Chief Engineer

About the role

Radiance Technologies, a rapidly growing employee-owned company, is seeking an engineering leader to serve as the Chief Engineer for a missile development and production program. In this technical role, you will be the single point of accountability for the overall technical integrity, airworthiness, safety, operational performance, and system design of the complete missile weapon system (including the missile airframe, propulsion, guidance, ordnance, electrical/avionics, software, ground support equipment, and system integration).

As Chief Engineer, you will lead multidisciplinary engineering teams and balance complex system-level technical trades against cost, schedule, and operational risk.

Key Responsibilities

• Single Technical Authority & System Architecture
• Hold final technical authority for the design, architecture, performance, qualification, safety, and flight readiness of the complete missile system.
• Direct system-of-systems engineering, approving top-level System Requirements Specifications (SRS), Interface Control Documents (ICDs), and System Performance Profiles across all engineering disciplines.
• Lead cross-functional Technical Review Boards (TRBs), Failure Review Boards (FRBs), and Engineering Change Proposals (ECPs) to maintain system configuration control and design integrity.
• Multi-Domain Technical Oversight
• Mechanical & Propulsion: Approve aerothermal, structural, dynamic, and solid rocket motor / air-breathing propulsion design choices and structural margins under extreme flight regimes.
• Avionics & Electrical: Direct power architecture, EMC/EMI shielding strategies, sensor integration (seekers, IMUs, altimeters), Control Actuation System (CAS) dynamic performance metrics, and high-reliability interconnects.
• GNC & Software: Oversee flight mechanics, control loop stability margins, target acquisition/tracking algorithms, real-time safety-critical embedded software architecture, and flight-code qualification.
• Flight Test Readiness, Safety, & Operations
• Serve as the Chair of the Flight Readiness Review (FRR) Board, certifying that the missile system, simulation models, range safety assets, and ground equipment are qualified for live-fire flight testing.
• Lead real-time mission execution oversight and post-flight performance evaluation at remote proving grounds and military test ranges.
• Direct the investigation and resolution of high-consequence flight anomalies, hardware failures, or software discrepancies.
• Customer Interface & Strategic Leadership
• Serve as the primary technical advisor to the Program Manager
• Lead technical discussions for major program milestones, including System Requirements Reviews (SRR), Preliminary Design Reviews (PDR), Critical Design Reviews (CDR), and Test Readiness Reviews (TRRs).
• Mentor and direct engineers and technical staff across the program lifecycle.

Required Qualifications & Technical Background

• Education: B.S. in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or Computer Engineering (M.S. or Ph.D. strongly preferred).
• Experience:
• 15+ years of progressive engineering experience in missile, interceptor, or precision-guided munition development programs.
• 10+ years in a chief engineering, deputy chief engineering, lead systems engineering, or IPT lead role overseeing multi-disciplinary missile and/or missile testbed programs.
• System-Level Domain Mastery:
• Demonstrated track record of taking at least one missile program through the full lifecycle-from initial concept through design reviews (PDR/CDR), flight testing, qualification, and initial production.
• Deep technical understanding of the interactions between flight dynamics, aerothermal heating, structural loads, GNC algorithms, avionics, seeker integration, propulsion, and payload integration.
• Risk & Flight Test Management: Proven experience leading Flight Readiness Reviews (FRRs), root-cause failure investigations, and live-fire test campaigns at military ranges.
• Security Clearance: Must hold an active US DoD Secret security clearance

Desired Qualifications

• Prior experience as Chief Engineer on a missile program
• Comprehensive working knowledge of military airworthiness certification, system safety processes (MIL-STD-882), and weapon safety board approvals (e.g., S3B, WSESRB).
• Strong reputation and established working relationships within the DoW weapons community, Government test ranges and technical government labs.

Key Highlights of the Chief Engineer Role

• Ultimate Technical Accountability: Unlike lower engineering tiers that focus on designing or testing specific sub-components, this position holds sign-off authority for the entire weapon system.
• Balance of Technical & Programmatic Authority: Bridges the gap between hard engineering domain knowledge and program management goals (cost, schedule, customer commitments).
• Flight Test Certifier: Acts as the final authority certifying that the missile is safe and ready to launch during flight-test campaigns.