Quest Defense is an organization at the forefront of innovation and one of the world’s fastest growing engineering services firms with deep domain knowledge and recognized expertise in the top OEMs across seven industries. We are part of a twenty-five-year-old company on a journey to becoming a centenary one, driven by aspiration, hunger and humility.
We are looking for humble geniuses, who believe that engineering has the potential to make the impossible, possible; innovators, who are not only inspired by technology and innovation, but also perpetually driven to design, develop, and test as a trusted partner for Fortune 500 customers.
As a team of remarkably diverse engineers, we recognize that what we are really engineering is a brighter future for us all. If you want to contribute to meaningful work and be part of an organization that truly believes when you win, we all win, and when you fail, we all learn, then we’re eager to hear from you.
The achievers and courageous challenge-crushers we seek have the following characteristics and skills:
Looking for your chance to be a Technical Lead for a growing and engaged mechanical design and analysis team in the aerospace field? Have you been waiting for a chance to apply your engineering know-how to come up with innovative solutions to complex engineering problems? Quest Defense is looking for an experienced candidate to bolster the Mechanical Design and Analysis team in order to continue our growth and to enhance our service offerings. If you like solving complex problems, contributing to industry literature, and providing mentorship to highly motivated engineers, come and be a part of our team.
The Role
The successful candidate will draw upon their extensive theoretical and experiential knowledge to help drive team quality ever higher and to push this team forward towards creatively solving our customer’s most challenging engineering problems. Mentorship and a forward-thinking approach are equally important to ensure the team remains the supplier of choice for our customers.
Our efforts are primarily focused on turbomachinery applications, utilizing Finite Element Analysis (FEA) to provide both analysis and design services to our customers. Contributing to the overall industry through technical publications will also ensure Quest Defense remains thought-leaders in the industry. You will be the face of Quest Defense to your customers and to the wider industry.
One of the most critical aspects to the role is ability to adapt to changing requirements and priorities, collaborate with teammates and customers, and communicate effectively with Quest Defense and customer stakeholders. Successful candidates will be proactive in overcoming obstacles, providing answers to questions, leading program governance and KPI tracking, and always looking for ways to improve. It’s important to be communicating clearly and often to all stakeholders within the customer and Quest Defense.
Potential Job Functions
• The role will require you to leverage your engineering and leadership backgrounds to develop Quest Defense’s analysis engineers while they work on a series of diverse and technically challenging assignments
• Mentor a team of mixed capability engineers in the fields of structural analysis and mechanical design by proactively engaging team members and developing processes, tools and best practices
• Define capability development requirements (including IDP, Individual Development Plans) for the team and implement and track improvement initiatives
• Train new members in commercial and customer proprietary tools, such as ANSYS APDL/Workbench, CFX/Fluent, Flow Simulator, Hyperworks, and others
• Help prepare team members for and participate in customer technical reviews
• Assist and encourage team members to update process and automate tasks to improve productivity for daily work
• Performing engineering design, analysis, tolerance stacks, limits determination, and repair development
• Promote consistent organizational culture of teamwork, accountability, change championship, and customer focus
• Assist in cultivating university relationships and partnerships for research opportunities and talent identification
• Contribute to industry literature through publication of conference, journal, or Quest Defense white papers and attend technical conferences
• Conduct technical reviews of ongoing projects to ensure our high standards of quality are met
• Seek out new problems to solve with our customers
• Work as part of a cohesive analysis and design engineering team
Qualifications
We’re excited to talk to you if your qualifications meet the following criteria:
• BS in Mechanical / Aerospace Engineering with 7+ years of experience, preferably in the turbomachinery industry
• OR MS or PhD in Mechanical / Aerospace Engineering with 5+ years of experience, preferably in the turbomachinery industry
• Strong theoretical background in Structural Mechanics and Numerical Methods
• At least 5 years of direct experience in FEA; experience with ANSYS APDL or Workbench
• Experience in scripting/programming (e.g., FORTRAN, C/C++, Perl, Matlab, Python)
• Experience with Linux systems and high-performance computing is a plus
• History of technical publication is a plus
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work in a team environment
• Like to work in a fast paced, creative environment
• Enjoy people and dynamic teams with diverse experiences. We have fun together!
• US Citizen required with ability to obtain and maintain a Secret-level US DoD security clearance
• Existing DoD Secret clearance or above is strongly preferred
Location can be West Palm Beach FL or East Hartford, CT
Compensation type: Competitive wages. Position also qualifies for benefits including medical insurance, dental insurance, disability, life insurance, 401(K), tuition reimbursement, and paid time off.
Reports to: Program Manager
Physical Requirements & Work Environment:
• Mostly Office Environments, Occasional Shop Floor involvement.
• Substantial amounts of telephone and computer work.
• Heavily Regulated Industries with strict adherence to procedures.
• Flexibility to meet business deadlines by staying late or arriving early.
• Typical 8 hour days plus lunch / 40 hour weeks / core (required) hours are 9AM to 4PM
• Ability to use personal transportation to visit customer locations.
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Quest Defense provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.
This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.
Steve Gerber serves as the President and CEO of Quest Defense Systems and Solutions business and is responsible for providing the leadership and growth of this venture. In his 14 years at Quest Global, Steve has held various leadership roles in new business development and account management.
As the President of Quest Global, Bob is responsible for establishing and maintaining senior customer relationships, catalysing new business development, and overseeing innovative and transformational deals. In this role, he also assists in building relationships with strategic acquisitions for the company.
Joe supports Special Missions across Quest Global to include key client contract negotiations, strategic business solutions, M&A, and culture endeavors.
John Thackrah is the founding Principal of Sextant Solutions LLC, an aerospace, maritime and government acquisition consultant.
Frank Kendall is an independent consultant to defense industry firms and non profit research organizations. He is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, a Senior Advisor to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and a member of th e Council on Foreign Relations. Among other industry positions, he is a member of the board of directors of Leidos Corporation and of Leonardo Electronics USA Inc. From 2012 to 2017, Mr. Kendall served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, T echnology and Logistics (AT& after serving as the Principal Deputy Under Secretary from 2010 2012. Mr. Kendall has over 45 years of experience in engineering, management, defense acquisition, and national security affairs in private industry, governmen t, and the military.
Page Hoeper is a private consultant, corporate director, and venture capitalist. Since leaving government service, Mr. Hoeper has focused on corporate governance and board service. He chairs the boards of OnPoint Technologies, Inc., 501c(3) venture capital fund established by Congress to focus on emerging commercial technologies of interest to the U.S. Army, and Quest Defense Systems & Solutions, a provider of engineering services to the U.S. defense industry.