Manager Aircraft Router Jobs in Chicago, IL (NOW HIRING)

ROLE DESCRIPTION SUMMARY

SES is seeking a dynamic Director of Systems Engineering to lead the architecture, modeling, and analysis of our end-to-end aviation connectivity system-from aircraft antenna and modem through satellite payload to terrestrial infrastructure. This role will drive system design excellence and ensure seamless integration across Aircraft, RAN, Software, and Operations teams to deliver exceptional connectivity experiences for our aviation customers.

Reporting to the Vice President of Systems and Performance Engineering, Aviation Connectivity Solutions, you will lead a global team responsible for architecting and validating complex end-to-end systems.

Your mission is to bring system-level thinking, operational awareness, and cross-functional collaboration together to deliver world-class, resilient, and intelligent connectivity to commercial airlines worldwide.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES / KEY RESULT AREAS

• Leadership & Strategy: Lead a high-performing systems engineering organization across systems architecture and design. Develop the team's technical roadmap and align it with broader engineering and product strategies. 
• System Design & Analysis: Manage the architecture, modeling, and analysis of the entire aviation connectivity system-from antenna and modem to satellite payload and terrestrial infrastructure. Drive end-to-end design excellence, scalability, and interoperability.
• Technical Integration: Serve as the central coordination point across Aircraft Engineering, RAN Engineering, Software Engineering, and Operations to ensure system compatibility, performance, and readiness.
• Customer Experience: Act as a technical advocate for service reliability and performance across the customer lifecycle. Support sales, airline partners, and support teams with deep system insights and issue resolution.
• Support & Readiness: Lead your team in providing Level 4 support for escalated system issues.
• Cross-Functional Alignment: Collaborate with Product, Program Management, Commercial, and Global Network Operations to drive shared goals and maintain a holistic understanding of customer needs and network performance.

COMPETENCIES

• Proven ability to understand complex systems comprised of communication, computing, and internet technologies.
• Proven ability to lead teams responsible for service analytics and high-availability network platforms
• Excellent interpersonal, cross-functional collaboration, and executive communication skills
• Strong track record of innovation and continuous improvement in a dynamic technical environment

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Systems Engineering, Aerospace, Electrical Engineering, or related technical field
• 10+ years of experience in end-to-end systems engineering, with 5+ years leading high-impact technical teams
• Strong expertise in satellite communications, RF systems, and aircraft connectivity
• Experience managing modeling and proof-of-concept tools and activities
• Proven ability to lead teams responsible for system architecture
• Excellent interpersonal, cross-functional collaboration, and executive communication skills

OTHER KEY REQUIREMENTS / COMMENTS

• Experience in commercial aviation connectivity or satellite broadband delivery
• Familiarity with network infrastructures including routers, gateways, SD-WANs, deep packet inspection systems, load balancers, and firewalls
• Experience with front end process flow; understanding of process inputs from Product Management and needed outputs to Development and Test