Design Engineering Manager

Position Summary

Blue Ops is seeking a Design Engineering Manager to lead the design, development, and engineering execution of autonomous marine platforms and advanced boat systems. This role will oversee a team of mechanical, marine, electrical, and systems design engineers responsible for creating manufacturable, reliable, mission-ready autonomous boats.

The Design Engineering Manager will bridge the gap between concept development, detailed design, prototyping, production readiness, and continuous improvement. This leader will work closely with manufacturing, operations, supply chain, quality, program management, and field operations to ensure Blue Ops vessels are engineered for performance, durability, scalability, and efficient production.

This role is ideal for a hands-on engineering leader with experience in boat building, marine systems, autonomous platforms, composites, mechanical design, defense manufacturing, or advanced vehicle development.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Engineering Leadership

• Lead and manage a multidisciplinary design engineering team supporting autonomous boat design and production.
• Provide technical direction, coaching, performance feedback, and career development for engineering staff.
• Establish engineering priorities, resource plans, design schedules, and project milestones.
• Create a culture of accountability, collaboration, innovation, and practical problem-solving.
• Serve as the technical leader for design decisions related to vessel structures, propulsion integration, payload integration, electrical systems, autonomy hardware, and manufacturability.

Product Design & Development

• Oversee the design and development of autonomous surface vessels, marine structures, mechanical assemblies, hardware integrations, and supporting components.
• Lead engineering efforts from concept through prototype, validation, production release, and sustainment.
• Ensure designs meet mission requirements, customer specifications, safety standards, and operational use cases.
• Guide design trade studies related to vessel performance, weight, durability, cost, reliability, and ease of manufacturing.
• Support the integration of autonomy systems, sensors, communications equipment, power systems, payloads, and propulsion packages into marine platforms.

Design for Manufacturing

• Partner closely with manufacturing, production, and operations teams to ensure designs are optimized for boat building, assembly, repairability, and scalable production.
• Drive design-for-manufacturing and design-for-assembly practices across engineering projects.
• Support production ramp-up by resolving design-related manufacturing issues quickly and effectively.
• Translate prototype designs into repeatable production-ready configurations.
• Help standardize parts, assemblies, materials, and engineering documentation to improve quality and reduce production complexity.

Technical Documentation & Configuration Control

• Own or support the creation and maintenance of engineering drawings, CAD models, BOMs, technical specifications, work instructions, and design documentation.
• Ensure engineering changes are properly reviewed, documented, released, and communicated through the organization.
• Maintain strong configuration control across boat platforms, subsystems, and production revisions.
• Partner with quality and manufacturing teams to ensure engineering documentation supports inspection, traceability, and compliance requirements.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with program management to align design work with schedule, cost, and customer deliverables.
• Collaborate with supply chain on vendor selection, material availability, make/buy decisions, and supplier technical requirements.
• Support quality teams with root-cause analysis, corrective actions, inspection criteria, and field issue resolution.
• Partner with test and field operations teams to incorporate lessons learned from sea trials, customer demonstrations, and deployed systems.
• Communicate technical risks, design status, resource needs, and recovery plans to leadership.

Testing, Validation & Continuous Improvement

• Support prototype builds, system integration, testing, sea trials, and design validation activities.
• Review test results and lead engineering responses to performance, reliability, or durability issues.
• Drive continuous improvement of existing vessel designs based on production feedback, field performance, customer input, and cost-reduction opportunities.
• Help establish engineering standards, design review processes, and lessons-learned practices.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Marine Engineering, Naval Architecture, Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related technical field.
• 7 years of engineering experience in product design, mechanical systems, marine systems, vehicle platforms, composites, manufacturing engineering, or related industries.
• 2 years of engineering leadership, team lead, supervisor, or management experience.
• Experience taking products or systems from concept through prototype, testing, and production release.
• Strong understanding of design for manufacturing, design for assembly, engineering change control, and configuration management.
• Experience with CAD tools such as SolidWorks, Siemens NX, CATIA, Creo, Rhino, AutoCAD, or similar.
• Ability to read and approve engineering drawings, BOMs, specifications, and technical documentation.
• Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to make sound technical decisions in a fast-paced production environment.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to work across engineering, manufacturing, operations, quality, supply chain, and leadership teams.

Additional Desired Qualifications

• Experience in boat building, marine manufacturing, autonomous surface vessels, unmanned systems, defense products, robotics, aerospace, automotive, or advanced manufacturing.
• Knowledge of composite structures, fiberglass, carbon fiber, marine laminates, hull design, mold tooling, or marine assembly processes.
• Experience with propulsion systems, marine electrical systems, power distribution, battery systems, sensors, payload integration, or autonomy hardware.
• Familiarity with government, defense, or DoD product development environments.
• Experience supporting low-rate initial production, production ramp-up, or transition from prototype to full-scale manufacturing.
• Understanding of requirements management, systems engineering, risk management, and verification/validation processes.
• Experience with PLM/PDM systems, ERP systems, and engineering release processes.
• Knowledge of marine standards, safety requirements, or environmental durability testing.
• Master’s degree in engineering, business, or a related technical discipline.

Physical Requirements and Working Conditions

• Ability to work in both office and production environments.
• Ability to support prototype builds, manufacturing reviews, inspections, and vessel testing activities.
• May require occasional travel to suppliers, customer sites, test locations, or other company facilities.
• Must be comfortable working around marine vessels, manufacturing equipment, composite materials, tools, and production operations.
• Ability to lift up to 25 pounds occasionally may be required.

Background Check

This position will require successfully completing a post-offer background check. Qualified candidates with a criminal history will be considered and are not automatically disqualified, consistent with federal and state law.

EEO and ITAR/EAR Work Authorization Disclosure

Red Cat Holdings provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This position requires direct or indirect access to hardware, software, technology or technical data controlled under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). Successful candidates for positions subject to ITAR/EAR restrictions must provide proof of U.S. Citizenship or Permanent Residence and must not require sponsorship for export-restricted work authorization.

E-Verify

The company participates E-Verify ensure eligibility for employment and compliance with Right to Work rules.

Compensation: Base pay, plus generous annual equity package and potential bonuses.