Ammunition Engineering Director - Modirum | Gespi

Location: São José dos Campos, Brazil

About the Opportunity:

Modirum | Gespi is seeking an Ammunition Engineering Director to lead our ammunition engineering organization and to ensure that programs consistently deliver from proven designs into production at the right quality, cost, and schedule. This role balances people leadership with technical accountability: you will build and develop a multidisciplinary engineering team while holding the bar for design transfer - where designs become qualified processes, documented baselines, and repeatable factory output. Success requires fluency in both mechanical and chemical engineering perspectives, whether through your own background or through vast oversight of specialists. Ammunition sits at the intersection of precision mechanics, materials, and process-controlled chemistry. This position offers the opportunity to define engineering strategy, capacity, and standards for ammunition from development through sustained production.

Your Role in the Team:

As Ammunition Engineer Director, you will be responsible for engineering leadership, portfolio execution, and production readiness across ammunition programs. You will:

* Lead, coach, and scale the ammunition engineering function; set priorities, hiring plans, and technical career paths

* Institutionalize design-to-production excellence: require clear production-readiness criteria, qualification strategies, and handoff packages so working designs do not stall at prototype or pilot without a path to volume

* Ensure mechanical engineering practices (design for manufacture, assembly, reliability, and tooling strategy) and chemical/process engineering practices (formulation interfaces, process windows, safety, and lot-to-lot consistency) are integrated in program plans and reviews

* Own the engineering roadmap for ammunition capabilities: equipment, metrology, simulation, testing, and external partnerships as needed

* Partner with operations, quality, program management, and EHS on capital projects, line qualifications, and major engineering changes

* Represent engineering in executive and customer forums; communicate risk, mitigation, and resource needs with clarity

* Drive continuous improvement in engineering processes (reviews, documentation, change control, lessons learned) aligned with quality and regulatory expectations

* Foster a culture of technical rigor, safety, and cross-disciplinary collaboration between mechanical and chemical contributors

Qualifications:

* Master's degree or higher in Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or related field; mechanical and chemical engineering competency is required—through combined education, deep professional experience in both domains, or a documented record of directing integrated mechanical and chemical engineering teams in hardware production

* 10+ years of relevant experience, including substantial time in technical leadership or management roles in ammunition, defense energetics, or comparable regulated hardware

* Demonstrated success moving designs to production at scale: direct or executive accountability for design transfer, line qualification, manufacturing release, or equivalent

* Strong grasp of product development lifecycle, verification and validation, and manufacturing engineering in a controlled environment

* Excellent stakeholder management, prioritization, and communication under schedule and technical pressure

* Fluency in English

Bonus Points:

* Experience across multiple ammunition product families or international programs

* Background in operations or manufacturing leadership in addition to engineering

* Formal credentials in explosives safety, process hazard analysis, or similar

* Experience integrating suppliers and joint-development partners into qualification and production plans

What We Offer:

* Director-level ownership of ammunition engineering strategy and delivery

* Opportunity to connect development investment directly to production outcomes and organizational growth

* Leadership of a mission-focused engineering organization with strong cross-functional ties

* Professional development opportunities and executive sponsorship for strategic initiatives

* Competitive salary and comprehensive benefits package

* Dynamic work environment in São José dos Campos