Technical Director, Flight Test Engineering

Job Purpose

The Technical Director, Flight Test Engineering leads the technical and programmatic planning and execution of flight and ground testing across the product development lifecycle. The Director ensures safe, compliant, timely, and technically rigorous planning and execution of test programs that support certification of products and business objectives.

Key Accountabilities

• Lead development, implementation, and oversight of flight and ground test strategies, procedures, and execution across the product lifecycle, with emphasis on safety, quality, reliability, regulatory compliance, and other product performance requirements.
• Develop and manage integrated master schedules, flight test program plans, flight test budgets, personnel and materiel resource plans, and risk and issue management plans. Regularly report status and recovery actions to leadership for each element listed herein.
• Lead, mentor, train, and equip Flight Test Engineers; define skill mix, staffing requirements, and development programs for test directors, test conductors, and telemetry control room operations.
• Ensure regulatory and industry compliance by coordinating with internal safety, compliance, and certification organizations, including development of FAA-compatible flight test procedures.
• Develop, field, and support flight test engineering tools, processes, and software used to acquire, manage, analyze, and document flight test data.
• Organize and oversee review and analysis of test data and results; provide recommendations for product improvement, risk mitigation, and closure of major technical issues.
• Serve as liaison among engineering groups, program management, flight operations, finance, suppliers, and senior leadership; drive continuous improvement and adoption of relevant industry best practices. Ensure tight and collaborative integration between the FTE Department, Flight Operations, Coordination Department, and Flight Test Instrumentation Department.

Qualifications, Experience, and Skills

• Minimum Educational Qualifications: Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field. Master's degree preferred.
• Minimum Experience: Minimum 15 years of experience as a Flight Test Engineer, preferably including significant leadership responsibility. Relevant experience in commercial aviation, general aviation, or defense may be considered.
• Other Job-Specific Skills: Demonstrated expertise in flight testing; development of integrated master schedules and budgets; leadership of diverse technical teams; flight test data analysis tools and software; strong analytical, problem-solving, communication, documentation, and team-management skills.

Working Conditions

• Incumbents may be routinely exposed to equipment operational noise, heat, cold, dust, and/or aircraft equipment, parts, or fuel odors.
• Incumbents may be required to stand, sit, squat, walk, bend, climb ladders, move, reach, or stretch for prolonged time periods with no restrictions, as required by job duties.
• Work in a safe and professional manner while adhering to all regulatory requirements (FAA, OSHA, DOT, EPA, State, and Federal regulations, etc.).
• Effectively communicate in Business English language.
• Pull, push, carry, lift, or move items up to 10 lbs. throughout the work shift without assistance, as required by job duties.
• Pull, push, carry, lift, or move materials, people, items, or equipment weighing up to 50 lbs. or more during the work shift, with the use of Company-provided reach-assistance or movement-assistance technology, as required by job duties.