Vertex Inc

Chief Engineer

Vertex Inc • $130K — $155K *
Aerospace & Defense
11 - 15 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 5-7 years in senior engineering roles at defense integrators
  • Experience leading multidisciplinary teams on defense projects
  • Direct technical experience with DoD technologies, including UAS and weapon systems
  • Proficient in DoD acquisition lifecycle and systems engineering V-model
  • Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Master's preferred

Responsibilities

  • Serve as primary technical authority for assigned defense programs
  • Develop and maintain the technical baseline and design integrity
  • Lead interdisciplinary technical teams through program phases
  • Act as primary customer technical liaison during program execution
  • Identify and mitigate technical risks throughout the program lifecycle
  • Collaborate with Program Manager to meet cost and performance objectives
  • Conduct technical gate reviews and readiness assessments

Benefits

  • Comprehensive healthcare coverage
  • Life insurance, AD&D, and disability benefits
  • Retirement plan options
  • Health and wellness programs
  • Generous paid time off policy
  • Tuition reimbursement opportunities
  • Employee development resources
Full Job Description
Role Overview: V2X is seeking a Project Chief Engineer within the Rapid Defense Solutions Team in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Project Chief Engineer (CE) serves as the primary technical authority for assigned defense programs, with full accountability for technical execution, risk posture, and design integrity across the program lifecycle. The CE partners closely with Program Managers, customer technical leadership, and cross-functional teams to ensure delivery of mission-capable, cost-effective, and compliant solutions aligned to customer requirements, V2X technical standards, and contractual obligations.

Responsibilities

Key Responsibilities: As a Program Chief Engineer, you will:
  • Serve as the technical authority and design owner for assigned programs.
  • Develop, maintain, and control the technical baseline, architecture, interfaces, and design integrity.
  • Lead cross-disciplinary technical teams across systems, software, hardware, cybersecurity, integration, and test.
  • Act as the customer-facing technical lead for reviews, technical interchange meetings, and program execution.
  • Identify, assess, and manage technical risks throughout the program lifecycle.
  • Collaborate with the Program Manager to ensure technical cost, schedule, and performance objectives are achieved.
  • Lead technical gate reviews and readiness assessments (e.g., Production Readiness Review [PRRs], Failure Review Boards [FRBs], Consent to Ship [CTS] Reviews).
  • Ensure compliance with applicable standards (DoD, MIL-STD, ITAR, cyber compliance, etc.).
  • Lead resolution of critical technical issues impacting program execution or delivery.
  • Provide technical leadership for proposals, including basis of estimate (BOE), architecture development, and capture support.
  • Partner with V2X functional engineering leadership to ensure application of project execution processes, specialty engineering, and independent technical assessments.

Leadership Competencies:
  • Strategic technical thinker with ability to balance innovation and disciplined execution.
  • Highly collaborative leader able to work across functional teams, customers, and leadership.
  • Effective communicator with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
  • Decisive problem solver with strong ownership of program's technical posture.

Qualifications

Required Skills
  • Prior Chief Engineer, IPT Lead, or Lead Systems Engineer experience at a major defense integrator.
  • Proven technical leadership of multi-disciplinary teams on complex DoD or aerospace programs.
  • Direct technical experience in any of the following Department of War (DoW) areas: Offensive/Defensive UAS Ground/Air Vehicle Autonomy, Weapon Systems Integration, C5ISR & Avionics
  • Proficiency with DoD acquisition lifecycle, systems engineering V-model, and technical review process.


Desired Skills
  • EVMS certification with strong cost/schedule management
  • Experience interfacing with senior defense customers, including Program Executive Officers (PEOs) and Program Management (PM) offices.
  • Familiarity with MIL-STD compliance, safety standards, cybersecurity compliance (RMF, NIST).
  • Must be able to obtain and maintain a DoD secret clearance.

Education Requirements
  • Bachelor's degree in Engineering with 15+ years of experience in defense system development, emerging engineering leadership, and program execution.
  • Master's degree in Engineering preferred.

What We Bring

At V2X we strive to be market competitive in our total reward offerings.

Employee benefits include the following:
  • Healthcare coverage
  • Life insurance, AD&D, and disability benefits
  • Retirement plan
  • Wellness programs
  • Paid time off, including holidays and leave of absences
  • Eligible Tuition Reimbursement
  • Learning and Development resources
  • Employee assistance resources

Pay and benefits are subject to change at any time and may be modified at the discretion of the company, consistent with the terms of any applicable compensation or benefit plans.

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About Vertex Inc

Vertex Inc is a leading provider of tax technology and services, enabling companies of all sizes to realize the full strategic potential of the tax function by automating and integrating tax processes, while leveraging advanced and predictive analytics of tax data. Vertex provides cloud-based and on-premise solutions that can be tailored to specific industries for every major line of tax, including income, sales and consumer use, value added and payroll. Vertex also offers solutions for tax data management, compliance and reporting, tax research, and planning and analysis. The company was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.
Learn more about Vertex Inc
Size
1,200 employees
Market Cap
$2.2 billion
Industry
Net Income
-$78.9 million
Founded
1978
Revenue
$374.6 million
NASDAQ

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