Arms, Ammunition, and Explosives Manager

X-Bow Systems

$125K — $150K *
Aerospace & Defense
15+ years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in a relevant engineering discipline.
  • 20+ years of experience with energetic materials and defense production.
  • Recognized expert in energetic safety with leadership experience in aerospace or defense.
  • Extensive knowledge of solid rocket motors and energetic materials manufacturing.
  • In-depth understanding of regulatory standards and safety regulations governing explosives.

Responsibilities

  • Serve as the technical authority on energetic safety for the company.
  • Establish technical strategy and governance for safety across business units.
  • Develop and maintain enterprise standards for energetic materials.
  • Provide oversight for facility design and operations related to energetic manufacturing.
  • Lead technical assessments like Process Hazard Analyses and Explosive Safety Site Plans.
  • Mentor and develop future technical experts in energetic safety.
  • Represent the company in regulatory and customer interactions.

Benefits

  • Collaborative work environment focusing on safety and innovation.
  • Opportunities for mentorship and professional development.
  • Exposure to cutting-edge technologies and industry best practices.
  • Involvement in national defense and aerospace projects with significant impact.
  • Required travel for work is supported and encouraged.
Full Job Description
  • Serve as the company's highest-level technical authority on energetic safety.
  • Establish the enterprise technical strategy and governance for energetic safety across all business units and programs.
  • Develop, approve, and maintain enterprise standards governing the manufacture, processing, handling, transportation, storage, integration, shipment, and disposal of energetic materials.
  • Provide technical oversight for operations involving:
  • Serve as the enterprise technical authority for the design, expansion, modernization, and commissioning of facilities supporting energetic manufacturing and operations.
  • Establish explosive safety design criteria for new facilities, production lines, magazines, storage areas, and integration facilities.
  • Review and approve facility layouts, equipment installations, process modifications, and capital projects to ensure compliance with explosive safety and process safety requirements.
  • Ensure facility and manufacturing process designs incorporate inherently safer design principles, risk reduction methodologies, and operational resilience.
  • Lead or provide technical oversight for Process Hazard Analyses (PHA), Process Hazard Reviews (PHR), Explosive Safety Site Plans (ESSP), Hazard Classification, Quantity-Distance (Q-D) analyses, and other explosive and process safety assessments.
  • Establish enterprise requirements for explosive operating limits, magazine operations, facility siting, lightning protection, fire protection, blast mitigation, and personnel protection.
  • Review and approve explosive operating procedures, safety documentation, and risk acceptance packages.
  • Lead investigations of energetic incidents, near misses, and process anomalies, identifying root causes and ensuring effective corrective and preventive actions.
  • Partner with Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations, Quality, Supply Chain, Facilities Engineering, Environmental Health & Safety (EHS), Strategic Real Estate, and the Lethality organization to integrate energetic safety into products, processes, and facilities.
  • Monitor emerging technologies, evolving regulations, and industry best practices, incorporating them into company standards.
  • Mentor engineers, Chief Engineers, Fellows, and technical leaders while developing the next generation of energetic safety experts.
  • Represent the company during customer reviews, government audits, regulatory inspections, DDESB reviews, and industry technical working groups.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
  • Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Materials Science, Safety Engineering, Explosives Engineering, or a related technical discipline..
  • Minimum of 20 years of progressively responsible experience involving energetic materials, rocket propulsion, missile systems, explosive manufacturing, or defense production operations.
  • Recognized industry expert in energetic safety with demonstrated enterprise-level technical leadership across complex aerospace or defense programs.
  • Extensive experience with:
  • Solid rocket motors
  • Composite and double-base propellants
  • Energetic material manufacturing
  • Missile production and all-up-round (AUR) integration
  • Explosive safety analysis and risk management
  • Facility design for energetic manufacturing and storage operations
  • Demonstrated experience leading the explosive safety and process safety aspects of new facility design, facility expansion, or major modernization projects involving energetic materials
  • Expert knowledge of:
  • DoD 4145.26, DoD Ammunition and Explosives Safety Standards
  • Department of Defense Explosives Safety Board (DDESB) requirements and applicable Technical Papers (including Quantity-Distance criteria and facility design guidance)
  • OSHA Process Safety Management (29 CFR 1910.119)
  • Department of Transportation hazardous materials regulations
  • OSHA, NFPA, ATF, EPA, and other federal, state, and local regulations governing energetic materials and explosive operations.
  • Demonstrated ability to establish enterprise technical standards, influence executive decision-making, and guide capital investment strategies.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including experience presenting to executive leadership, customers, regulatory agencies, and government organizations
  • Active or obtainable DoD Secret Clearance.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
  • High energy individual who craves the opportunity to build a system vs just manage one.
  • Natural tendency towards challenging the status quo to find new and novel ways to improve EHS management systems.
  • A person who leans into challenges instead of saying 'no' and walking away.
  • Willingness to travel (50%)

Similar Jobs

More Jobs at X-Bow Systems

More Aerospace & Defense Jobs

Find similar Arms, Ammunition, and Explosives Manager jobs: