Specialist, Project Engineer (Propulsion Controls, and Electronics)

Job Title: Specialist Project Engineer, Propulsion Controls Electronics

Job Code: 38795

Job Location: Canoga Park, CA

Job Schedule: 9/80: Employees work 9 out of every 14 days- totaling 80 hours worked- and have every other Friday off  

Job Description:

We are seeking a Level 3 Project Engineer to lead the planning, execution, and delivery of electronics development efforts for propulsion controls systems in the defense and aerospace industry. This role is responsible for coordinating cross-functional engineering teams developing mission-critical control solutions for propulsion applications, including embedded electronics, system integration, and verification activities. The ideal candidate brings a strong technical foundation, disciplined program execution skills, and experience working in highly regulated, safety-critical environments.

Essential Functions:

• Lead electronics development projects for propulsion control systems from concept through integration, verification, qualification, and production support.
• Coordinate cross-functional teams including electrical, software, systems, mechanical, test, quality, manufacturing, and program management.
• Develop and maintain project plans, schedules, technical milestones, risk registers, and action item tracking for propulsion controls programs.
• Manage day-to-day execution of hardware and software development activities to ensure technical, cost, schedule, and quality objectives are met.
• Support requirements decomposition, interface definition, design reviews, and verification planning for propulsion control electronics.
• Drive issue resolution across design, integration, and test activities, including root cause and corrective action coordination.
• Monitor project risks and opportunities, identify recovery plans when needed, and communicate status clearly to leadership and customers.
• Ensure compliance with internal engineering processes, customer requirements, contractual obligations, and applicable aerospace and defense standards.
• Facilitate technical reviews, customer meetings, milestone presentations, and decision-making forums.
• Provide technical leadership and mentoring to junior engineers and project contributors within assigned scope.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, Systems Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related technical field.
• 5+ years of experience leading or coordinating engineering development projects involving electronics, or integrated control systems in defense or aerospace applications.
• 5+ years of experience with product development lifecycle activities, including requirements, design, integration, verification, validation, and configuration management.
• 5+ years of experience with managing schedules, technical risks, dependencies, and cross-functional communication in a structured engineering environment.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including presentation of technical and program status to internal and external stakeholders.

Preferred Additional Skills:

• Experience with engine control systems, thrust vector control, electro-mechanical actuation, ignition control, embedded software, sensors or other propulsion-related subsystems.
• Experience working in a safety-critical development environment with standards such as DO-178, DO-254, MIL-STD, or equivalent aerospace/defense frameworks.
• Familiarity with requirements and project tools such as DOORS, Jira, Microsoft Project, Earned Value concepts, or similar systems.
• Background in control electronics, hardware/software integration, or system test.
• Master’s degree in engineering or technical discipline.

Key Traits for Success

• Strong technical judgment with the ability to bridge engineering detail and program execution.
• Organized, proactive leader who can keep complex development efforts aligned and moving forward.
• Comfortable operating in fast-paced, high-accountability, mission-critical defense aerospace environments.
• Collaborative mindset with a focus on disciplined execution, clear communication, and reliable delivery.

In compliance with pay transparency requirements, the salary range for this role in California, is $92,500 - $171,500. This is not a guarantee of compensation or salary, as final offer amount may vary based on factors including but not limited to experience and geographic location. L3Harris also offers a variety of benefits, including health and disability insurance, 401(k) match, flexible spending accounts, EAP, education assistance, parental leave, paid time off, and company-paid holidays. The specific programs and options available to an employee may vary depending on date of hire, schedule type, and the applicability of collective bargaining agreements.