Head of Engineering Design

About the Role

Metrea delivers effects-as-a-service to national security partners across five domains and more than a dozen mission areas, including airborne ISR, electronic warfare, secure communications, aerial refueling, special air missions, aerial firefighting, and advanced simulation. We own the full stack—designing, building, and operating turnkey capabilities that provide decisive, asymmetric advantage against rapidly evolving threats.

The Head of Engineering Design leads the engineering organization responsible for the design, development, and integration of aircraft modifications across a mixed portfolio of aircraft platforms, from twin-engine turboprops to large jet aircraft. This role provides technical and organizational leadership for multidisciplinary engineering teams delivering complex aircraft modification programs, including structural, mechanical, electrical, avionics, mission systems, and cabins for special-mission integrations. The position is accountable for engineering design quality, technical execution, resource planning, schedule performance, regulatory compliance, and alignment with business and customer objectives.

Responsibilities

• Engineering Leadership
  • Lead, develop, and manage multidisciplinary aircraft modification engineering teams across structural, mechanical, electrical, avionics, systems, and related technical disciplines.
  • Establish clear organizational priorities, accountabilities, performance expectations, and development plans for engineering leaders and individual contributors.
  • Build engineering capability through workforce planning, succession planning, technical mentoring, targeted hiring, and professional development.
  • Promote a culture of technical rigor, ownership, collaboration, continuous improvement, and operational accountability.
  • Ensure engineering teams are appropriately staffed and organized to support current programs, new business opportunities, and long-term strategic objectives.
• Aircraft Modification Execution
  • Provide executive-level oversight of aircraft modification programs from concept development through design, certification, installation, testing, delivery, and continued operational support.
  • Ensure modification designs meet customer requirements, airworthiness standards, internal engineering requirements, and applicable regulatory obligations.
  • Oversee engineering work related to aircraft structures, systems integration, avionics, electrical systems, mechanical systems, interiors, mission equipment, and special-purpose modifications.
  • Review program status, technical risks, resource requirements, design maturity, and engineering deliverables; develop mitigations to ensure on-time, on-budget, and on-performance delivery.
  • Ensure aircraft modification designs align with Metrea’s broader objectives in developing APUS-compliant scalable solutions.
  • Establish effective engineering planning, design review, verification, validation, and technical approval processes.
  • Partner with Program Management and Operations to resolve technical issues affecting schedule, cost, installation, testing, or aircraft delivery.
• Certification and Airworthiness Adherence
  • Ensure aircraft modifications are designed and developed in accordance with applicable FAA, EASA, UK CAA, military, customer, and other regulatory requirements.
  • Partner closely with Certification, Airworthiness, Quality, and other key personnel to develop and execute certification strategies.
  • Support certification programs involving STCs, major repairs and alterations, field approvals, conformity activities, and other applicable certification pathways.
  • Ensure engineering data, compliance findings, test plans, substantiation reports, drawings, analyses, and instructions for continued airworthiness meet required standards.
  • Serve as a senior technical interface with regulatory authorities, customers, suppliers, and external engineering partners as required.
• Technical Governance and Quality
  • Establish and maintain engineering standards, procedures, design practices, technical authority structures, and approval processes.
  • Ensure technical decisions are supported by appropriate analysis, testing, documentation, and sound engineering judgment.
  • Lead or support formal design reviews, technical reviews, safety assessments, root-cause investigations, and corrective-action efforts.
  • Ensure compliance with configuration management, document control, product safety, quality-management, export-control, and information-security requirements.
  • Monitor engineering quality indicators and implement corrective actions when performance, compliance, or technical standards are not met.
  • Strengthen lessons-learned, knowledge-management, and continuous-improvement practices across the engineering organization.
• Capability Area and File Partnership
  • Support proposal development, technical estimating, statements of work, schedules, staffing plans, and risk assessments.
  • Provide technical input into bid, no-bid, make, buy, and investment decisions.
  • Assess the technical feasibility, certification complexity, resource requirements, and delivery risk of new aircraft modification opportunities.
  • Ensure engineering commitments are realistic, appropriately resourced, and aligned with contractual and business expectations.
  • Communicate program risks, resource constraints, technical decisions, and required leadership actions clearly and promptly.
• Financial and Resource Management
  • Develop and manage engineering budgets, staffing plans, labor forecasts, and capital or tool requirements.
  • Dynamically balance resources across competing programs and priorities while informing and managing stakeholders as aligned with enterprise objectives.
  • Identify opportunities to improve engineering efficiency, standardization, reuse, and delivery performance without compromising safety or compliance.
  • Manage consultants, suppliers, and external engineering resources as needed.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• Minimum 10 or more years of progressively responsible aerospace engineering experience.
• Significant experience supporting aircraft modification, integration, certification, or major repair programs, ideally in special mission aviation.
• Demonstrated experience leading multidisciplinary engineering teams through complex aircraft modification programs.
• Strong knowledge of aircraft design, systems integration, airworthiness, certification, and configuration-management principles.
• Experience working with FAA certification requirements and applicable regulations for both Part-23 and Part-25 aircraft, along with experience in other regulatory environments (EASA, CASA, etc.).
• Experience developing or supporting certification plans, compliance data, engineering substantiation, testing, conformity, and approval activities.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple programs, competing priorities, technical risks, and resource constraints.
• Strong leadership, communication, decision-making, and stakeholder-management skills.
• Experience working directly with customers, regulatory representatives, senior leaders, and cross-functional teams.
• Ability to communicate complex technical issues clearly to both technical and nontechnical audiences.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in engineering, business, aviation management, or a related field.
• Prior experience in a senior engineering manager, chief engineer, director, or equivalent technical leadership role.
• Experience as an ODA Unit Member, Designated Engineering Representative, technical specialist, compliance engineer, or certification lead.
• Experience with Supplemental Type Certificate programs and complex aircraft integration efforts.
• Experience supporting special-mission, defense, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, VIP, commercial, cargo, or other highly modified aircraft.
• Familiarity with systems safety, human factors, environmental qualification, software, and airborne electronic hardware standards, as applicable.
• Experience in an AS9100 or similarly regulated quality-management environment.
• Experience supporting Department of Defense, federal, international, or export-controlled programs.
• Familiarity with ITAR, EAR, DFARS, cybersecurity, and customer-specific security requirements.
• Active or previously held U.S. security clearance, where relevant to the program portfolio.

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical plan options.
• HSA / FSA accounts.
• Dental and vision coverage.
• 6% employer 401(k) match.
• Fully paid parental leave for all new parents.
• Generous PTO.
• Life and disability insurance.
• Long-term and short-term disability coverage.
• AD&D coverage.
• Pet insurance.
• Employee Assistance Program.
• Subsidized gym membership/plans through Wellhub.

Schedule

This is a full-time exempt position with typical working hours of Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Hours and work shifts may change in accordance with department and business needs. Exempt employees must have the ability to be on-call and available as business needs require.

Travel

25% travel required.

Work Environment

This job operates in an office setting.

Work Authorization / Security Clearance

Applicants must be a U.S. citizen.

About Metrea’s Culture

At Metrea, our single core value is Rooted in Humility, and our four cornerstone attributes are Entrepreneurial, Systematic, Discerning, and Over-Deliver. These form what we call our Teammate Firmware. Our Firmware defines how we show up, work together, and solve complex problems. It enables groups to self-organize around hard problems, shift fluidly as priorities evolve, and operate with trust, curiosity, and discipline. This foundation allows us to deliver elegant, effective solutions and uphold our purpose: protecting others.