Job Title: Engineering Group Manager—Flight              

Location: Arnold AFB, TN

Job Family Code: O-Engineering

Function/Branch: Engineering / Flight

Directorate: Test Operations

Position Type: Regular, Full-Time       

Pay Type: Exempt        

Grade (provided by HR):  L10 (OA1008)

Salary Range or Starting Hourly Rate (provided by HR): $134,000 - $170,000 / year

Job Summary

As the Group Manager, you will lead and direct a specialized team of engineers and skilled labor personnel responsible for the operation, maintenance, and technical readiness of world-class aerodynamic test facilities at the Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC). In this leadership role, you will oversee testing and infrastructure support across the Propulsion Wind Tunnel (PWT) and von Kármán Gas Dynamics (VKF) facilities, ensuring reliable continuous-flow operations spanning transonic, supersonic, and hypersonic (up to Mach 10) regimes. You will manage resource allocation, safety protocols, and maintenance activities while guiding your team in executing highly complex aerodynamic, propulsion, and weapons integration tests. Your leadership will directly enable the successful evaluation of large-scale aircraft, space launch vehicles, and high-speed missiles utilizing cutting-edge diagnostic technologies such as Captive Trajectory Support (CTS) and Pressure Sensitive Paint (PSP). The Group Manager is responsible for managing engineering and skilled craft workforce, meeting contract deliverables, managing and executing external projects funding the flight infrastructure efforts to support testing, including through-put improvements, interfacing with DoD leadership, and other duties described below

Job Duties:

• Program & Project Leadership
  • Coordinate and supervise DBA maintenance and investment activities from both technical and resourcing perspectives
  • Direct the test and sustainment mission requirements for the TOS contract, including long-term planning for facility modernization
  • Develop and review project plans, schedules, and resource estimates
  • Partner closely with the Capital Improvements Team to successfully execute projects that improve facility capability, capacity, and integration
• Technical & Process Oversight
  • Perform technical reviews and approve critical asset documentation, including Hazard Analyses, risk assessments, and work instructions
  • Standardize work processes to ensure consistency in Operations and Maintenance, Sustainment, and Asset Health Assurance
• Team Management & Talent Development
  • Forecast staffing requirements across engineering, skilled craft, and support teams
  • Set clear expectations for performance and hold teams accountable
  • Develop a technically agile team by assigning targeted tasks and providing regular ongoing performance feedback
  • Provide clear direction and support to area supervisors and craft superintendents
• Safety & Workplace Culture
  • Champion a collaborative, innovative, and empowering work environment built on trust and open communication
  • Exemplify the company’s core covenant of safety, ensuring strict compliance with all safety protocols, including the use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
• Perform other related duties as required to support the mission.

Basic Qualifications:

• BS Degree in Engineering or other technical discipline
• A minimum of 10 years’ progressive and relevant experience;
• In lieu of a degree, a minimum of 15 years’ progressive and relevant experience in dynamic engineering environments
• Must be able to maintain a Department of Defense Secret level security clearance and access to the AEDC local area network
• S. Citizenship is required for employment at AEDC

Preferred Qualifications

• Active Department of Defense Security Clearance (minimum Secret Clearance classification).
• Ability to work under schedule pressure and manage the team’s workload.
• Ability to work effectively in a dynamic environment with changing priorities and adjustments to test & facility conditions and requirements
• Ability and desire to mentor, develop, and lead diverse talent across disciplines and experience levels
• Ability to develop and maintain trusted relationships with direct reports, the USAF client, and test customers, and management
• Prior experience/familiarity in ground test operations and maintenance processes or complex, dynamic industrial operations
• Advanced certifications (PE, PMP, CMRP, etc.)
• Strong verbal and written communication skills in English with ability to effectively convey complex technical information to a variety of audiences
• Experience leading continual improvement culture

What We Offer

• Competitive salaries
• Continuing education assistance
• Multiple healthcare benefits packages
• 401K with employer matching
• Paid time off (PTO) along with a federally recognized holiday schedule