Job Description
🚀 Job Title: Systems Engineering Manager
📍 Location: Los Angeles County, CA
💼 Job Type: Full-time, On-site
Company Overview:
My client specializes in advanced electronic systems for aerospace and defense. Their products are engineered for reliability in extreme conditions and support a wide range of applications across space, defense, and critical infrastructure. They deliver solutions in areas such as AI-enabled processing, secure communications, and advanced digital architectures, with a customer base that spans dozens of top-tier clients.
Position Overview:
My client is seeking a highly skilled Systems Engineering Manager to lead cross-functional teams in delivering embedded space & defense systems end-to-end — from requirements through certification. This pivotal role will partner closely with senior leadership to define product strategy and long-term technical direction.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead Systems Engineers and cross-functional teams to deliver embedded systems end-to-end (space, aerospace, and defense)
- Define and own system requirements, architecture, integration, testing, and qualification through all review stages
- Manage schedule, budget, and requirements traceability with PMO
- Run technical working sessions and engineering reviews
- Identify, quantify, and mitigate technical risks
- Manage certification and compliance with applicable aerospace standards
- Hire, lead, and manage engineering teams
- Drive continuous improvement of processes, tooling, and technical deliverables (proposals, specs, white papers)
Key Qualifications
- 10-15+ years’ experience in aerospace, defense, and space systems engineering.
- Demonstrated success delivering relevant systems across the full product lifecycle: requirements, architecture, integration, V&V, certification, and production.
- Customer-facing: translate customer needs, lead technical reviews, and own the technical roadmap.
- Hands-on leader who has built and led engineering teams across systems and cross-functional disciplines.
- Led certification and design-assurance programs (DO-254, DO-178C, AS9100, ARP-4754, ARP-4761).
- Familiar with program milestone processes and requirements/ICD traceability: SRR, PDR, TRR, CDR, SOI, PRR.
- Experience with environmental and EMI standards: MIL-STD-810, DO-160, MIL-STD-461, MIL-217.
- Embedded-systems expertise: comms protocols, HW/SW integration, and interface control.
- Track record of identifying and mitigating technical risk and driving cross-functional execution.
- Clear, effective communicator for complex technical topics and customers; experienced in proposals and technical documentation.
ITAR Requirement: Must be U.S. persons within the meaning of ITAR. ITAR defines a US person as: any individual who is granted U.S. citizenship; or any individual who is granted U.S. permanent residence ("Green Card" holder); or any individual who is granted status as a "protected person" under 8 U.S.C 1324b(a)(3).