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Chief Engineer Chief Engineer Jobs (NOW HIRING)

General Atomics

Chief Engineer

Poway, CA · On-site

GA-Intelligence is seeking a Chief Engineer to help lead the technical direction of one of our commercial and international software programs. This individual will initially act as the Deputy Chief ...

Astrion

Chief Engineer

Seattle, WA

$64 - $65/hr

Overview Chief Engineer (Permanent Party) LOCATION: Kwajalein Army Garrison (Marshall Islands) JOB STATUS: Full Time PCS to Kwajalein (permanent change of station) CLEARANCE: background check/CAC ...

McAllister Towing

Chief Engineer

Port Jefferson, NY · On-site

$828.28/day

Chief Engineer Reports to: * The Chief Engineer directly reports to the Port Engineer. Supervises: * The Chief Engineer supervises the Oilers, Engineers, and all mechanical equipment onboard the ...

Astrion

Chief Engineer

San Diego, CA

$65/hr

Overview Chief Engineer (Permanent Party) LOCATION: San Diego, CA JOB STATUS: Full Time PCS to Kwajalein (permanent change of station) CLEARANCE: background check/CAC card CERTIFICATION: USCG TRAVEL ...

MIS Tracking

Chief Engineer

Galveston, TX · On-site

$150 - $220/hr

Chief Engineer CategoryEngineer / Naval Architect Employment typeFull Time ExperienceMid Career Skills * U.S. Coast Guard Designated Duty Engineer License, 4,000 HP or Higher * Chief Engineer ...

McAllister Towing

Chief Engineer

Port Jefferson, NY · On-site

$828.28/day

Chief Engineer Reports to: * The Chief Engineer directly reports to the Port Engineer. Supervises: * The Chief Engineer supervises the Oilers, Engineers, and all mechanical equipment onboard the ...

Ladgov Corporation

Chief Engineer

Culpeper, VA · On-site

Chief Engineer - Facilities Maintenance Job Type: Full-Time Place of Performance: Culpeper, VA Schedule: Full-Time (On-call for emergencies) Summary: The Chief Engineer will provide technical ...

Ladgov Corporation

Chief Engineer

Culpeper, VA · On-site

Chief Engineer - Facilities Maintenance Job Type: Full-Time Place of Performance: Culpeper, VA Schedule: Full-Time (On-call for emergencies) Summary: The Chief Engineer will provide technical ...

Cushman & Wakefield

Chief Engineer

Washington, DC · On-site

$110 - $160/hr

Job Title Chief Engineer Summary Chief Engineer is responsible for the effective daily leadership of his/her staff, managing the engineering program to the highest level of quality work and customer ...

Campus Apartments

Chief Engineer

Washington, DC · On-site

Overview Experienced Chief Building Engineer wanted! The Campus team is filled with passionate and enthusiastic people! Since 1958, we have been singularly focused on providing superb housing for ...

Campus Apartments

Chief Engineer

Washington, DC · On-site

Experienced Chief Building Engineer wanted! The Campus team is filled with passionate and enthusiastic people! Since 1958, we have been singularly focused on providing superb housing for college ...

Continuum Co.

Chief Engineer

Philadelphia, PA · On-site

Description We are seeking an experienced Chief Engineer to oversee the mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and life-safety systems of a high-rise residential/commercial building located in Center City ...

Campus Apartments

Chief Engineer

Washington, DC · On-site

Overview Experienced Chief Building Engineer wanted! The Campus team is filled with passionate and enthusiastic people! Since 1958, we have been singularly focused on providing superb housing for ...

Campus Apartments

Chief Engineer

Washington, DC

Experienced Chief Building Engineer wanted! The Campus team is filled with passionate and enthusiastic people! Since 1958, we have been singularly focused on providing superb housing for college ...

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How much do chief engineer chief engineer jobs pay per year?

