Director of Engineering

The Director of Engineering provides senior leadership for multi‑disciplinary engineering teams and ensures engineering is a direct contributor to business growth, market competitiveness, and operational execution.  This role requires a leader who combines strong people leadership, business acumen, and technical credibility. The Director ensures engineering strategy, R&D investment, and execution priorities are tightly aligned with sales growth, customer needs, and long‑term business objectives.

Key Responsibilities:

Leadership & Culture

• Lead and develop engineering managers and technical staff across multiple disciplines
• Establish a culture of collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement
• Mentor, coach, and develop talent; identify skill gaps and upgrade capabilities where needed
• Set clear expectations and hold teams accountable - firm, fair, and consistent
• Promote constructive, cross‑functional problem‑solving and decision‑making

Business Strategy & Growth

• Monitor aerospace and defense industry trends, customer priorities, and emerging technologies
• Translate trends into engineering strategies, product roadmaps, and R&D investment plans
• Ensure R&D activity supports sales growth, competitive differentiation, and market share expansion
• Partner with executive leadership on strategic planning and long‑range business objectives

Sales Support & Technical Proposals

• Serve as a key engineering leader in the sales and new business development process
• Drive creation, review, and approval of technical proposals, including:
• Technical architecture and approach
• Risk identification and mitigation strategies
• Resource estimates and execution plans
• Assess technical feasibility, schedule risk, and cost realism for new opportunities
• Ensure proposals align with current and future engineering capabilities
• Engage directly with customers during pursuit, proposal, and post‑award technical discussions

Engineering Execution

• Oversee day‑to‑day engineering operations and resource allocation
• Ensure projects meet cost, schedule, quality, and customer requirements
• Partner with Program Management to support design reviews, test readiness, and execution risk management
• Ensure disciplined systems engineering, verification, validation, and qualification planning

Budget & Resource Management

• Develop and manage departmental engineering budgets
• Create and maintain project budgets, staffing plans, and forecasted spend
• Own engineering headcount planning, including hiring, workload balancing, and capacity forecasting
• Ensure engineering resources are aligned with program demand and strategic priorities
• Actively manage costs while maintaining technical quality and delivery commitments

Cross‑Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with Operations, Quality, Supply Chain, Finance, and Program Management
• Ensure engineering decisions consider manufacturability, quality, cost, and full lifecycle support
• Reinforce that engineering success is measured by business and customer outcomes

Quality & Compliance:

• Ensure compliance with AS9100 and applicable aerospace standards
• Partner with Quality leadership to enforce disciplined engineering and design assurance processes
• Support regulated and safety‑critical product development environments

Technical Background (Foundation Needed)

This role requires technical breadth and credibility, not daily hands‑on design responsibility.

Preferred experience includes:

• Aerospace electrical, power, or control systems
• Safety‑critical or certified product development
• Familiarity with DO‑160, DO‑178B/C, DO‑254
• Multi‑discipline environments (systems, hardware, software, test)

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (Electrical, Hardware, Software, or related field)
• 10+ years of progressive engineering experience, including senior leadership roles
• Demonstrated success leading multi‑disciplinary engineering organizations
• Proven ability to link engineering strategy and execution to business growth
• Strong financial and resource planning experience within engineering organizations

Leadership Attributes We Value Most:

• Strong, confident people leadership across diverse teams
• Strategic mindset with a clear understanding of how engineering enables business success
• Collaborative leadership style with firm but fair accountability
• Comfortable owning decisions related to cost, schedule, and risk
• Passion for developing teams and building a durable engineering culture

Why This Role Matters:

This role ensures engineering is not a support function — but a growth engine for PDS. The right leader will shape technical direction, enable sales success, and build a collaborative organization capable of sustained aerospace leadership.