Branch Head (Avionics Engineer) - ASL - Open Rank

About the Role

The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is the nonprofit, applied research division of the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). Founded in 1934, GTRI has grown to more than 2,900 employees, supporting eight laboratories in over 20 locations around the country and performing over $940 million of problem-solving research annually for government and industry. GTRI's researchers combine science, engineering, economics, policy, and technical expertise to solve complex problems for the U.S. federal government, state, and industry.

The Applied Systems Lab (ASL) Autonomy Technology Transition Division (ATTD) is seeking an Autonomous Systems Engineering Branch Head for a full-time research faculty position. ATTD conducts research supporting sponsors across the Department of Defense, focusing on autonomous uncrewed aircraft programs. Expertise includes autonomous systems, systems engineering, avionics engineering, embedded software development, test and evaluation, and hardware- and software-in-the-loop development and test environments.

Responsibilities

• Lead multiple sponsored research projects.
• Manage Branch (7-15 FTE) administrative activities including hiring, appraisals, and sponsored project success.
• Serve as a recognized subject matter expert (SME) in the technical domain.
• Lead and/or contribute to white papers and proposals.
• Seek out and respond to opportunities for new research.
• Support presentations and travel for new business development.
• Ensure the branch pursues new and novel research efforts through internal R&D funding.
• Lead branch hiring activities, including position vacancy announcements, resume reviews, interviews, and onboarding.
• Determine branch hiring needs and conduct manpower planning.
• Conduct staff appraisals and support Monthly Project Status Review meetings.
• Coordinate with division leadership as required.
• Mentor engineers on the team and develop training plans for team members.
• Engage with current and potential sponsors to capture new research opportunities.
• Perform research in the development and integration of autonomous air vehicle systems.
• Develop proposals for new research and contribute to division strategy.

In addition to management duties, the individual will provide technical inputs and perform as an individual contributor/project leader on sponsored research, including:

• Developing and integrating new capabilities and subsystems into military systems, including software interfaces, subsystem interfaces (e.g., data, interconnects, messaging, middleware), aircraft to subsystem integration, pilot vehicle interface, and test/instrumentation system integration.
• Serving as a technical expert for autonomous air vehicle systems engineering.

Requirements

• Experience leading small teams (5-10 engineers).
• Experience designing/developing complex, software-intensive systems using systems engineering processes and methodologies.
• Experience integrating and troubleshooting systems to determine functional correctness, completeness, and/or effectiveness.
• Experience developing, integrating, and/or testing unmanned autonomous robotic system capabilities.

Qualifications

This position is an open-rank announcement. The final job offer will depend on candidate qualifications in alignment with Research Faculty Extension Professional ranks.

• 9 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Robotics Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Applied Physics, Applied Mathematics, or related field.
• 7 years of related experience with a Master’s degree in the above fields.
• 4 years of related experience with a Ph.D. in the above fields.

Due to research contracts with the U.S. federal government, candidates must be U.S. Citizens and able to obtain and maintain an active security clearance.

Preferred Qualifications

• Active Secret Clearance.
• Experience technically leading multi-disciplined (Systems Engineers, Software Engineers, Test Engineers) project teams.
• Experience developing/designing complex, software-intensive, military unmanned air systems (UAS) using system engineering processes and methodologies.
• Experience with avionic data buses (e.g., MIL-STD-1553, ARINC 429, Ethernet, RS-422), tactical data links (e.g., Link-16), military radios, and open systems architecture frameworks (e.g., FACE™ and OMS/UCI).
• Experience using Model-Based System Engineering (SysML) to design systems (e.g., use cases, behavior, interfaces, data models). Additional DoDAF experience is a plus.
• Experience working in a full-lifecycle agile and/or digital engineering environment.

Schedule

10% - 25% travel required.

Benefits

Comprehensive benefits including Health & Welfare, Retirement Plans, Tuition Reimbursement, Time Off, and Professional Development. More information can be found at GTRI Benefits.