In this article, we will review a typical team structure for engineering programs within the aviation industry. This is a typical structure I have encountered over the years I have spent as an engineer working for companies like GE Aviation (subcontractor level) and Northrop Grumman Corporation (system integrator level). Using Joint STARS as an example, Joint STARS does not just represent a plane, but rather, it represents a whole organization dedicated to maintaining and modernizing, not only the plane, but all the facilities, and documentation that support the Joint STARS mission. If you plan on working in the aviation industry, expect to meet, and even become, one or more of the following people.

Engineering Chain of Command

Chief Engineer

The chief engineer oversees all aspects of the specific platform they represent. If working for the government (DoD) or a prime contractor like Northrop Grumman, this person will oversee all aspects of a particular plane, like Joint STARS or the E-2D. If at the subcontractor of avionics level (GE Aviation, L3Harris, Collins Aerospace, etc.), this person will most likely oversee all aspects of a particular product line (radios, data concentrators, encryptors, etc.) This person is extremely technical, and highly experienced in the realms of engineering design and program management. The chief engineer has overall influence, and oftentimes makes the final engineering and financial decisions for the platform. This person has tremendous responsibility not only for overseeing the platform, but also for the engineers that work on the platform. At the end of the day, all of the responsibility falls on the shoulders of the chief engineer. Although dependent on the number of employees working on the platform, and phase in the program lifecycle (design, production, sustainment), very few of these engineers exist (usually less than five). The chief engineer typically reports directly up to the executive management level.

Consulting Engineer

Similar to the chief engineer, the consulting engineer is a technical authority within the company; however, dissimilar to the chief engineer, this person does not necessarily have the programmatic or financial oversight responsibilities that the chief engineer has. Consulting engineers are characterized by their expertise in very specific areas (Radar tracking, sensor fusion, EMI, cosite analysis, etc.), whereas the chief engineer has expertise over an entire platform or product line (Joint STARS, E-2D, data concentrators, encryptors, etc.). Consulting engineers are called upon to put out fires, to provide the highest level of technical insight, to provide the highest insight of technical guidance, and to research  and develop the latest technologies in their respective areas of expertise. Although they may not work throughout the lifecycle of a program, they will undoubtedly be on retainer, to serve as subject matter experts, and will be used at the very onset of a program to ensure technical expectations can be achieved, and to ensure the ball gets rolling in the right direction. Lastly, the distinction of consulting engineer is often bestowed upon individuals who have decades of engineering design experience, that are also highly credentialed (oftentimes with Professional Engineering licensure and doctoral degree). The consulting engineer oftentimes works hand in hand with the chief engineer, and also reports directly up to the executive management level. 

Engineering Manager

The engineering manager has many very important roles in the day to day activities of engineering programs for a particular platform (system integrator level) or for a particular product line (avionics level). Whereas the chief engineer oversees an entire platform or product line, the engineering manager oversees many programs for the particular platform or product line. The engineering manager reported directly to the chief engineer. As an example at the system integrator level, there may be an engineering manager that oversees all of the modernization efforts for a particular platform like Joint STARS or E-2D. There also may be another engineering manager that oversees all of the software programs for that same platform. 

The engineering manager is not to be confused with functional managers, also known as homeroom managers; however, it is possible for them to be the same person. More than likely, the engineering manager will be one of your direct assignment managers that you will report to at the end of each day. In overseeing all of the programs for a particular platform, the engineering manager also oversees the work of the engineers that are working on the specific programs. The engineering manager works hand in hand with the chief engineer, all of the engineers supporting the specific programs, and also the program management personnel supporting the programs. 

Engineering Chain of Command Continued

Continuing down the chain of engineering command are the engineers that report up to the engineering managers, consulting engineers chief engineers. These engineers are responsible for executing their department’s individual tasks on specific projects and programs. Depending on expertise, it is possible that these engineers support multiple platforms or product lines at the same time. 

Vehicle

The vehicle engineering group is one of the largest engineering groups within the aviation community, especially at the system integrator level. The vehicle group consists of engineers of all specialties, as they oversee the implementation of requirements in the areas of SWAP (size, weight, and power), wiring and cable management, structural integrity, mounting of internal and external equipment, thermal analyses, etc. The vehicle group is also primarily responsible for maintaining all of the drawings of equipment that integrates with the airframe, and at the end of the day, are responsible for making sure everything fits within the airframe.

Software

More so on military platforms versus commercial, pilots and flight/mission engineers interface with multiple pieces of hardware and software to perform different tasks related to the mission at hand. In the military world, entire operating systems and applications are created by software engineers to be installed on computers/servers for use by the warfighter in order to be able to complete their missions. Software engineers focus on delivering applications for interfacing with displays, for monitoring the health and status of the airframe and avionics, control of subsystems like Radar and Comm Systems hardware, among many other things.

