Senior Chief Engineer / VP Quality-Engineering

CONFIDENTIAL RETAINED SEARCH | AEROSPACE AND DEFENSE

Search Reference: TNF-SCE-2026 | Technical Authority Leadership Mandate

ABOUT THIS SEARCH

Top Notch Finders has been retained on an exclusive and strictly confidential basis to identify a Senior Chief Engineer / VP Quality-Engineering for a well-established aerospace and defense organization. To protect the interests of our client and of every candidate who engages with us, the identity of the company and the location of its engineering and manufacturing operations are disclosed only to qualified candidates under a confidentiality agreement. All inquiries and applications are received and managed solely by Top Notch Finders.

POSITION SNAPSHOT

• Reports to: CTO or VP Engineering.
• Location: Onsite at the primary engineering and manufacturing facility; location disclosed to qualified candidates.
• Clearance: Secret or higher, program-dependent.

THE OPPORTUNITY

The Senior Chief Engineer / VP Quality-Engineering owns technical authority for product design integrity and quality assurance, serving as the critical link between design intent and certified, producible hardware, while managing succession risk as the senior engineering generation retires.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Hold final technical authority on design, engineering changes, and root-cause corrective action.
• Own the AS9100 quality management system and regulatory compliance posture.
• Lead engineering mentorship and succession planning to counter retirement-driven knowledge loss.
• Partner with manufacturing on producibility, tolerance, and tooling requirements.
• Represent the company in customer and regulatory design reviews and audits.
• Drive continuous improvement in design-for-quality and design-for-manufacturability practices.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• 18+ years of engineering experience in aerospace/defense with deep design and production-floor exposure.
• Demonstrated expertise in AS9100 quality systems and regulatory compliance.
• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering required; Professional Engineer (PE) license a plus.
• Track record of successful design reviews, audits, and corrective action closure.
• Experience mentoring and developing engineering successors.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Cross-disciplinary experience spanning design engineering and production/quality engineering.
• History of institutional-knowledge transfer programs.
• Experience across multiple aircraft and program certifications.

CONFIDENTIALITY AND HOW TO APPLY

This is a discreet, retained engagement. Your candidacy will never be presented to any organization without your explicit prior authorization, and no application will be visible to the hiring company at this stage. Accomplished technical leaders with aerospace and defense engineering credentials are invited to submit a resume in confidence through the Top Notch Finders website. Please reference search code TNF-SCE-2026 in your submission. Do not include classified or program-sensitive information of any kind in your application materials. Only candidates whose backgrounds align closely with the mandate will be contacted.