Project Chief Engineer- Active Secret (Onsite)

About this role

Date Posted: 2026-08-13

 Country: United States of America

 Location: US-IA-CEDAR RAPIDS-121 ~ 350 Collins Rd NE ~ BLDG 121

 Position Role Type: Onsite

 U.S. Citizen, U.S. Person, or Immigration Status Requirements: Active and transferable U.S. government issued security clearance is required prior to start date.​ U.S. citizenship is required, as only U.S. citizens are eligible for a security clearance​

 Security Clearance Type: Secret - Current

 Security Clearance Status: Active and existing security clearance required on day 1

Shape the Future of the Connected Battlespace  

Applied Research & Technology (ART) is seeking an experienced   Pro ject   Chief Engineer   to lead complex integration, experimentation, and field demonstration activities supporting military customers and advanced mission-critical systems. In this highly visible role,   you’ll   provide hands-on technical leadership across customer engagements, field events, secure environments, and multi-domain integration efforts, helping transform emerging technologies into operational capabilities.  

As a key member of the JADC2 Experimentation, Demonstration & Integration (JEDI) Team,   you’ll   help customers envision the future battlespace through demonstrations and experimentation that create demand and drive early advantage for Connected Battlespace implementation.   You’ll   work at the forefront of emerging technology   to :  

• Identify , prioritize, and rapidly mature emerging capabilities that address evolving mission needs.   

• Influence key customer requirements and   validate   innovative solutions through experimentation, integration, and real-world demonstrations.   

• Create new opportunities and drive early competitive advantage, increasing the probability of win ( Pwin ) for Collins technical proposals.   

This is an opportunity to work at the intersection of technology, mission, and customer need, influencing what comes next while seeing your technical leadership translate into real-world mission capabilities.  

  What You Will Do  

• Guide Technical   Execution: Lead  cross-discipline technical execution across engineering domains, ensuring that all elements work together as a cohesive solution.   

• Operational Planning and Project Controls: Design, communicate, and implement JEDI PMT technical plans, including engineering work breakdowns, schedules, and cost estimates. Lead the execution of project controls, monitoring progress against plan and ensuring that technical work is aligned with program cost, schedule, and quality targets.   

• Proposals, Business Plans, and Contract Support: Coordinate technical inputs to proposals, business plans, work statements, specifications, budgets, and contractual terms for their product or customer area. Ensure that commitments are technically sound, feasible, and consistent with family architectures and standards.   

• Design Direction, Development, and Execution: Guides team to build design concepts, criteria, and engineering direction for product research, development, integration, and test within their scope. Ensure that validation and certification/qualification activities are planned and executed to meet customer and regulatory requirements.   

• Issue Resolution and Resource Coordination: Monitor technical and operational progress, identify deviations from plan, and drive timely resolution of technical and execution issues to minimize delays. Work with Engineering Resource Management and functional leaders to secure and coordinate the resources necessary to meet commitments.   

• Stakeholder Engagement: Serve as the technical interface for their product/segment/customer scope with General Management, Program Management, customers, and suppliers, ensuring alignment between technical decisions, business objectives, and contractual obligations.  

• Ability and willingness to travel up to 25%, including to customer sites, test ranges, and field demonstration locations.  

Qualifications You Must Have  

• Typically requires a degree in Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) and minimum 8 years prior relevant experience or an Advanced Degree in a related field and minimum 5 years of experience  

• Active and transferable U.S. government issued secret security clearance is required prior to start date  

• U.S. citizenship is required, as only U.S. citizens are eligible for a security clearance   

• Extensive experience in Mission Systems, aerospace, defense, or military ‑ relevant system roles.  

• Demonstrated experience working across multiple security domains and adhering to classified information handling, security, and safeguarding procedures.  

• Demonstrated project engineering experience leading complex, cross-functional programs involving systems integration, technical execution, customer engagement, and field demonstrations.  

Qualifications   We Prefer  

• Active Top Secret (TS) Security clearance  

• Excellent communication skills with the ability to brief military customers and translate complex technical concepts.  

• Experience leading integration and demonstrated activities for military systems or in secure operational environment  

• Strong troubleshooting skills across embedded systems, hardware interfaces, networking, and secure communications technologies  

• Experience supporting military platform integration (airborne, ground, maritime, or C2 systems)  

• Familiarity with secure lab operations, classified networks, and cross ‑ domain solutions  

• Background in systems engineering, real ‑ time embedded software, mission networking, or advanced avionics architectures  

• Prior experience delivering high ‑ visibility capability demonstrations to military customers or senior stakeholders  

What We Offer  

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance    

• Three weeks of vacation for newly hired employees    

• Generous 401(k) plan tha

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