Technical Operations Engineer

Minimum 5 years of experience in the defense industry completing engineering design and development projects for military electronics systems including system engineering, bill of material (BOM) development and component sourcing. The Technical Operations Engineer will play a critical role in shaping supplier strategies, ensuring material readiness, and driving execution velocity across multiple programs.

Technical Operations Engineer

Location: Huntsville, AL, or Franklin, NC

Employment Type: Full-Time

 

Overview

X- Force is seeking a skilled Technical Operations Engineer to join our team in Franklin, North Carolina, or in The Rocket City, Huntsville, Alabama. This mid-career role is ideal for someone with strong experience supporting military electronics development or sustainment programs who thrives in a dynamic, fast-paced engineering environment. The Technical Operations Engineer will play a critical role in shaping supplier strategies, ensuring material readiness, and driving execution velocity across multiple programs.

 

Key Responsibilities

The Technical Operations Engineer will be responsible for:

Proposal & Capture Support

• 
  Collaborate with Business Development and Engineering to develop technically executable proposal solutions.
  
• 
  Develop Bills of Material (BOMs), procurement strategies, and technical assumptions supporting ROMs and formal proposals.
  
• 
  Obtain supplier quotations and evaluate technical and commercial solutions to improve proposal competitiveness.
  
• 
  Identify execution risks, long-lead materials, and supply chain constraints during proposal development.
  
• 
  Support Basis of Estimates (BOEs), technical volumes, and proposal reviews.
  

Engineering Operations

• 
  Coordinate engineering, manufacturing, procurement, and quality to improve program startup and execution.
  
• 
  Develop component integration strategies and formal electronics kits supporting assembly, integration, and test.
  
• 
  Optimize BOMs for cost, manufacturability, lifecycle, and availability.
  
• 
  Support configuration management and engineering release activities.
  

Component & Supply Chain Engineering

• 
  Manage component lifecycle planning, obsolescence mitigation, and alternate part qualification.
  
• 
  Build strategic supplier relationships that improve quality, delivery, and cost.
  
• 
  Develop preferred supplier and preferred component strategies.
  
• 
  Coordinate engineering evaluations of substitute or replacement components.
  

What success looks like

• 
  Increase proposal estimating accuracy.
  
• 
  Reduce procurement lead times.
  
• 
  Reduce component obsolescence risk.
  
• 
  Improve supplier performance.
  
• 
  Improve engineering execution velocity.
  
• 
  Increase proposal win rate through more competitive sourcing.
  
• 
  Reduce first-article build issues.
  
• 
  Improve gross margin by reducing material and execution costs.
  

 

Required Qualifications

• 
  Minimum 5 years of experience in the defense industry completing engineering design and development projects for military electronics systems including system engineering, bill of material (BOM) development and component sourcing.
  
• 
  4-year degree in Electrical or Mechanical Engineering.
  
• 
  Ability to work cross-functionally with engineering, business development, manufacturing, and program teams.
  
• 
  Excellent communication, organization, and supplier management skills.
  
• 
  Ability to gain and maintain a U.S. Government Secret security clearance.
  

 

Preferred Qualifications

• 
  Experience with legacy military electronics sustainment.
  
• 
  Familiarity with obsolescence tracking tools, ERP/MRP systems, and structured logistics processes.