Location: Arlington, United States of America
Engineering Delivery Manager Arlington, VA (Hybrid)
Position SummaryThe Engineering Delivery Manager (EDM / EDM Bid) serves as the single-point engineering authority for highly complex, software-centric bids and delivery programs. As the accountable owner of the end-to-end engineering solution, the EDM defines, governs, and continuously optimizes the engineering strategy, system lifecycle, operating model, and enabling processes and tools to ensure the successful realization of technically robust, certifiable, and commercially competitive solutions.
Key Areas of Responsibility- Serve as the senior engineering authority at all Bid and Program Gate reviews (BL/GBU), representing engineering interests and accountability by ensuring full technical validation prior to Cost Commitment Reviews and formal Gate approvals. Actively engage in bid governance forums and client-facing meetings to articulate and defend the engineering solution, delivery strategy, and integrated schedule.
- Define, govern, and deliver the Engineering Solution Strategy, including the end-to-end system development lifecycle and the tailoring of project-specific engineering processes, practices, methods, and toolchains derived from domain and corporate reference frameworks.
- Author, maintain, and govern the Systems Engineering Management Plan (SEMP) and associated engineering management documentation; structure and lead co-engineering activities; approve, cascade, and enforce lower-level engineering plans, subcontractor engineering requirements, and technical statements of work.
- Provide end-to-end leadership across the full engineering lifecycle, including requirements and specifications management, software and systems engineering, qualification, integration, verification, validation, certification, and operational deployment, ensuring technical coherence, compliance, and delivery readiness at each phase.
- Define, implement, and control reusable engineering instantiation and cost models, leveraging prior capitalizations, benchmarks, and historical performance data to rigorously challenge estimates, drive estimate accuracy, and support bid competitiveness.
- Champion and enforce Design-to-Cost and Design-for-Performance principles, ensuring engineering solutions, architectures, and delivery approaches are intentionally optimized to balance technical performance, schedule, risk, and cost competitiveness.
- Apply and govern advanced planning, scheduling, and control disciplines, including WBS/OBS structuring, milestone and dependency management, workload and capacity planning, cost modeling, and Earned Value Management (EVM), to maintain execution rigor and predictability.
- Define, monitor, and actively use engineering KPIs and dashboards to assess delivery performance, productivity, quality, and competitiveness, and to drive corrective actions and continuous improvement across bids and projects.
Minimum Qualifications- Bachelor's degree in Data Science, Computer Science, Engineering, or a related discipline, with a minimum of 9 years of relevant professional experience, or 10+ years of experience leading multidisciplinary engineering teams, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
- Extensive, demonstrated track record of successfully leading the delivery of large-scale, highly complex, software-intensive systems within industries relevant to Thales, such as aerospace, defense, air traffic management / air navigation, telecommunications, or similarly regulated, mission-critical environments.
- Proven leadership experience managing and governing large, multidisciplinary engineering organizations, including direct hierarchical accountability for engineering managers, technical leads, and senior subject-matter experts across multiple domains.
- Deep, end-to-end mastery of the engineering lifecycle, encompassing system and software architecture, requirements and specification engineering, development, integration, qualification, verification, validation, certification, and deployment of operational systems.
- Significant experience leading deployment and operational readiness for complex software-centric solutions, including phased and large-scale multi-site and geographically distributed rollouts, transition to operations, and sustainment considerations.
- Advanced and sustained application of planning, scheduling, and control disciplines, including WBS/OBS structuring, milestone and dependency management, workload and capacity planning, cost and schedule modeling, and Earned Value Management (EVM), with a demonstrated ability to produce and defend credible cost and schedule estimates.
- Demonstrated success operating within highly complex, matrixed organizations, coordinating across disciplines, functions, suppliers, partners, and customers in multi-site and multi-country environments.
- Substantial experience with safety-critical and software assurance frameworks, including hands-on involvement in certification and compliance activities aligned with standards such as DO-178B/C, ED-109A, or equivalent domain-specific safety and assurance regulations.
- Proven participation and influence in Bid, Capture, and Proposal cycles, including the ability to shape engineering strategies, challenge assumptions, defend technical solutions, and partner effectively with Sales and Bid teams to secure competitive and executable offers.
Special Position Requirements - Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States for any employer at the time of hire. This position is not eligible for visa sponsorship or for assuming sponsorship of an employment visa now or in the future.
- Must be a US Person as defined in applicable law
This position will require successfully completing a post-offer background check. Qualified candidates with [a] criminal history will be considered and are not automatically disqualified, consistent with federal law, state law, and local ordinances.
The reference Total Target Compensation (TTC) market range for this position, inclusive of annual base salary and the variable compensation target, is between
Total Target Cash (TTC) 197,502.90 - 366,791.10 USD Annual
This reflects how companies in a similar industry and geographic region generally pay for similar jobs. This range helps the Company make pay decisions as one data point among many. Where a position falls within this range is also dependent on other factors including - but not limited to - the employee's career path history, competencies, skills and performance, as well as the company's annual salary budget, the customer's program requirements, and the company's internal equity. Thales may offer additional benefits and other compensation, depending on circumstances not related to an applicant's status protected by local, state, or federal law.
(For Internal candidate, if you need more information, please reach out to your HR Shared Service, 1st Point)
Thales provides an extensive benefits program for all full-time employees working 30 or more hours per week and their eligible dependents, including the following:
• Elective Health, Dental, Vision, FSA/HSA, Voluntary Life and AD&D, Whole Group Life w/LTC, Critical Illness, Hospital Indemnity, Accident Insurance, Legal Plan, Identity Theft, and Pet Insurance
• Retirement Savings Plan after 30 days of employment with a company contribution and a match, and with no vesting period
• Company paid holidays and Paid Time Off
• Company provided Life Insurance, AD&D, Disability, Employee Assistance Plan, and Well-being Program
