Job DescriptionBAE Systems is seeking an experienced and energetic Chief Engineer (CE) to help lead our Airborne Tactical Radios product area. In this role you will be the 'hands on' technical lead of a product area ensuring the system(s), product(s), and service(s) being developed and delivered are viable, fit for purpose, and will satisfy customer needs, product/system requirements, and the mission and/or application. ATR is a growing business area with several development programs as well as high-rate production programs with a common mission to protect the warfighter.
As a Portfolio Chief Engineer, you are a technical leader for a portfolio of products within the ATR product area, you will be the technical conscience of the program, ensuring the system(s), product(s), and service(s) being developed and delivered are viable, fit for purpose, and will satisfy customer needs, product/system requirements, and the mission and/or application. With the ability to develop and drive a cohesive technology roadmap across the airborne communications portfolio, balancing customer needs, modernization, obsolescence management, and future mission capability growth. The PCE is the primary owner of the technical solution and the technical interface to Program, Engineering, Functional and Executive leadership.
Job Responsibilities- Serves as a technical advocate across a diverse portfolio, guiding engineering teams, influencing customer discussions, and supporting strategic business growth
- Leads (system) architecture design and optimization activities, trades and analyses
- Strong systems engineering mindset with the ability to oversee complex integrated radio systems, ensuring technical rigor, interoperability, performance, and mission effectiveness across airborne platforms
- Ensures system design and implementation meet technical requirements and customer/mission needs within allocated engineering cost & schedule
- Drives technical risk and opportunity definition, identification, and mitigation/realization
- Technical interface to Customer, Program Management Office, and executive leadership
- Understand requirements, missions, use cases, and constraints
Required Skills and Education- Familiarity with airborne HF radio systems and ARC-231 tactical radio capabilities, including operational use cases, modernization challenges, and future technology evolution.
- Proven ability to serve as a technical advocate across a diverse portfolio, guiding engineering teams, influencing customer discussions, and supporting strategic business growth.
- Understanding of tactical datalink and airborne networking environments, including integration considerations for next-generation communications and interoperability requirements.
- Bachelor's Degree (or equivalent experience in a relevant field) with a minimum work experience of: 10+ years
- Active Secret DoW clearance with ability to obtain Top Secret with SCI accesses
- Technical leader for significant size team (Chief Engineer, Project Engineering Manager, or equivalent)
Preferred Skills and Education- Experience maximizing technical leverage and reuse across products, identifying common architectures, shared waveform capabilities, and scalable engineering approaches to improve affordability and execution.
- Technical leadership in continuous improvement initiatives, including development process maturity, engineering efficiency, design reuse, and risk reduction across the portfolio.
- Ability to connect emerging industry and DoD technology trends to actionable product strategy and investment priorities for future airborne communications capabilities.
- Formal Root Cause and Corrective Action training or equivalent experience
- Model based systems engineering experience with tools such as MagicDraw
- Active Top Secret DoW clearance with ability to obtain SCI accesses
