Deputy Chief Engineer

Job Summary: Lead the technical development and integration of the Flight Physics, Powertrain, Propulsion and Structures teams for the Hili aircraft. Act as the Chief Engineer’s deputy and delegated technical authority for these disciplines, taking responsibility for their engineering quality, technical decisions and delivery. Work jointly with the Chief Engineer and the fellow Deputy Chief Engineer responsible for Avionics, Software and Flight Controls integrated product teams (IPTs) to deliver a safe, integrated and certified Hili aircraft. Align requirements, interfaces and development priorities across the aircraft throughout design, build, testing and certification. Key Responsibilities: Technical leadership and team management: Manage the four team leads, set technical priorities, allocate engineering resources and develop team capability. Maintain clear ownership of deliverables and decisions. Lead design trade studies and technical reviews, balancing aircraft performance, mass, energy, thermal management, structural integrity, reliability and certification needs. Own engineering milestones and technical maturity within the assigned scope. Agree schedules, budgets and resources with project managers, track dependencies and implement recovery plans for delays. Aircraft integration and coordination: Coordinate regularly with the Chief Engineer and fellow deputy on aircraft configuration, priorities, risks and technical decisions. Maintain one agreed approach to aircraft development. Manage interfaces with Avionics, Software and Flight Controls, including aircraft models, propulsion commands and limits, electrical power demands, sensors, actuators and structural interfaces. Own aerodynamic data, loads, physical plant models and hardware operating limits supplied to Flight Controls. Agree model validation, propulsion response and transition interfaces with the fellow deputy. Obtain both deputies’ concurrence on shared interfaces. Refer unresolved disagreements and changes affecting aircraft baselines, safety or certification to the Chief Engineer for decision. Program deliverables: Track all program deliverables within the assigned scope, with clear owners, due dates, dependencies, acceptance criteria and approval status. Review and approve all program deliverables within the assigned scope and written delegation, including designs, analyses, technical reports, test plans and results. Obtain required independent verification and release signatures. Ensure deliverables are complete, technically correct, traceable and compliant with certification requirements. Track review findings to closure and escalate overdue or deficient deliverables. Confirm readiness against agreed design review criteria and record decisions, actions and closure evidence. Report deliverable status, risks and recovery actions at weekly engineering reviews. Discipline oversight: Flight Physics: oversee aerodynamics, aircraft performance, stability and control analysis, loads and flight-envelope definition, in coordination with the Flight Controls and flight-test teams. Powertrain: oversee the integrated power and energy architecture, including the combustion engine, generation, energy storage, power distribution and thermal management. Propulsion: oversee lift and cruise propulsion performance, motors, propellers, installation and propulsion integration, including thrust capability, vibration and operating limits. Structures: oversee structural design, materials, stress and fatigue analysis, aeroelasticity, structural testing and integration with manufacturing. Technical budgets and design margins: Own consolidated mass and centre of gravity reporting, flight performance, propulsion, power, energy, cooling and structural margins within the assigned scope against Chief Engineer approved allocations. Collect contributions from all relevant IPTs, including avionics power and mass inputs. Forecast margin erosion, propose corrective trades and obtain approval before changing aircraft allocations. Verification and certification: Ensure designs and deliverables within the assigned scope comply with applicable airworthiness requirements, the agreed certification basis, means of compliance and certification plans. Plan and manage allocated certification activities. Maintain a compliance matrix linking requirements to substantiation analyses, tests, reports and approval status. Review and approve compliance documents within delegated authority. Ensure certification test procedures, test article conformity and configuration records meet agreed requirements. Coordinate with Systems Engineering, Safety, Certification and Design Assurance to address safety requirements, compliance gaps and required independent reviews. Support certification reviews and authority engagement as delegated by the Chief Engineer. Respond to technical queries and ensure findings and corrective actions are closed. Maintain configuration control and complete engineering records. Assess design changes for their impact on certification evidence and required retesting. Flight testing: Define flight-test objectives and engineering requirements with the flight-test team and fellow deputy. Review and approve technical content of test plans and cards within delegated authority. Establish test configurations, instrumentation needs, operating limits and acceptance criteria. Support envelope expansion planning and confirm required analyses and ground tests are complete. Represent the assigned disciplines at test readiness reviews. Verify engineering risks, open issues and configuration status are addressed before recommending readiness to the Chief Engineer. Provide engineering support during flight testing and coordinate technical responses across the assigned IPTs, Avionics, Software and Flight Controls. Lead post-flight data reviews, compare results with predictions and investigate discrepancies. Approve technical reports and track corrective actions and retests to verified closure. Supplier technical management: Own supplier technical requirements and specifications for the assigned disciplines. Lead supplier design reviews and verify interfaces, qualification evidence and configuration status. Review and accept supplier engineering deliverables within delegation. Resolve technical nonconformities with Quality and Certification, track corrective actions and escalate delivery or compliance risks. Production readiness and aircraft build support: Ensure designs are suitable for manufacture, assembly, inspection and maintenance. Provide approved drawings, specifications, installation limits and inspection requirements for aircraft builds. Support Manufacturing and Quality with build issues, repair assessments and proposed concessions. Obtain authorized disposition and assess effects on configuration, structural integrity, testing and certification. Prepare engineering inputs to maintenance, inspection and repair instructions and close design issues identified during production and aircraft operation. Technical authority and accountability: Both Deputy Chief Engineers report to the Chief Engineer and lead complementary scopes. This deputy approves engineering outputs within a written delegation. Independent compliance verification and designated release signatures remain with the authorized signatories. The Chief Engineer decides aircraft architecture, baseline and allocation changes, unresolved interface disputes and aircraft engineering readiness. Withhold engineering approval when acceptance criteria are unmet and require an engineering test hold for an unresolved safety or readiness concern. Escalate immediately to the Chief Engineer. Coordinate operational execution of the hold with the flight-test lead; resumption requires the prescribed engineering and operational clearances. Qualifications and Experience: Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace, Aeronautical or Mechanical Engineering, or a related discipline. A