Technical Director, UAS Programs (Arlington) Job at Atropos in Arlington

About Us

Were a combat-tested group of engineers, operators, and entrepreneurs who believe Americas edge depends on autonomous airpower thats trusted and deployable today not in 2040. Backed by tierone investors, weve secured the runway - financial, regulatory, and literal - to move at startup speed while tackling a nationalsecurity mission that matters. Weve structured the company for radical ownership: no silos, no systems integrator overhead, just tightly knit missionfocused IPTs that live and breathe the hardware and code they ship.

If you thrive where hardtech ambition meets nationalsecurity urgency, youll build faster here than anywhere else. Lets get after it.

Culture That Ships

• Strong Core Values, Startup Execution. Integrity, Service Before Self, Excellence, Honor, Courage, Commitmentpowered by a bias for action and a figure it out mindset.
• SelfStarters Only. Youll have clear objectives, a blank sheet of paper, and the trust (plus capital) to move fast. Bureaucracy stays out of your way.
• One Team, No Tourists. Whether youre tuning a control law at 2 a.m. or heattreating a Ti6Al4V spar, everyone sweats the details. We celebrate wins together and own failures together.

Whats In It for You

• Mission With a Pulse. Every line of code, bracket, or test you deliver expands the toolbox of the warfighter on Day 1 of a conflict.
• Resources Without Red Tape. VC speed + DoD customer pull: access to test ranges, flight hours, and operator feedback while retaining startup agility.
• CareerDefining Upside. Significant equity, bestinclass benefits, and the chance to see your product deliver in months, not decades.

About the Role

As a Technical Director for Uncrewed Aerial Systems at Atropos, you will serve as engineering leadership for our hardware engineering organization. This group is responsible for the hardware engineering disciplines in the design of uncrewed aerial systems. This includes conceptual and configuration design, aero performance, mechanical systems, structures design and analysis, propulsion integration, and electrical engineering efforts.

Areas of responsibility include the endtoend development of aircraft, from conceptual development to detailed design; to include designing for scaled manufacturing, and designing for flight test and certification. The ideal candidate will be able to ensure the adequacy of the technical designs and solution, as well as drive the long term organizational development of the team. The ideal candidate will have previous experience as the technical lead for a major uncrewed aerial weapon system program or programs, and will also have foundational expertise in one or more engineering disciplines below. You will leverage your technical expertise as well as leadership skills to set program objectives, build a team from zero to one, and drive this team to completion. You are hired for your ability to trust your intuition and prior experience in key technical decisions in order to be decisive in making the right design/analysis/ and test decisions, as well as roadmapping the programs future engineering path.

What Youll Do

• Lead the technical execution of new and existing air vehicle systems design, fabrication, test and productization of unmanned aerial weapon systems.
• Lead the long term functional engineering team development roadmap to ensure we have the skillsets, capabilities and workflows to enable successful execution of current and future programs.
• Own the technical success and meet deliverable timelines in all phases of development.
• Establish a center of excellence in air vehicle design that includes a library of standards, allowables, and tool sets to build upon.
• Find, hire, manage, and mentor the team of internal and external subject matter experts, and communicate that vision to them.
• Partner closely with the business lines in areas of proposal capture, customer interface, resource planning, capital expenditures and program schedules.
• Partner closely with additional stakeholder disciplines that are not under you direct organizational leadership; these include but are not limited to manufacturing, supply chain, energetics, mission systems integrations, GNC, Flight test and evaluation.
• Manage the detailed design of the system and subsystems including requirements development, subsystem trades and optimization, risk management to ensure the appropriate consideration of design key performance parameters, schedule, costs and risks.
• Own the overall model/drawing/documentation package required for initial build and effective production transition.
• Work with senior leadership to ensure resource plans are adequate.

What You'll Bring

• Deep understanding and previous systems leadership of unmanned aerial weapon systems in major defense acquisitions programs (i.e. Group 5 UAS).
• Early previous baseline experience in any of the following disciplines you will be managing.
• 10+ years of real experience in a senior role leading air vehicle programs from initial concept through test and delivery to customers.
• Experience in mission engineering driving vehicle and systems design.
• Bachelors degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical or Software engineering, or equivalent experience in a relevant field.
• Experience in building teams from 0 to 1, and leading teams in fastpaced programs.
• Eligible to obtain and maintain an active U.S. Top Secret security clearance.

Bonus Points

• Experience in startup, or equivalent fast paced culture.
• Experience in endtoend aircraft development, from design through certification.

Why Youll Love Working Here (Compensation and Benefits)

Base Salary: $260,000 to 300,000 USD

The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a wide range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary offer may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations. Highly competitive equity grants are included in the majority of full time offers; and are considered part of Atropos's total compensation package. Additionally, Atropos offers toptier benefits for fulltime employees, including:

• Platinum Healthcare Benefits: Atropos offers comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans with 100% employerpaid premiums and little to no cost to you.
• Basic Life/AD&D and longterm disability insurance 100% covered by Atropos, plus the option to purchase additional life insurance for you and your dependents.
• Unlimited PTO, with minimum of 15 days enforced.
• 20 weeks of paid Caregiver & Wellness Leave to care for a family member, bond with your baby, or tend to your own medical condition.
• Family Planning & Parenting Support: Fertility (eg, IVF, preservation), adoption, and gestational carrier coverage with additional benefits and resources to provide support from planning to parenting.
• Mental Health Resources: We provide free mental health resources 24/7 including therapy, life coaching, and more. Additional worklife services, such as free legal and financial support, available to you as well.
• Tuition and professional development reimbursement for STEM, MBA, and licenses.
• Daily Lunch catered.
• Companyfunded child care stipend.
• Companyfunded commuter benefits available based on your region.
• Relocation assistance (depending on role eligibility).
• 401(k) retirement savings plan - both a traditional and Roth 401(k). 6% employer matching contribution.

Atropos is an equalopportunity employer committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. The Atropos team is made up of incredibly talented and unique individuals. All qualified applicants will be treated with respect and receive equal consideration for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, uniform service, Veteran status, age, or any other protected characteristic per federal, state, or local law, including those with a criminal history, in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable state and local laws. We actively encourage members of recognized minorities, women, Veterans, and those with disabilities to apply, and we work to create a welcoming and supportive environment for all applicants throughout the interview process.

If you are someone who is interested in disrupting the way the Department of Defense buys and operates unmanned weapon systems, please apply!

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