E&P

Electronics and Payloads, also known as E&P or avionics engineers, at the system integrator level, are experts in the avionics domain. At the design of avionics level (subcontractor), E&P engineers may be experts at board level design and hardware and software integration at the box level. E&P engineers, at the prime contractor level, develop and execute bench tests on all the avionics that go into the multiple aircraft and labs for an airframe. At this same level, E&P engineers are the primary interface between the prime contractor and subcontractor, and work hand in hand with the multiple vendors of avionics to understand current functionality of the different avionics, develop requirements for new avionics, and to troubleshoot the avionics in the field and in the lab. For more information on some of the very specific tasks I personally oversaw as an E&P engineer for NGC, check out my article here.

EQ

The Environmental Qualification engineer, or EQ engineer, is an engineer that usually falls into the E&P homeroom, that oversees the EQ testing of avionics that are to be installed in the aircraft. In many cases, for airworthiness and for FAA certification purposes, avionics must be environmentally qualified to withstand the many environmental conditions that an aircraft may experience on the ground and in flight. EQ engineers review the environmental specifications of avionics, and also review the environmental testing requirements imposed upon avionics from aircraft level specifications. EQ testing guidance and requirements are also outlined in documents like MIL-STD-810 and DO-160. If EQ testing services are not already available in house, the EQ engineer also coordinates with various testing facilities to carry out the EQ tests from these standards. At times, physical tests on equipment can be substituted for analyses. The EQ engineer not only assists with performing the analyses for risk mitigation purposes, but also dispositions failures on equipment that may have failed EQ testing. EQ testing can potentially have very high costs and consume many months of schedule. It is also possible that test equipment be designed in order to carry out specific EQ tests. Lastly, it is possible that preselected aircraft equipment for a program not be allowed to be installed on the aircraft if it fails EQ testing and/or cannot be properly dispositioned. For all of these reasons, and more, it is very important that the EQ engineer be part of the early discussions on programs that are adding new equipment to airframes. This can help ensure proper bids and schedules are made upfront in order to minimize additional costs, and to manage program expectations.

E3

The E3, or “E-Cubed”, or Electromagnetic Environmental Effects Engineer, has very similar responsibilities to the EQ engineer. Whereas the EQ engineer oversees many of the physical aspects of environmental qualification, the E3 engineer oversees all of the electrical aspects of environmentally qualifying avionics. Electromagnetic Interference (EMI), direct and indirect lightning strikes, and electrical bonding are all tests the E3 engineer takes into consideration when environmentally qualifying avionics to E3 standards. Just as the EQ engineer uses MIL-STD-810 as a guide, the E3 engineer refers to MIL-STD-461, MIL-STD-464, and DO-160 for guidance. 

Systems

Systems engineering is a very broad term. A system can be defined from many perspectives, but we will look at only two: the aircraft in its entirety as a system, and a group of avionics as a system that comes together to accomplish a set of tasks. At the levels of program execution we are discussing in this article, the systems engineering team works between the two perspectives mentioned in the previous sentence. From the pre-contract award stages to the maintenance and sustainment stages after contract closeout, systems engineers oversee the lifecycle of the program. Systems engineers work to define, decompose, and derive requirements; perform validation and verification of those requirements; perform traceability; do modeling and simulation; analyze use cases; and maintain and update program requirements documentation.

Configuration Management

Configuration management (CM) is a very important responsibility to oversee throughout the period of performance for a program. Program documents are consistently being created and modified by multiple stakeholders. Many of these documents end up being deliverables to the customer at the end of the day. Although not always a technical person, the configuration management specialist ensures that program documentation is being maintained according to a process, where the process defines the steps for creating, housing (repository), reviewing, updating, and delivering program documentation. Processes can be influenced by the customer, by the company, or even by certification agencies like the FAA (DO-178 and DO-254). The CM specialist also manages meetings to review program documentation, like technical review boards (TRBs), where engineers come together to review, disposition comments, and incorporate comments into their documentation.

System Integration and Test Engineering (SITE)

The SITE engineer, much like the name implies, oversees the integration of the avionics systems with the aircraft and labs, and also oversees the testing associated with this level of integration. The integration and testing of these systems is also known as an installation and checkout (IACO). IACOs are performed on the aircraft and at the various labs and facilities supporting the specific platforms. IACOs are not only performed to ensure that new avionics systems integrate within their respective destinations, and meet the requirements specified by the new system, but they are also performed to ensure that existing systems are compatible with the new systems, and that the existing systems maintain expected outputs.

Cyber Security

The Cyber Security group is one of the newest engineering groups in the sense that the world only recently moved into the digital age, where information is instantaneously available wirelessly. Cyber warfare is one of the latest ways that not only countries wage war against each other, but also corporations. Cyber security engineers ensure our multilevel security networks are safe from insider and outsider threats, assess software security vulnerabilities by running code analysis scans, and abide by information safeguarding and certification processes set in place by government agencies like the NSA.