As of Aug 30, 2026, the average yearly pay for chief engineer chief engineer in the United States is $92,945.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $59,000.00 and $120,000.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is the difference between Chief Engineer Chief Engineer vs Mechanical Engineer?

AspectChief EngineerMechanical Engineer
CredentialsEngineering degree, Professional Engineer (PE) license often preferredEngineering degree, may require PE license for advanced roles
Work EnvironmentLeadership role overseeing projects, teams, and operationsDesign, analysis, and development of mechanical systems
Industry UsageConstruction, manufacturing, shipbuilding, aerospaceManufacturing, automotive, HVAC, product design

The Chief Engineer is a leadership role focusing on overseeing engineering projects and teams, often requiring management skills and extensive experience. Mechanical Engineers focus on designing and analyzing mechanical systems, typically working on technical tasks. While both roles require engineering credentials, the Chief Engineer's responsibilities are broader, including project management and strategic planning.

How much do chief engineers make?

Chief engineers typically earn a median annual salary ranging from $80,000 to $150,000, depending on industry, experience, and location. They often hold advanced technical skills and certifications, such as Professional Engineer (PE) licensure, and oversee engineering teams and projects in various sectors like manufacturing, construction, or energy.

Is a chief engineer a high position?

A chief engineer is a high-level management position responsible for overseeing engineering operations, technical staff, and project execution within an organization. It typically requires extensive experience, technical expertise, and leadership skills, and often involves supervising teams and managing budgets.

What cities are hiring for Chief Engineer Chief Engineer jobs?

Cities with the most Chief Engineer Chief Engineer job openings:

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Chief Engineer Chief Engineer jobs near you

