Materials Engineering Principal Technical Fellow (Remote)

Overview

Principal Technical Fellow in Materials Engineering within the Applied Research & Technology (ART) organization at Collins Aerospace, providing technical and strategic leadership across Collins Aerospace and RTX and transitioning disruptive technologies from research into operational use.

What you'll do

• Provide leadership to company-wide initiatives that advance product technology or discipline capability in support of the business strategy.
• Lead or contribute to RTX-wide initiatives.
• Advocate and foster growth opportunities for future RTX technologists.
• Partner with senior leadership, key stakeholders, and subject matter experts to identify and communicate strategic customer and business initiatives.
• Identify improvement opportunities and projects and help drive the business operations agenda.
• Lead development of new approaches to qualification, design, and automated manufacturing to reduce cost, improve performance, and increase manufacturability.
• Build and maintain relationships across departments and business units.
• Drive the transition of early-stage research into production environments, ensuring alignment with business strategy, engineering needs, and regulatory requirements.
• Present to internal and external audiences; lead proposal and white paper activities; and represent Collins Aerospace at technical conferences and working groups.
• Promote key development projects and ensure alignment with customer and program objectives.
• Engage across RTX Business Units and serve as a recognized technical expert with regulatory bodies, customers, and universities.
• Provide technical leadership to facilitate high-quality decisions, product competitiveness, and robust solutions.
• Share expertise across the enterprise and support TRL/MRL reviews, PDRs, and CDRs.
• Lead strategic plans to advance product technology and organizational capability.
• Identify external technology disruptors and evaluate their potential strategic applications.
• Maintain an active presence in external technical communities and government standards committees while helping shape the future of the business and emerging technologies.

What you'll need

• Experience creating and maintaining organizational or directorate-level strategic technology roadmaps, customer trend analyses, and assessments of disruptive technologies.
• Expert-level knowledge and mastery across multiple Materials Engineering disciplines, typically acquired through advanced academic qualifications and significant industry experience.
• Expertise in materials design, qualification, alloy development, coatings, automated synthesis, additive manufacturing, and/or related advanced materials technologies.
• Experience establishing or modifying customer requirements, processes, and procedures to drive positive business results.
• Experience advancing new materials capabilities, manufacturing processes, and/or system level design methodologies.
• Exceptional executive-level communication and influencing skills, with the ability to work effectively across business units and serve as a technical point of contact for critical Engineering activities.
• Demonstrated technical leadership through patents, publications, technical presentations, and engagement with industry and government stakeholders.
• Typically requires a degree in Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM) and a minimum of 14 years of prior relevant experience, or an Advanced Degree and a minimum of 12 years of relevant experience, unless prohibited by local laws/regulations.
• Active and transferable DoD Secret Clearance is required prior to start date.
• U.S. citizenship is required, as only U.S. citizens are eligible for a security clearance.

Nice to have

• Experience with cost accounting structures and financial systems.
• Experience working with DARPA, Department of Defense, Department of Energy, NASA, or similar government research agencies.
• Knowledge of machine learning applications for materials engineering and digital engineering workflows.
• Exceptional analytical and decision-making skills, with the ability to develop creative and innovative technical solutions.
• Experience leading, mentoring, and developing technical teams ranging from junior to midlevel engineers and analysts.
• Demonstrated ability to balance near-term development priorities with long-term technology and program objectives.
• Strong business acumen and the ability to translate complex technical concepts into actionable business strategies.
• Active participation in external technical communities, government standards committees, and industry organizations.

Details

• Remote role, working primarily offsite (from home); may be expected to travel to site locations as needed.
• Ability to travel up to 25% to customers, Collins Aerospace and RTX sites, technical conferences, engineering laboratories, and other business locations.
• If living within a reasonable commute of a Collins site with colleagues, manager will discuss whether there is a degree of onsite presence.
• Candidates may be asked to attend select interview steps in person at an office location.
• U.S.-based role; if the successful candidate resides in a U.S. territory, the appropriate pay structure and benefits will apply.