Quality

The primary objective of the quality engineer is to ensure that the program, as a whole, is following the processes and procedures outlined in the program documentation. These processes and procedures are usually outlined in documents like the program statement of work (PSOW) and/or seller statement of work (SSOW), both of which all engineers working the program should become intimately familiar, as the verbiage in these documents generally supersede all other program documents with regards to the flow of requirements. The PSOW and SSOW usually outline how programs are to be executed, point to lower level requirements documents, and outline program deliverables and major milestones. Along with program execution guidance from statements of work, other documents like DO-178 and DO-254, outline how hardware and software designs are to be accomplished, how design reviews are to be conducted, and also outline how validation and verification are to be performed. The quality engineer will ensure the program is abiding by the guidelines listed in all of these documents. Along with performing the tasks above, the quality engineer will usually witness the execution of bench test procedures to ensure the test engineer is following the bench test to the letter, and not skipping steps, or passing failed criteria. All of these actions are performed to ensure the customer is getting the highest quality product.

Safety

The system safety engineer plays a critical role in ensuring the safety of the aircraft, equipment, and most importantly, the personnel. Using military standards, like MIL-STD-882, and FAA guidelines, the safety engineer identifies potential hazards to the aircraft based on EQ and EMI test results, the assessment of potentially hazardous materials in the design of avionics, how equipment is to be used, and how equipment interfaces with different mission critical and safety critical systems. All of these items help assist the safety engineer in producing a hazard risk index, which describes the level of risk taken on by aircraft in installing and using new equipment. 

Airworthiness

The airworthiness engineer plays a very similar role to that of the safety engineer, and assesses the airplane and new equipment being installed on the airframe for overall airworthiness. Airworthiness can be defined as the conditions that make an aircraft suitable for safe flight. Equipment that interfaces directly with structures or avionics may have an overall impact on the airworthiness of the vehicle. It is the responsibility of the airworthiness engineer to assess these situations. Just as the safety engineer may use MIL-STD-882 for guidance, the airworthiness engineer may use MIL-HDBK-516, FAA guidelines, and many other domestic and international regulations in both the military and commercial industries. One of the highest designations an airworthiness engineer can obtain is that of the FAA Designated Engineering Representative (DER). These representatives oftentimes serve as expert witnesses and consultants to programs requiring FAA certification.

Logistics

Last, but certainly not least in the engineering organization of aviation programs, is the logistics group, also known as the integrated logistics support (ILS) group. The ILS group is oftentimes responsible for overseeing things like reliability and maintainability, of not only equipment, but also of the entire aircraft. Logistics engineers review the Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) requirements to ensure that redundancies are built into systems, if necessary, so that if one system fails, a replacement system is available for limited loss of functionality. Logistics engineers will also ensure the Mean Time To Repair (MTTR) of a system is within a specific limit for maintainability purposes. For the design of new hardware and software systems, the ILS group may be focused on things like modular hardware design concepts, and BIT reporting schemes for ease of repairing faulty equipment and troubleshooting purposes. The ILS group also has tremendous insight into the deployment of systems onto aircraft, documenting technical manuals to be used by the customer, configuring devices for specific operations, repairing and replacing equipment on the aircraft, and properly marking devices for ease of identification. 

Don’t Forget about Non-Engineering Personnel

As you can see, there are many engineers at work to oversee multiple facets of engineering programs in the aviation industry. However, it is not only engineers that bring engineering programs to fruition. There are also many programmatic support personnel that oversee the finances, staffing, scheduling, procurement of equipment, and handling of contractual relationships between customers and vendors. Below are descriptions of many non-engineering personnel you will work with in executing engineering programs in the aviation industry. 

Program Manager

The program manager shares very similar responsibilities to that of the engineering manager, and oftentimes works hand in hand with the engineering manager, chief engineer, and executive leadership. At times, this person is also an engineer, but oversees more of the business related tasks, like the management of hours and money, time charging, contractual relationships with the customer, and the management of many of the business related personnel supporting the program. Although not always an engineer, the program manager has to be technically cognizant of the overall goal of the engineering programs. 

Business Analysts

Business analysts usually support programs from financial and scheduling perspectives. These individuals work with engineers to break down engineering BOE tasking to perform detailed planning and scheduling. Oftentimes, business analysts are the keepers of the financial information, and are in charge of creating job charge numbers for reporting time worked on particular tasks, and also for analyzing planned worked versus actual hours worked.  

Contract Administrators

In essence, contract administrators maintain the contractual relationship between the customer and company.

Subcontract Administrators

Subcontract administration is usually part of a company’s supply chain management. Subcontracts administrators maintain the relationships, and oftentimes act as the middleman, between the company they represent and whomever the company is doing business with. Although it is often the engineers that create technical requirements documentation for the subcontractors, it is the subcontractors that will sometimes facilitate communication between the engineers and program people on both sides of the fence. The subcontracts administrator also works to procure the equipment from subcontractors, and authorizes payments to the subcontractors. 

Company Support Functions

Security Analysts

The responsibilities of Security Analysts range in the areas of protecting not only company information, but also our nation’s most sensitive information, from insider and outsider threats. In the DoD world, these individuals take on tremendous accountability in the realms of maintaining multilevel security networks, accounting for classified equipment, and tracking who has access to classified information and hardware. These individuals are oftentimes liaisons between the DoD contractractors that handle sensitive information and security departments of the federal government, like the NSA.

Shipping and Receiving

As implied, this group of people coordinate the shipping and receiving of goods and materials in the support of the company programs.