Engineering Flight Test Coordination Lead

Overview

The Engineering Flight Test Coordination Lead is responsible for end-to-end configuration control and change management for a fleet of experimental aircraft across multiple types. This role ensures the organization always knows exactly what configuration each aircraft is in, what maintenance is scheduled or required, what experimental modifications are installed or pending, and what actions and documentation are required to return an aircraft to a standard airworthiness condition (e.g., “airworthiness ticket” or equivalent internal/release status).

This role also manages and coordinates test aircraft configuration and readiness for test. This position establishes and governs the tools, processes, and metrics that enable high fleet availability, safe and compliant experimentation, and rapid configuration traceability for engineering, flight test, maintenance, safety, and program stakeholders.

• Maintain the configuration baseline for each aircraft, including:
  Installed experimental and standard parts (part numbers, serial numbers, mod status), software/firmware loads and calibration states (as applicable), instrumentation, test equipment, and payload configurations; weight & balance configuration changes and supporting records.
• Track aircraft configuration across multiple aircraft types and sub-types, ensuring consistent configuration definitions and naming conventions.
• Ensure configuration status is accurate, current, and auditable, enabling rapid “as-is” and “as-maintained” reporting.
• Serve as the single coordination point for all changes affecting experimental aircraft configuration, including: new experimental parts installations/removals, temporary test configurations, “test-only” deviations and allowances, engineering dispositions and constraints.
• Establish and manage an aircraft change workflow.
• Ensure each change has clear scope, purpose, risk assessment inputs, required signoffs, installation instructions, verification steps, and rollback plan.
• Track scheduled and unscheduled maintenance events for the fleet and ensure maintenance status is integrated into configuration visibility.
• Coordinate with maintenance teams to plan downtime, parts availability, and turn-back-to-flight readiness requirements.
• Maintain forward-looking schedules and constraints (test windows, inspections, compliance checks) to support optimal aircraft availability.
• Define and manage the requirements, documentation, inspections, and signoffs needed to place a standard airworthiness ticket (or equivalent internal release) back on the aircraft.
• Ensure experimental modifications are correctly documented, controlled, and reconciled against release criteria prior to flight operations.
• Build and maintain “ready-to-fly” and “return-to-standard” checklists by aircraft type/configuration, including verification of installed configuration and completed inspections.
• Establish and continuously improve the tools and processes used to manage configuration and change control (e.g., PLM/ALM/CM systems, databases, dashboards, forms, and workflows).
• Create fleet-level visibility dashboards.
• Define, track, and report key performance and availability metrics.
• Drive standard work, training, and compliance to the configuration & change processes across engineering, maintenance, test operations, and safety stakeholders.
• Partner with engineering, flight test, quality, safety, supply chain, and program leadership to align priorities and ensure changes are implemented safely and efficiently.
• Coordinate planned aircraft configuration updates to support future testing, ensuring the aircraft configuration meets test requirements and project schedule.
• Facilitate/establish a configuration review / change control board (if necessary), capturing decisions and maintaining action closure.
• Provide rapid configuration data support for investigations, test analysis, and operational planning.

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Aviation Maintenance, Aerospace, Operations, Program Management or related field, or equivalent experience.
• 7+ years of experience in configuration management, change management, aircraft maintenance planning,…