Group Lead, Flight Test Engineering

Work Arrangement
This is an onsite position at our Tampa, FL office.

Job Overview
The Test Engineering Group Lead provides strategic, technical, and organizational leadership for all developmental, integration, qualification, and flight test activities across assigned aerospace and UAS programs. This role owns the test and verification framework, ensuring that all testing activities are
requirements-driven, configuration-controlled, and traceable to objective evidence supporting formal compliance.

The Group Lead is responsible for institutionalizing disciplined verification processes that close the loop between Systems Engineering, Test Execution, and Requirements Verification Traceability Matrix (RVTM) closure. This position combines people management, process ownership, and hands-on
technical oversight to ensure testing scales effectively across multiple programs. The role serves as the functional authority for Test Engineering and acts as the primary bridge between the Test Engineering team and Systems Engineering, Program Management, Safety, and Manufacturing

Essential Functions
• Lead, mentor, and develop the Test Engineering team, establishing performance expectations, providing continuous feedback, and supporting professional growth and succession planning.
• Manage staffing plans, workload distribution, and hiring to ensure adequate resourcing across concurrent development, qualification, and production programs.
• Establish clear role definitions within the Test organization, ensuring separation of responsibilities between planning, execution, data analysis, and compliance reporting where appropriate.
• Establish and maintain the company’s Test and Verification processes, ensuring alignment with AS9100, contractual CDRLs, internal processes, and applicable DoD standards.
• Drive early collaboration with Systems Engineering to ensure requirements are measurable, testable, and appropriately allocated to verification methods (Test, Analysis, Inspection, Demonstration).
• Lead the development of detailed Flight Test Plans, Test Procedures, Test Cards and Test Reports
• Contribute to the development of System Verification Plans, Integration and Test Plans, and Requirements tracing and verification activities
• Ensure all test activities are traceable to controlled requirements and that objective evidence
supports closure within the Requirements Verification Traceability Matrix (RVTM).
• Maintain configuration discipline for hardware and software baselines under test, ensuring accurate documentation of test configurations and revisions.
• Provide technical oversight of ground testing, hardware/software integration testing, environmental testing, and flight testing activities.
• Oversee flight test planning, scheduling, range coordination, Safety Reviews, and Test Readiness
Reviews (TRRs).
• Establish and enforce disciplined data collection, reduction, analysis, archival, and auditreadiness practices.
• Monitor verification status, track deficiencies, and ensure corrective actions are documented and traceable to requirement closure.
• Identify technical risks within integration and test activities and implement mitigation strategies that reduce program uncertainty and schedule impact.
• Serve as the functional test authority during program reviews including SRR, PDR, CDR, TRR,
and customer technical reviews.
• Provide clear and accurate reporting to program management and executive leadership regarding verification status, test progress, and risk posture.
• Foster a culture of safety, accountability, technical rigor, and continuous improvement within the Test organization.
• Ensure adherence to company policies and reinforce alignment with organizational values and program objectives.
• Perform other duties as assigned.
• Regular and reliable attendance on a full time basis [or in accordance with posted schedule].
• Responsible for exhibiting professional behavior with both internal and external business associates that reflects positively on the company and is consistent with the company's policies and practices.
• Embodies AEVEX’s cultural values and aligns daily actions with department goals and company culture.

Qualifications and Competencies
• Strong understanding of systems engineering lifecycle processes including requirements development, traceability, configuration control, verification, and validation.
• Direct experience developing and maintaining RVTMs and linking verification artifacts to requirements management tools.
• Strong working knowledge of integration test methodologies, instrumentation, and performance evaluation.
• Proven ability to build scalable engineering processes rather than simply executing existing ones.
• Ability to manage competing technical priorities across multiple concurrent programs.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills suitable for government customers and senior leadership.
• Champions AEVEX’s culture and empowers employees to take responsibility for their jobs and goals.
• Engages employees by creating a climate in which they want to do their best.
• Sets performance standards and encourages employee engagement and results through delegation, continuous feedback, goal setting, and performance management.
• Maintains employee work schedules.
• Provides oversight and direction to the employees in accordance with AEVEX’s policies and procedures.

Education / Certifications
• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, or related field
• Master's Degree preferred.

Experience
• Minimum 10 years of flight test engineering experience.
• Minimum 3–5 years in test engineering leadership or management roles.
• Demonstrated experience leading engineering teams in aerospace or defense environments.
• Experience leading developmental and flight test programs for UAS or aerospace systems.
• Experience in DoD programs strongly preferred.
• Experience in UAS integration and flight test preferred.

Physical Requirements
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties the employee is:

Occasionally required to lift up to 50 pounds
Constantly required to sit, and to reach to use computers and other office equipment
Occasionally required repetitive movements of wrists, hands, and/or fingers

Security Clearance
• Ability to obtain/maintain a Top Secret/SCI DoD clearance, U.S. Citizenship required