Chief Engineer, Aerospace Structures and Hardware

Chief Engineer – Aerospace Structures & Hardware

Our core competencies include systems engineering, program management, logistics, production support, aircraft maintenance, and aviation/aerospace services. We were founded in 2015 and since our establishment, we have been attracting the best talent in our fields of interest enabling us to provide cutting-edge solutions and support to our warfighters. We understand and provide expert consultation on weapons systems acquisition programs, maintenance/modernization programs, and sustainment programs.

We know defense and we know aircraft systems.

Albers Aerospace is seeking a highly experienced Chief Engineer – Aerospace Structures & Hardware to provide technical leadership across complex aerospace and defense programs spanning development, production readiness, low-rate production, and full-rate manufacturing. This role serves as the senior technical authority responsible for ensuring products are technically sound, manufacturable, producible, and scalable while meeting customer, schedule, cost, and quality objectives.

The Chief Engineer will work closely with customers, program leadership, engineering teams, suppliers, manufacturing operations, and quality organizations to bridge the gap between design intent and successful production execution. While the prime customer retains design authority, this position plays a critical role in evaluating technical requirements, assessing manufacturing feasibility, mitigating production risks, and driving continuous improvement throughout the product lifecycle.

The ideal candidate combines deep aerospace hardware expertise with practical manufacturing experience and the ability to lead cross-functional teams in fast-paced, mission-critical environments.

Essential Job Functions:

• Serve as the senior technical leader for aerospace structures, mechanical systems, and complex hardware programs from development through production.
• Provide technical direction and decision-making across engineering, manufacturing, quality, supply chain, and program management functions.
• Ensure alignment between customer requirements, technical baselines, manufacturing capabilities, and business objectives.
• Act as the primary engineering liaison between customers, suppliers, manufacturing operations, and program teams.
• Lead technical reviews, design assessments, production readiness evaluations, and engineering risk reviews.
• Lead Design for Manufacturability (DFM), Design for Assembly (DFA), producibility, and production readiness initiatives.
• Evaluate technical data packages, engineering drawings, specifications, and manufacturing plans to identify risks, gaps, and opportunities for improvement.
• Develop strategies to improve production efficiency, reduce cycle time, increase yield, and enhance product quality.
• Support transition from development and prototype builds into repeatable production environments.
• Lead First Article Inspection (FAI), Production Readiness Reviews (PRR), and qualification planning activities.
• Assess supplier capabilities, manufacturing processes, and technical readiness to support program requirements.
• Lead make-versus-buy analyses based on technical capability, cost, schedule, capacity, and risk considerations.
• Support supplier selection, qualification, transition, and second-source manufacturing initiatives.
• Collaborate with suppliers and internal manufacturing teams to resolve technical issues and improve production performance.
• Drive successful industrialization and scaling of products across internal and external manufacturing sources.
• Identify technical, manufacturing, and supply chain risks and develop mitigation strategies.
• Drive recurring cost reduction initiatives through process improvements, alternative sourcing strategies, value engineering, and manufacturing optimization.
• Support proposal development, cost estimating, technical planning, and business case evaluations.
• Lead root cause investigations and corrective actions related to production, quality, and technical performance issues.
• Establish and promote engineering best practices, standard work, and lessons learned across programs.
• Serve as a trusted technical…