Chief Engineer, Defense

About Us

Astro Mechanica is a vertically integrated aerospace company building a faster, more connected future. Our mission is to democratize high-speed flight by making supersonic travel flexible, accessible, and sustainable. We believe that rapid, on-demand, point-to-point global mobility will become the new standard for moving people and goods across the planet. To achieve this, we are integrating our advanced airframe and engine technologies—which include Duality™, our proprietary dual-use propulsion system—with a new flight operations model to make supersonic transport as efficient and economical as commercial air travel is today. In the near term, we are developing adaptable, high-speed systems to close aircraft performance gaps for the United States government.

Who We Are

We’re a team of passionate engineers dedicated to advancing aerospace. We’re generalists with specialist depth, united by a flat structure and a shared obsession with building things that work well. We move fast, stay pragmatic, and let engineering excellence speak louder than hierarchy.

Responsibilities

• Technical Leadership: Drive aircraft development across all subsystems — propulsion, aerostructures, avionics, flight controls, thermal management, and systems integration — to achieve performance, safety, and mission objectives
• Stakeholder Communication: Communicate clearly and proactively with internal teams and external stakeholders (customers, defense agencies, suppliers, and regulatory bodies) on technical developments, design challenges, risk mitigation, and path forward
• Design Authority: Serve as the final engineering authority on design decisions, ensuring configuration control and technical baseline integrity across the program
• Requirements Management: Translate defense customer and mission requirements into engineering specifications, ensuring traceability from requirements through design, test, and verification
• Risk Management: Identify, track, and mitigate technical risks; lead root-cause investigations and corrective action for critical design or test issues
• Cross-Functional Coordination: Align engineering, manufacturing, quality, flight test, and program management teams around a unified technical plan
• Team Development: Mentor and grow a high-performing engineering organization, fostering a culture of technical excellence and accountability
• Test & Certification Support: Guide analysis, ground test, and flight test campaigns to validate performance and support certification/airworthiness milestones

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field (Master's or PhD preferred)
• 10+ years of experience in aircraft design and development, with significant experience in flight vehicles
• Prior experience supporting defense or military aerospace programs, including familiarity with defense acquisition processes
• Demonstrated experience owning technical, schedule, and cost outcomes on a complex aerospace program
• Deep working knowledge of aircraft systems integration (propulsion, structures, aerodynamics, avionics)
• Strong track record of engaging with government customers, prime contractors, or defense agencies
• U.S. citizenship required; Secret Clearance required, Top Secret desired
• Experience with modern tactical mission systems integrations and their architectures
• Familiarity with MIL-STD and DoD airworthiness certification processes
• Experience leading engineering teams through early-stage (pre-production/prototype) development

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance, including Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
• 401(k) program and transparent stock option plan
• Self-managed and flexible time-off policy, including PTO, paid holidays, and sick time
• Flexible work environment

Schedule

At Astro Mechanica, we highly value in-office work to foster collaboration and strengthen our company culture. We consider working in the office five days a week an essential part of the employee's role.