Vice President of Engineering

Ricardo Defense is seeking a high-impact, forward-leaning Vice President of Engineering to lead and scale our Engineering function in alignment with enterprise growth, operational excellence, and mission-critical delivery.

Reporting directly to the President & COO, this role sits on the senior leadership team and partners closely with Business Unit leaders, Business Development, and Program Management to ensure the organization delivers technically sound, customer-aligned solutions across programs, IRAD, and strategic product lines.

The Vice President of Engineering will directly oversee two functional leaders: the Director of Engineering and the Director of Software, who lead a matrixed team supporting integrated programs and innovation efforts across the business. This role is ideal for a leader who brings deep technical credibility, structured execution, and a collaborative leadership style that promotes clarity, trust, and accountability across a lean, mission-focused enterprise.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Strategic Leadership:

Define and execute a vision for Engineering that scales with Ricardo Defense's business and technology roadmap, supporting both near-term contract execution and long-term growth.

Organizational Development:

Lead a high-performing engineering function with clear roles, standards, and accountability. Coach and empower functional leaders to deliver excellence across hardware, software, systems, and integration.

Capability & Capacity Alignment:

Proactively identify and close technical capability gaps. Shape workforce strategy, build partnerships, and ensure the enterprise is never limited by internal constraints.

Cross-Functional Execution:

Partner with Business Development, Program Management, and Business Unit leaders to align engineering resources with customer demand, service program execution, product development roadmaps, lifecycle sustainment, and obsolescence management.

Governance & Standards:

Enforce disciplined engineering and software development processes, documentation, quality standards, and lifecycle rigor across all delivery and R&D efforts.

Cultural Stewardship:

Model and sustain a culture of trust, healthy conflict, and executional accountability across a technically diverse organization

• A bachelor's degree in engineering or relevant field from an accredited college or university required. A Master's degree is preferred but not required
• Must be eligible to obtain a U.S. Government Secret Security Clearance. The minimum requirement to obtain a clearance is United States Citizenship. Only applicants that can obtain a Secret clearance will be considered.
• Fifteen plus years of progressive engineering leadership experience in defense, aerospace, or a comparable complex technical environment
• Proven track record of leading multi-disciplinary engineering teams and delivering integrated solutions across both hardware and software domains
• Strong working knowledge of systems engineering, software development, and lifecycle management
• Experience aligning engineering with productization, IRAD investment, and long-term capability roadmaps
• Demonstrated success working within or alongside matrixed organizations and P&L-owning business units
• Clear, direct communicator with high standards, strong judgment, and a bias for action

Why Ricardo Defense

At Ricardo Defense, we deliver mission-critical solutions that enhance national security, protect the warfighter, and enable readiness through innovation, technical excellence, and end-to-end lifecycle support. The Vice President of Engineering will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of our company as we scale to meet the evolving needs of our customers and the defense community.

Ricardo Defense offers an impressive compensation and benefits package including:

• Medical, Dental & Vision Benefits
• Company Paid Life and AD&D
• Company Paid Short Term and Long-Term Disability
• Flexible Spending & HSA Accounts
• Legal & ID Shield Services
• 401k with Company Match
• Paid holidays, vacation, and sick days

About Us:
As a complex systems integrator for the U.S. Government, Ricardo Defense Inc. provides solutions to meet the technical and programmatic challenges faced by our customers. Our proven success in multi-domain cross-platform system-of-systems integration results in fielded capability for warfighters. From R&D to production, fielding, and sustainment, Ricardo Defense provides services and solutions across the entire acquisition lifecycle.

Ricardo Defense Inc, is a proud recipient of the 2022, 2023 & 2024 Hire Vets Gold Medallion Award.

Ricardo Defense Inc, is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will be considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex (including gender identity or gender expression), age, mental or physical disability, creed, ancestry, citizenship, veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, medical condition, genetic trait or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law.