Senior Manager, Compliance
$146,000–$194,000 year
On-siteCosta Mesa, California, United States
Job Summary
Lead the Test & Evaluation Compliance team, directly managing FAA and FCC Compliance Program Managers and owning headcount, hiring, and career progression. Accountable for regulatory posture from strategy through execution, identifying risks early and aligning activities with program milestones. Serve as the executive-facing liaison to the FAA, FCC, NTIA, and DoD for escalations and novel-technology engagements. Oversee FAA workstreams including COAs, exemptions, and airworthiness interfaces, and manage FCC domains such as STAs, spectrum coordination, and RF certification. Partner with Safety and Standards to embed compliance into policies and SOPs, while building metrics dashboards for leadership visibility. Develop training curricula, interpret regulatory changes for engineering teams, and represent the function in cross-functional forums to ensure risk visibility in go/no-go decisions. Travel to test sites and regulatory engagements as required.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Aviation, Aerospace Engineering, Telecommunications, Regulatory Affairs, or a related field
- 7+ years of progressive experience in aviation and/or spectrum regulatory compliance
- demonstrated depth in at least one of FAA or FCC
- working familiarity with the other
- 3+ years of direct people-management experience
- including managing other program managers or subject-matter experts
- Working knowledge of the FAA regulatory framework
- COAs
- 44807 exemptions
- Part 21/91/107/135
- airworthiness
- how these apply to UAS and autonomous systems
- Working knowledge of FCC and NTIA spectrum frameworks
- STAs
- experimental licenses
- spectrum coordination
- RF equipment certification
- Proven track record of engaging directly with FAA, FCC, NTIA, DoD, or comparable regulatory bodies on behalf of an organization
- Experience in defense-related programs
- including interactions with the DoD or other government agencies
- Strong project and program management skills
- with experience running cross-functional compliance initiatives across engineering, ops, safety, and legal
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- with demonstrated ability to brief senior leadership and to draft regulatory submissions
- Ability to work cross-functionally and influence without direct authority
- Strong organizational and leadership skills
- Travel to test sites and regulatory engagements as required
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