Principal Project Engineer

At Arete, we are on the forefront of utilizing innovative solutions, with great minds from all backgrounds, to help solve the nation's most complex security challenges. We strive for an inclusive, collaborative team environment that approaches differences as opportunities for innovation and excellence. As an employee-owned company, we foster an atmosphere that propels diverse career opportunities and professional growth.

Discover your future with us.

We are seeking a dynamic Project Engineer with a passion for bringing products to life in a customer useable configuration. We are looking for a Technical Principal Project Engineer to act as a critical bridge between design engineering, production and Program management. This is an exciting opportunity to be part of a cutting-edge team at a new facility. Arete is seeking a Project Engineer to support the Maritime Airborne Systems Sector, providing integrated technical, programmatic, schedule, and risk management across complex defense programs. This role operates at the intersection of engineering execution and program management, ensuring alignment between technical performance, cost, and schedule objectives. The selected candidate will contribute across the full program lifecycle, including program execution, integrated master scheduling, risk and opportunity management, manpower planning, and proposal development. The role requires familiarity with the Department of Defense acquisition framework, including BAA, RFI, and RFP processes, as well as experience supporting DoD contracts and procurement activities. This position requires strong communication skills and the ability to prepare and deliver technical and programmatic briefings to both internal leadership and external stakeholders, including customers and government representatives. This position will be based at our Healdsburg, CA office and is classified as a full-time, exempt, non-supervisory position.

Key Responsibilities:

Technical & Program Execution

• Drive planning, execution, and delivery of engineering programs across design, development, and production teams
• Collaborate with technical leads to define scope, requirements, deliverables, and success criteria
• Lead cross-functional execution to meet cost, schedule, and technical performance objectives
• Support New Product Introduction (NPI) and production build activities

Schedule & Cost Management

• Develop and maintain Integrated Master Schedules (IMS) using MS Project
• Support Estimate-to-Complete (ETC) development and ongoing financial tracking
• Utilize financial and labor tracking tools (e.g., Cognos, Costpoint) to monitor program performance

Risk & Opportunity Management

• Identify, track, and mitigate program risks, issues, and opportunities
• Develop and maintain risk registers, mitigation plans, and supporting analysis (e.g., risk cubes, burn-down/waterfall views)

Technical Leadership & Reviews

• Provide technical direction to engineering teams
• Lead and support internal and external gate reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR, etc.)
• Prepare and deliver program reviews, audits, and customer briefings (PowerPoint-based)

Business Development & Proposals

• Support technical and cost proposal development
• Contribute to capture efforts, including requirements shaping and solution definition

Process Improvement

• Champion continuous improvement across program execution processes, tools, and team collaboration

We have an impressive range of benefits, programs, and perks that we offer:

Generous PTO and Leave Times

• Flextime Scheduling
• Bereavement
• Paid Time Off (PTO)
• Paid Parental Leave

Financial Benefits

• Company-funded 5% contribution to your 401(k) retirement plan
• Company-funded 5% contribution to your Employee Stock Ownership Plan
• Continuing Education Assistance

Health, Medical, and Wellness Benefits

• Medical Insurance
• Dental & Vision Insurance
• Life Insurance and Long-Term Disability (LTD)
• Vision Reimbursement

What We Value:

• Creativity and innovation in solving challenges
• Integrity and responsibility in all actions
• Collaboration across teams and specialties
• Responsiveness in fast-paced environments
• Passion for national security and excellence

Experiences and background we look for (Required Skills):

• Experience running an engineering technical team
• Technical direction to the engineering team
• Lead engineering team through design reviews both internal and external customers
• Schedule creation and maintenance
• Work with team to create an estimate to complete
• Risk creation and updates
• New production Introduction or production build experience
• Documentation of the product and process
• Ability to get secret clearance

Nice to have (Preferred Skills):

• Bachelor's or master's degree in engineering, or related field. Or 10 years of project engineering for a technical engineering team.
• Proven experience in design development for electro-optical systems and gimbals.
• Currently hold a Secret or Top Secret clearance
• Proficiency in tools and practices.
  • Microsoft Project
  • Microsoft Excel, Outlook
  • Jira
  • CostPoint MES

The salary range for this role is $195,000 to $215,000; however, Arete considers several factors when extending an offer of employment, including but not limited to: the position and associated responsibilities, a candidate's work experience, education/training, and key skills.

Other Considerations

Arete is committed to the principles of equal employment opportunity and nondiscrimination, and we believe every person has the right to be treated with fairness, dignity, and equal consideration.

Arete is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, marital status, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

U.S. citizenship is required to meet position eligibility.

Successful passage of a criminal background screen is required to meet position eligibility.

Selected applicants will be subject to a government security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information.

Arete will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring.

Successful passage of a Department of Transportation (DOT) drug test is required to meet position eligibility.

If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran, you have the right to request an accommodation if you are unable or limited in your ability to use or access our website because of your