Chief Engineer - Space & Directed Energy

As part of a rapidly growing space and directed energy organization, the Chief Engineer will serve as a critical integrator and technical leader driving excellence across engineering disciplines to ensure mission success for our national security customers. This highly influential role will work across the enterprise - interfacing at the corporate level, partnering with business units and program chief engineers, and mentoring technical talent - to strengthen engineering execution, accelerate people development, and ensure adherence to customer and internal processes and standards.

The ideal candidate will be a technically accomplished and collaborative leader with deep expertise in space systems and directed energy solutions. While this role has no direct reports, it requires a passion for mentoring and growing technical talent, a people-first mindset, and the ability to influence without authority across a complex organization.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as a senior technical leader for the Space and Directed Energy business, providing technical oversight and guidance to program chief engineers and business unit engineering teams.
• Partner with corporate engineering, mission assurance, and business unit leaders to align on engineering processes, technical standards, and best practices to ensure consistency, rigor, and mission success.
• Drive the development and advancement of engineering talent through mentorship, coaching, career pathing, and fostering a strong technical community.
• Champion the application of disciplined engineering and program execution processes to meet technical, cost, and schedule objectives.
• Represent the business in corporate-level engineering councils, customer technical exchanges, and cross-organizational technical working groups.
• Lead and support independent technical reviews, readiness assessments, and risk reviews across critical programs.
• Partner with program chief engineers to resolve complex technical issues and drive timely, technically sound decisions.
• Build trusted relationships with customers by ensuring engineering excellence and mission alignment in all deliverables.
• Promote a culture of accountability, collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement across the engineering workforce.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering, physics, or a related technical discipline (Master's or Ph.D. preferred).
• Minimum 15 years of engineering experience, with a strong background in space systems, directed energy, and/or advanced defense technologies.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance up to TS/SCI.
• In addition to the above, the below items are required and will be evaluated in the interview process:
• Demonstrated experience leading or guiding complex programs with mission-critical requirements and aggressive schedules.
• Proven ability to develop and mentor technical talent at various career stages.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, and collaboration skills with demonstrated ability to influence and lead without direct authority.
• Strong knowledge of customer technical standards, mission assurance processes, and industry best practices.
• Ability to engage credibly with senior customers and corporate leadership.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience as a program chief engineer, IPT lead, or enterprise technical leader.
• Experience in rapidly scaling technical organizations and driving engineering discipline during growth.
• Familiarity with Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE), digital engineering, and agile development approaches.
• Experience working across government, industry, and academia to shape technology roadmaps and talent pipelines.

Work Environment and Culture

This is a visible and dynamic role within a mission-driven, entrepreneurial organization experiencing rapid growth. The Chief Engineer will have the opportunity to shape the technical trajectory of space and directed energy programs critical to national security while fostering a world-class engineering team grounded in agility, excellence, and a strong sense of purpose.

Salary Range: $250,000 - $300,000

• BlueHalo, an AV company pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Determination of official compensation or salary relies on several factors including, but not limited to, level of position, job responsibilities, geographic location, scope of relevant work experience, educational background, certifications, contract-specific affordability, organizational requirements, alignment with local internal equity as well as alignment with market data.
• Our compensation package also includes components designed to support employees' total well-being, which should be considered when evaluating our competitive benefits package. These benefits include health insurance, life insurance, disability, company holiday and paid time off, parental leave, 401(k) company match and contributions, professional development/training reimbursements, and other work/life programs.

Equal Opportunity Employer
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