Chief Engineer

Poway, CA • On-site

General Atomics
Space Research Administration • 10K+ employees

9.0

Company rating: 9.0 out of 10

Based on 39 frontline employees who took The Breakroom Quiz

10th of 72 rated aerospace companies

Great coworkers

People enjoy working here

Good employer

Learn more about General Atomicsexternal

Full-time

Re-posted 15 days ago

Job description

Job Summary
General Atomics Integrated Intelligence Inc. (GA-Intelligence) develops cutting-edge software solutions that transform raw data into actionable intelligence. We specialize in real-time global situational awareness and battle management, processing petabytes of data from hundreds of sources across air, land, and sea. Our systems-including the widely used THRESHER and DRAGONSPELL platforms-support tens of thousands of users at all levels of the DoD and Intelligence Community and enable critical decision-making for national security missions. We process hundreds of thousands of observations per minute, operating at the scale of global sensor networks and battlefield telemetry. Our backend architecture leverages technologies like Kafka, AWS, NiFi, and GeoMesa-the latter of which we designed and open-sourced-to deliver high-throughput, mission-resilient systems that turn streaming data into real-time intelligence.
GA-Intelligence is seeking a Chief Engineer to help lead the technical direction of one of our commercial and international software programs. This individual will initially act as the Deputy Chief Engineer and will work in close partnership with the current Chief Engineer to learn the system, build trust across the organization, and progressively assume broader technical leadership responsibilities. Over time (approximately six months), this person will transition into the Chief Engineer role.
This is a senior technical leadership role for a large-scale operational software environment supporting commercial and international missions. The system is a complex, real-time platform focused on global situational awareness, tracking, data fusion, geospatial workflows, and operational decision support. It serves a large user base, integrates with numerous internal and external systems, and must operate with high reliability in demanding mission contexts.
The right candidate is a strong systems thinker, an experienced software and architecture leader, and a credible technical authority who will own the system. This person must be proactive, exercise sound engineering judgment, and have the confidence to make bold but disciplined technical decisions. Additionally, they should have experience and skill gaining concurrence for both technical and programmatic solutions with partners and customers. They should be comfortable setting direction, driving clarity, and taking accountability for outcomes without creating unnecessary risk in a mission-critical environment.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
  • Partner with the current Chief Engineer to understand the architecture, technical roadmap, dependencies, operational context, and major risks across the program.
  • Help define and maintain the overall technical direction of a complex software ecosystem involving real-time data ingest, tracking, fusion, geospatial capabilities, analytics, and external integrations.
  • Provide technical leadership across multiple teams, subsystems, and engineering disciplines.
  • Guide major architectural decisions and evaluate tradeoffs among performance, resiliency, maintainability, scalability, delivery speed, and long-term system health.
  • Take ownership of end-to-end system integrity and help ensure the program is making sound technical decisions across teams.
  • Proactively identify technical risks, architectural friction points, and integration challenges before they become larger issues.
  • Help ensure strong engineering rigor in system design, integration planning, testing strategy, and technical execution.
  • Work closely with program management, engineering managers, product leadership, and technical leads to align architecture and delivery.
  • Support technical planning, modernization efforts, risk reduction, release readiness, and cross-team coordination.
  • Manage disparate or competing needs among multiple business partners and customers, gaining acceptance for proposed solutions and timelines.
  • Mentor technical leaders and help strengthen the engineering bench across the organization.
  • Represent the program as a senior technical leader in customer and stakeholder engagements when needed, being comfortable and effective briefing both customers and partners.
  • Progressively take on broader technical ownership in preparation for transition into the Chief Engineer role.
We recognize and appreciate the value and contributions of individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences and welcome all qualified individuals to apply.
Job Qualifications
  • Typically requires a Bachelors, Masters or PhD in engineering or a related technical field as well as thirteen or more years of progressively complex engineering experience. May substitute equivalent experience in lieu of education.
  • Significant experience leading software engineering for large, complex, distributed systems.
  • Experience serving in a senior technical leadership role such as Chief Engineer, Deputy Chief Engineer, Chief Architect, Principal Engineer, Technical Director, or similar.
  • Strong systems engineering mindset and ability to understand complex end-to-end system behavior across many interacting components.
  • Experience with mission-critical operational systems where reliability, performance, and up-time matter.
  • Demonstrated ability to lead across organizational boundaries and influence multiple teams.
  • Proactive leadership style with a strong sense of ownership and accountability.
  • Sound engineering judgment and the confidence to make bold but disciplined decisions.
  • Experience and skill in navigating disparate goals across multiple teams, partners, and customers.
  • Strong communication skills, including the ability to explain complex technical issues to senior leaders, customers, and mixed technical/non-technical audiences.
  • The ability obtain and maintain a DoD clearance.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
  • Experience with real-time data processing, tracking, sensor integration, data fusion, geospatial systems, or operational command-and-control style environments.
  • Experience with cloud and distributed data systems, event-driven architectures, and large-scale integration environments.
  • Experience working in, and debugging to solution for one-off, unusual customer architectures.
  • Experience mentoring senior engineers and building technical leadership bench strength.

What Success Looks Like:
In the first phase, the Chief Engineer will build a deep understanding of the mission, architecture, technical risks, and organizational landscape, while becoming a trusted partner to the current Chief Engineer and engineering leadership team. Over time, this individual will assume greater ownership of technical direction, improve architectural clarity and cross-team alignment, proactively address risk, and be prepared to transition into the Chief Engineer role.
Why Join GA-Intelligence?
GA-Intelligence builds mission-critical software systems that support some of the most important national security missions in the country. Our teams work on technically hard problems with real operational impact, including global situational awareness, tracking, fusion, and decision support at scale.
This role offers the opportunity to help shape the future of a major operational system, partner with highly capable leaders and engineers, and grow into the senior technical leadership role for a large, complex, mission-driven program.
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About General Atomics

Sourced by ZipRecruiter

General Atomics (GA), and its affiliated companies, is one of the world's leading resources for high-technology systems development ranging from the nuclear fuel cycle to remotely piloted aircraft, airborne sensors, and advanced electric, electronic, wireless and laser technologies.

Industry

Space research administration

Company size

10,000+ Employees

Headquarters location

San Diego, CA, US

Year founded

1955

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