Sr Flight Test Manager

FMS Aerospace is seeking an accomplished Senior Flight Test Manager to lead and grow the company's flight test capability. This is a senior functional leadership role responsible for the strategy, organization, execution, and technical integrity of flight test across the company.

The ideal candidate has led flight test organizations at scale building standardized processes, tools, staffing models, and certification discipline and is equally prepared to engage hands-on in test planning, instrumentation, data review, and field execution as program needs require. This role carries full accountability for flight test cost, schedule, technical performance, and risk, and serves as the primary technical and customer-facing authority for flight test across FMS programs.

The Senior Flight Test Manager will also help shape FMS's flight test strategy, assessing future customers, modification, certification, and special-mission opportunities where flight test can provide differentiated value. In partnership with Business Development and company leadership, this role will advise on pursuit decisions, define anticipated flight test scope and resourcing, and help determine where FMS should invest to build a sustainable, scalable flight test capability beyond current programs.

Key Responsibilities

Flight Test Leadership and Strategy

• Own the strategy, organizational structure, and operating model for flight test across FMS, including standardized processes, procedures, tools, and technology to improve execution and efficiency.
• Establish and maintain a flight test staffing model, qualification standards, and cross-training discipline that removes single-person dependencies.
• Serve as the senior technical authority for flight test methodology, instrumentation, data management, and reporting.
• Direct and, when required, personally execute flight test planning, test-card development, and field test activities.

Program Execution

• Lead flight test planning, execution, data reduction, analysis, and reporting for aircraft modification, certification, development, and acceptance programs.
• Own program cost, schedule, technical performance, and risk for flight test scope of work; manage operating budgets and resource allocation.
• Chair or support Flight Readiness Reviews, Test Plan Working Groups, and test-readiness/data-quality gates.
• Coordinate with test pilots, design engineering, stress, maintenance, quality, instrumentation, and program management to ensure test readiness.

Certification and Customer Engagement

• Lead development of certification bases, compliance plans, flight test plans, test procedures, and supporting documentation for FAA, military, and customer certification activities.
• Serve as primary customer focal for flight test activities, leading program reviews and managing customer relationships and expectations.
• Create and maintain airworthiness documentation; support AFM, AFMS, and Instructions for Continued Airworthiness development.
• Establish and manage an aviation safety program and audit flight test compliance with company and customer policies.

Instrumentation, Data, and Technical Oversight

• Own instrumentation design, installation, and data-system architecture for flight test programs, including Master Parameter Lists, calibration, and data export processes.
• Oversee data reduction, performance-model development, and engineering analysis supporting test reporting and certification.
• Establish and manage a common flight test toolset and data-management practices across programs.

People Leadership

• Hire staff, train, and develop flight test personnel; maintain policy and certification standards for Test Director and Test Conductor qualifications.
• Mentor and coach engineers and managers; write performance appraisals and support leveling and merit decisions.
• Build a flight test organization capable of sustained execution across multiple concurrent programs.

Business Development Support

• Support new business activities and proposals, including pre-award risk-reduction and capture support.
• Advise leadership on flight test market opportunities, including modification work tied to current programs and adjacent applications such as special-mission and firefighting-aircraft platforms.
• Provide fact-based recommendations on where FMS should invest in flight test infrastructure, tools, and headcount to support long-term growth.

Required Qualifications

Education: Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Aeronautical Engineering, or a closely related discipline. 

Experience: 15+ years of progressive flight test engineering and leadership experience, including direct leadership of flight test organizations or departments.

Medical: Ability to obtain and maintain an FAA Class III Medical Certificate. 

Core Technical Expertise: Demonstrated experience leading flight-test planning, execution, instrumentation, data management, and reporting across multiple programs. Demonstrated experience owning program cost, schedule, technical performance, and risk for flight test scope of work.

Regulatory Knowledge: Deep understanding of aircraft certification processes and FAA, military, or customer regulatory requirements. Direct experience with FAA, military, or customer certification and airworthiness processes.

Leadership & Project Management: Proven leadership and cross-functional collaboration skills, with the ability to manage budgets, allocate resources, and prioritize assignments across multiple programs.  Proven experience as a customer-facing program or technical leader.  Proven staffing, hiring, and organizational-development experience.

Security Clearance: Must be a U.S. citizen capable of obtaining and maintaining a Department of Defense Secret clearance. 

Travel & Schedule: Willingness to travel domestically and sometimes internationally up to 20% to customer sites, hangars, and test locations.

Software: Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint). 

Preferred Qualifications

• Graduate of a fixed-wing or rotary-wing test pilot/flight test engineer school.
• Experience with Part 23 or Part 25 aircraft modifications or certification programs.
• Experience supporting new business proposals and capture activities.
• Advanced degree in engineering or systems engineering.
• Strong background in aviation airframe modifications or the aerospace industry. 
• Prior DoD or military flight test experience. 
• Test and Evaluation, Systems Engineering, or Program Management DAWIA-equivalent certification.
• Experience with data acquisition systems, telemetry, instrumentation, and programming/engineering tools (e.g., MATLAB, Python, Dewesoft). 

Benefits and Perks: 

• Industry-competitive compensation package
• Company performance-based bonus plan
• Equity stock-based compensation package
• Employer-funded comprehensive health, vision, and dental insurance for employees and dependents
• 401k with company match
• PTO & holiday pay
• Employer-funded life and disability insurance coverages

Company Profile

Founded in 2013, FMS is a growing, flexible, customer-driven aircraft structural engineering and flight test company with manufacturing capability.  We have many opportunities with a variety of types of projects with both foreign and domestic governments and commercial customers across many types of aircraft.  Our parent company, Bridger Aerospace is an aerial firefighting and critical infrastructure support company based in Belgrade, Montana. It was founded in 2014 to support front-line firefighters with world-leading technology and aerial fire suppression systems. Bridger Aerospace has grown from operating a single plane to commanding a significant Air Attack fleet, Special Missions Sensor Equipped Aircraft, and the largest privately operated Super Scooper fleet in the world. 

This position is subject to pre-employment background check.

Bridger Aerospace Group Holdings and its family of companies does not discriminate or permit discrimination by any member of its community against any individual on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, parental status, marital status, age, disability, citizenship status, veteran status, genetic information, or any other classification protected by federal or state law in matters of employment, promotion, services or activities it operates.