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Worker Type

Job Description

Summary

Position Responsibilities

• Strategic Resource Management: Manage staffing levels, budgets, and resource allocation to align with the Annual Operating Plan (AOP) and research, development, and production goals.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Serve as the primary bridge between Business Leads, Product, Engineering, Production, and External Stakeholders to ensure customer requirements are met with precision and reliability.

• Other duties as assigned.

Basic Qualifications (Required Skills & Experience)

• Experience: 12+ years of progressive engineering experience, with at least 5+ years in a formal leadership or management role overseeing multidisciplinary hardware and systems teams.

  Education: BS in Electrical, Mechanical, Aerospace, or other Engineering Disciplines (Master’s degree preferred).

  Industry Background: Proven experience in Aerospace, Defense, or Subsea/Robotics hardware development. Familiarity with ruggedized electronics and systems operating in harsh environments is highly preferred.

  Lifecycle Expertise: Demonstrated success taking complex hardware from initial concept through design, integration, environmental testing (Vibration, Thermal, Pressure), and into high-rate production.

  Process Knowledge: Strong understanding of Systems Engineering principles (requirements traceability, risk management, and interface control).

  Systems Thinker: Proven ability to transform "tribal knowledge" into scalable, documented processes and formal engineering procedures.

  Pragmatic Problem Solver: Experience managing the balance between rapid innovation and the necessity of disciplined documentation and configuration management.

  "Player-Coach" Mentality: Willingness to roll up sleeves to assist the team in solving immediate technical hurdles while simultaneously building the long-term systems to prevent them.

  Communication: Exceptional ability to translate complex technical challenges into actionable business insights for executive leadership.

  Citizenship: U.S. Citizenship is required due to defense contract requirements

Physical Demands

• Ability to work in an office and onsite environment (Frequent).

• Ability to support field testing and integration assignments (Infrequently).

• Required to sit and stand for long periods; talk, hear, and use hands and fingers to operate a computer and telephone keyboard (Frequent).

Clearance Level

The salary range for this role is:

AeroVironment considers several factors when extending an offer, including but not limited to, the location, the role and associated responsibilities, a candidate’s work experience, education/training, and key skills.

ITAR Requirement:

This position requires access to information that is subject to compliance with the International Traffic Arms Regulations (“ITAR”) and/or the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”). In order to comply with the requirements of the ITAR and/or the EAR, applicants must qualify as a U.S. person under the ITAR and the EAR, or a person to be approved for an export license by the governing agency whose technology comes under its jurisdiction. Please understand that any job offer that requires approval of an export license will be conditional on AeroVironment’s determination that it will be able to obtain an export license in a time frame consistent with AeroVironment’s business requirements. A “U.S. person” according to the ITAR definition is a U.S. citizen, U.S. lawful permanent resident (green card holder), or protected individual such as a refugee or asylee. See 22 CFR § 120.15. Some positions will require current U.S. Citizenship due to contract requirements.

Benefits: AV offers an excellent benefits package including medical, dental vision, 401K with company matching, a 9/80 work schedule and a paid holiday shutdown. For more information about our company benefit offerings please visit: http://www.avinc.com/myavbenefits.

We also encourage you to review our company website at http://www.avinc.com to learn more about us.

Principals only need apply. NO agencies please.

Who We Are

Based in California, AeroVironment (AVAV) is a global leader in unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and tactical missile systems. Founded in 1971 by celebrated physicist and engineer, Dr. Paul MacCready, we’ve been at the leading edge of technical innovation for more than 45 years. Be a part of the team that developed the world’s most widely used military drones and created the first submarine-launched reconnaissance drone, and has seven innovative vehicles that are part of the Smithsonian Institution’s permanent collection in Washington, DC.

Join us today in developing the next generation of small UAS and tactical missile systems that will deliver more actionable intelligence to our customers so they can proceed with certainty – and succeed.

What We Do

Building on a history of technological innovation, AeroVironment designs, develops, produces, and supports an advanced portfolio of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and tactical missile systems. Agencies of the U.S. Department of Defense and allied military services use the company’s hand-launched UAS to provide situational awareness to tactical operating units through real-time, airborne reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition.

We are proud to be an EEO/AA Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability/veterans. AeroVironment, Inc. is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) employer and welcomes all qualified applicants. Qualified applicants will receive fair and impartial consideration without regard to race, sex, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, genetic data, sexual orientation, gender identity or other legally protected status.

ITAR