Payload Production Project Engineer – Electrical Engineering

About the role

The Space Systems Business Area at Leidos is hiring a Payload Production Project Engineer in Huntsville, AL, to support its Proliferated Space Portfolio. The engineer works on OPIR Space Payload programs for the Space Development Agency (SDA), designing, producing and delivering next-generation infrared sensor payloads. Embedded on the production floor, the role links program leadership with the manufacturing team, giving leadership accurate, real-time visibility into hardware status and production impacts.

Key responsibilities

• Provide daily hardware status updates to the Operations Lead and Production Manager and take part in daily build station stand-ups with technicians, inspectors and support staff.
• Track flight hardware location, build status and configuration, and communicate it to program leadership.
• Monitor production flow and hardware movement, surface schedule impacts and downstream effects of sequencing or priority changes, and track engineering direction, configuration updates and priority shifts back to the Manufacturing team.
• Keep process travelers accurate with the latest engineering direction and flag discrepancies early.
• Stay aware of Non-Conformance Reports (NCRs) and MRB dispositions and communicate their status to leadership.
• Support critical tests (functional, environmental, electrical interface verification, ATP) and Pre-Ship Review preparation with Quality and Engineering, and document lessons learned after each unit delivery.
• Support customer and Government Source Inspection (GSI) activities and drive technical issues to closure across Engineering, Quality, Manufacturing and Program.

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Manufacturing or a related technical field with 4+ years of experience, or an MS with 2+ years of experience.
• Demonstrated experience in electronics hardware execution, production coordination or systems integration on a defense aerospace or space hardware program.
• Experience with flight hardware production, including assembly, integration and test of complex electro-optical or electronic systems.
• Ability to work across organizational levels and communicate floor-level status clearly to program leadership.
• Active Secret clearance and US citizenship required.
• Preferred: space payload experience supporting DoD or Intelligence Community customers, familiarity with SDA requirements, IR sensor or cryogenic hardware experience, and experience supporting PSRs and FRRs.

Required skills

• Configuration management principles (ECPs, CCBs, as-built documentation)
• NCR processes and MRB dispositions
• Process travelers and manufacturing execution systems such as Solumina or equivalent
• AS9100 quality management system (preferred)