual such as a refugee or asylee. See 22 CFR § 120.15. Some positions will require current U.S. Citizenship due to contract requirements.\nBenefits: AV offers an excellent benefits package including medical, dental vision, 401K with company matching, a 9/80 work schedule and a paid holiday shutdown. For more information about our company benefit offerings please visit: http://www.avinc.com/myavbenefits.\nWe also encourage you to review our company website at http://www.avinc.com to learn more about us.\nPrincipals only need apply. NO agencies please.\nAbout AV:\nAV isn’t for everyone. We hire the curious, the relentless, the mission-obsessed. The best of the best.\nWe don’t just build defense technology-we redefine what’s possible. As the premier autonomous systems company in the U.S., AV delivers breakthrough capabilities across air, land, sea, space, and cyber. From AI-powered drones and loitering munitions to integrated autonomy and space resilience, our technologies shape the future of warfare and protect those who serve.\nFounded by legendary innovator Dr. Paul MacCready, AV has spent over 50 years pushing the boundaries of what unmanned systems can do. Our heritage includes seven platforms in the Smithsonian-but we’re not building history, we’re building what’s next.\nIf you're ready to build technology that matters-with speed, scale, and purpose-there’s no better place to do it than AV.\nWe are proud to be an EEO/AA Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability/veterans. AeroVironment, Inc. is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) employer and welcomes all qualified applicants. Qualified applicants will receive fair and impartial consideration without regard to race, sex, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, genetic data, sexual orientation, gender identity or other legally protected status.\nITAR\nU.S. Citizenship required. Must be willing to work on government contracts and have the ability to obtain a security clearance.","description_format":"text","description_chars":10381,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":15,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":true,"languages":[]},"benefits":["401k plan"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Military","Drones & UAVs","Drone AI"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-22T01:12:54Z"}],"liveness":{"score":63,"band":"ok","label":"Likely open","p_open":1,"p_active":0.632,"p_room":1,"age_days":2,"expected_fill_days":27,"reasons":["conf:4","stale_co","velocity","win:early","comp:brand"],"computed_at":"2026-09-23T05:45:00Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":272000,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/aerovironment-chief-engineer-production","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/aerovironment-chief-engineer-production.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-09-23T11:36:48Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers"}}