Branch Manager - Materials and Process

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Leidos’ Defense Systems is seeking a Materials & Processes Engineering Branch Manager. The Advanced Materials and Test Division is a multi-disciplinary team that provides materials engineering expertise for every phase of a program. With backgrounds in materials science, chemistry/chemical engineering, physics, among others, the division has experience in executing a variety of efforts from R&D, to prototype development, to supporting design and build tasks for manufacturing. Beyond subject matter expertise, the department has the analysis equipment, multi-physics modelling capability and experimental lab space to support activities ranging from proof-of-concept experimentation to manufacturing support.

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Leidos Defense Systems Sector provides a diverse portfolio of systems, solutions, and services covering land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace for customers worldwide. Solutions for Defense include enterprise and mission IT, large-scale intelligence systems, command and control, geospatial and data analytics, cybersecurity, logistics, training, and intelligence analysis and operations support. Our team is solving the world’s toughest security challenges for customers with “can’t fail” missions. To explore and learn more, click here!

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The Advanced Materials & Test Division is a team of scientists, engineers, technicians, and program staff focused on the research, development, application, integration, and testing of advanced or niche materials and processes to solve some of our nation's most pressing needs.  Within the Division, the Materials & Process Branch executes engineering, manufacturing, process development, and qualification work in support of the internal and external customers.

As Branch Manager, the successful candidate will develop and lead their team to support organizational objectives with an emphasis on growing the branch's capability to respond to the materials and process engineering demands of programs and customers across the business. The individual selected for this position will lead a team executing and supporting programs for internal and external customers, and will be expected to manage their time and priorities effectively to ensure both project and organizational success.

The individual must be a self-starter with strong technical skills and a proven history of technical leadership in Materials and Process Engineering. The individual must also have excellent interpersonal skills and a desire to build and develop a team to tackle challenging technical and manufacturing problems. The ideal candidate will thrive in and seek to foster a learning environment that encourages leadership, technical growth, and collaboration.

Responsibilities will include:

• Playing a lead role in setting the Materials and Process Engineering roadmap for the Advanced Materials & Test Division based on an in-depth understanding of customer needs, industry and process technology developments, and group capabilities. This includes serving as Solution Architect on relevant programs and assisting in defining and leading IRaD efforts
• Engaging proactively with other divisions and product development organizations to understand their technical needs and connect them with the right Materials & Process (M&P) support, serving as a key liaison between the branch and its internal customers
• Forecasting the organization's future M&P needs and positioning branch capabilities and expertise in the right technical domains ahead of demand, so project teams have the support they need to meet their objectives
• Performing or directly overseeing in-lab and production-floor process development, scale-up, and qualification activities to deliver engineering solutions as part of customer program or IRaD execution
• Providing technical oversight and mentorship to develop team members with an emphasis on developing future leaders, or coordinating and monitoring such mentorship when time constraints or technical domain require delegating this task
• Developing strong working relationships with team members to maximize productivity
• Personnel management including hiring, employee development, appraisals, and staff assignment coordination
• Tracking staff coverage to identify hiring needs, write job postings, coordinate screening of applicants, conduct interviews, and make hiring recommendations
• Performing, or delegating within the branch and overseeing program management for efforts primarily led or executed by the branch
• Supporting business development goals and initiatives by building and maintaining customer relationships and contributing to (or leading) proposals
• Providing technical input to program leadership during the planning and execution of engineering and advanced manufacturing projects
• Providing technical expertise to group safety procedure development and reviews, contributing to decisions on the appropriateness and acceptability of proposed procedures and policies

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Materials Science, Mechanical, Manufacturing, Chemical, or Aerospace Engineering, or similar degree from an ABET-accredited institution
• BS degree and 12+ years, MS degree and 10+ years, or PhD and 8+ years of total professional experience
• Experience in project management including cost, schedule, and technical direction responsibilities
• 5+ years of experience leading technical teams
• 3+ years of experience with direct personnel management including hiring, employee development, appraisals, and staff assignment coordination responsibilities
• Must be a resident of the North Alabama area or willing to relocate to the Huntsville, AL or surrounding area

Other Qualifications

• Demonstrated ability and/or past experience in technical problem solving and root cause analysis, particularly related to manufacturing processes and production issues
• Demonstrated ability to decompose system-level requirements into Materials & Process specifications and tasking
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Capable of performing in a collaborative engineering environment working with multi-disciplinary teams
• Direct hands-on or supervisory experience with hardware and process equipment (testing, fabrication, integration, operation, or maintenance)
• Strong skills and past experience growing customer relationships through a focus on delivering high-value customer service and consistent positive customer interactions
• Substantial hands-on experience and in-depth technical expertise in Materials and Process Engineering, manufacturing, or production environments

Preference will be shown to candidates who have experience and/or working knowledge of:

• Design, fabrication, procurement, AI&T, check-out, and operation of materials processing or manufacturing systems
• Process qualification, statistical process control, and manufacturing readiness assessment
• Industrial or laboratory safety systems and procedures
• Direct personnel management of teams larger than 10 people
• Business development activities including developing briefings, white papers, and proposals

AppKinetic

If you're looking for comfort, keep scrolling. At Leidos, we outthink, outbuild, and outpace the status quo — because the mission demands it. We're not hiring followers. We're recruiting the ones who disrupt, provoke, and refuse to fail. Step 10 is ancient history. We're already at step 30 — and moving faster than anyone else dares.

Original Posting:

August 21, 2026

Pay Range:

Pay Range $131,300.00 - $237,350.00

The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.