About you:
You will be the primary interface between our internal data customers and various vendors (e.g., Marpin Labs, Epsilon3), ensuring the external products can be used by Merlin engineers by any combination of training Merlin employees or helping to develop external services to suit company needs. This mission-critical role combines engineering process leadership, systems-engineering, technical domain experience, understanding test data workflows, and configuration control and change management.
Responsibilities:
- Own the strategy, roadmap, and lifecycle for Merlin's engineering test data platforms.
- Drive adoption of scalable data platforms supporting laboratory, simulation, ground test, and flight test activities.
- Establish platform standards, governance, and best practices across Engineering.
- Manage strategic vendor relationships, roadmap alignment, and platform performance.
- Evaluate emerging technologies and lead continuous platform improvement and deployment.
- Ensure vendor solutions meet Merlin's technical, operational, and long-term business requirements. Drive Engineering Data Strategy
- Define the long-term vision for engineering test data management across Merlin.
- Standardize data workflows, governance, and engineering processes across programs.
- Lead the transition from legacy workflows to modern digital engineering platforms.
- Advise executive leadership on investments, capabilities, and future data strategy.
- Identify opportunities to improve engineering efficiency through automation and data-driven decision making. Partner Across Engineering
- Serve as the primary partner to Systems Engineering, Flight Test, Instrumentation, Software, and Program Management teams.
- Gather and prioritize platform requirements while balancing competing stakeholder needs.
- Drive integration between engineering platforms and enterprise systems.
- Ensure platform security, availability, access controls, and operational excellence. Establish Enterprise Data Standards
- Define enterprise standards for telemetry, instrumentation, metadata, data quality, retention, permissions, and knowledge management.
- Ensure traceability, consistency, and data integrity across all engineering and test programs.
- Enable cross-program data reuse and scalable collaboration. Advance Analytics & Digital Engineering
- Champion analytics, reporting, AI/ML, and digital engineering capabilities across the organization.
- Develop common metrics, dashboards, and automated data processing pipelines.
- Enable reusable analysis workflows that accelerate engineering insight and decision making.
Qualifications:
Bachelor degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Data Science, Information Systems, or related technical discipline. Advanced degree preferred.
5+ years of experience in aerospace, aviation, defense, transportation, or other complex engineering environments.
Experience with engineering systems, test operations, telemetry systems, data platforms, or digital engineering initiatives.
Experience with FTI management, telemetry systems, aero integration and test operations.
Experience managing enterprise software implementations and deployments.
Experience working across multiple technical disciplines and organizational levels.
Data acquisition systems typical of aircraft
Telemetry systems
Instrumentation systems
Engineering data management
Systems engineering
Configuration management
Data analytics platforms
Cloud-based engineering systems
Digital engineering frameworks
Technical Knowledge
Nice to Haves:
- Authoritative voice on test engineering information systems and data management.
- Understand both the technical details of test operations and information systems, as well as the organizational challenges of enterprise transformation.
- Can discuss avionics and telemetry architecture with engineers, data platform strategy with executives, and operational / security details with IT administrators.
- Vision to establish (CloudTS and Epsilon3.io) test data platforms as strategic enterprise capability rather than a low-priority software application maintenance side-project.
Skills Required
- Bachelor degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Data Science, Information Systems, or related technical discipline
- Advanced degree
- 5+ years of experience in aerospace, aviation, defense, transportation, or other complex engineering environments
- Experience with engineering systems, test operations, telemetry systems, data platforms, or digital engineering initiatives
- Experience with FTI management, telemetry systems, aero integration and test operations
- Experience managing enterprise software implementations and deployments
- Experience working across multiple technical disciplines and organizational levels
- Knowledge of data acquisition systems typical of aircraft
- Knowledge of telemetry systems
- Knowledge of instrumentation systems
- Knowledge of engineering data management
- Knowledge of systems engineering
- Knowledge of configuration management
- Knowledge of data analytics platforms
- Knowledge of cloud-based engineering systems
- Knowledge of digital engineering frameworks
- Authoritative voice on test engineering information systems and data management
- Understanding technical details of test operations and organizational challenges of enterprise transformation
- Ability to discuss avionics and telemetry architecture, data platform strategy, and operational/security details with stakeholders
- Vision to establish CloudTS and Epsilon3.io test data platforms as strategic enterprise capability
What We Do
All of the sky, none of the limits. Merlin Labs is building the autonomous infrastructure for the sky above us, enabling goods, and eventually people, to fly without pilots. The Merlin Labs team is building the definitive autonomy system for all things that fly. We’re creating sophisticated software and hardware that fulfill the functions of a human pilot.
