The posting
ABOUT WIND RIVERX
Wind RiverX (WRX) is a mission-driven software company focused on delivering advanced, secure, and resilient solutions that support U.S. defense and national security missions. As a wholly-owned FOCI mitigated subsidiary of Wind River, a global leader in intelligent systems software with over four decades of proven success in aerospace and defense, WRX builds upon a trusted legacy of innovation, reliability, and mission assurance.
Wind River’s software has powered some of the world’s most critical systems — from the Mars rovers and commercial aircraft to advanced military platforms and autonomous defense technologies. Building on this heritage, WRX extends that technical excellence to accelerate innovation at the edge, combining agility, security, and modern software practices tailored to the unique needs of defense customers.
At WRX, we partner closely with government, defense, and industry leaders to provide secure and reliable systems to the most critical missions, enhance interoperability, and strengthen digital resilience.
Our team brings deep expertise in systems integration, open architecture, customer needs, and software-defined solutions that empower our warfighters and critical partners across air, land, sea, and cyber domains.
We are a fast-growing organization that values collaboration, integrity, and technical mastery. Our culture is rooted in innovation and purpose — we move quickly, think boldly, and take pride in delivering solutions that matter. If you believe you would be an asset to a high-powered team with an energetic culture where you will contribute to reducing the definition of impossible, we would like to talk to you.
YOUR ROLE
The Senior Field Applications Engineering (FAE) Director will lead a high‑performing technical team supporting U.S. defense customers. This leader will oversee customer-facing engineering strategy, guide solution architecture, and ensure technical success across programs involving embedded systems, real-time operating environments, and enterprise software integrations.
Responsibilities:
- Collaborate closely with FAE’s to expand sales pipeline, uncover customer needs, and drive new business opportunities.
- Provide leadership and strategic direction for the WRX FAE organization, including people management, technical mentorship, and operational execution.
- Engage directly with defense customers, prime contractors, and internal engineering teams to define requirements, guide system integration, and ensure mission success.
- Translate complex embedded, real-time, and enterprise software needs into actionable engineering plans and customer solutions.
- Build and scale FAE processes, including field support workflows, escalation paths, product feedback loops, and technical documentation standards.
- Collaborate with product management and R&D to influence roadmaps based on customer feedback, emerging threats, and market requirements.
- Ensure compliance with U.S. defense regulations, including operating effectively within a FOCI‑mitigated environment.
- Represent leadership of the company at customer sites, industry events, technical reviews, and program milestone meetings
Required Qualifications
- US Citizenship (mandatory).
- Ability to obtain and maintain SECRET clearance.
- Prior leadership experience managing or directing Field Applications Engineering organizations.
- Deep technical knowledge of real-time operating systems (RTOS), embedded software development, enterprise software architectures.
- Proven experience supporting or delivering solutions for U.S. defense programs or regulated environments.
- Strong customer-facing communication skills, including the ability to interface with senior technical and program stakeholders.
- Ability to travel 50% or more domestically with minimal/if any international travel.
Preferred Qualifications
- Familiarity with program lifecycle management within DoD acquisition environments.
- Demonstrated success scaling technical teams in high-growth or mission-critical sectors.
- Experience in systems engineering, secure embedded platforms, or similar high-assurance domains.
SECURITY CLEARANCE REQUIREMENTS
Successful candidates must engage in a security clearance process in regard to their citizenship in order to perform fundamental job duties, as per applicable law. In particular, candidates with certain citizenship may not be able to perform such fundamental job duties. Currently, this includes citizens of the following countries: Belarus; Burma; China; Cuba; Iran; North Korea; Syria; Venezuela; Afghanistan; Cambodia; Central African Republic; Cyprus; Democratic Republic of Congo; Ethiopia; Eritrea; Haiti; Iraq; Lebanon; Libya; Russia; Somalia; South Sudan; Sudan; Zimbabwe. The security clearance process may take a significant amount of time to complete, and any offer of employment will be contingent on the candidate's legal ability to perform the fundamental job duties. Wind River is committed to meeting its obligations to candidates under applicable human rights law and privacy law in this regard.
Privacy Notice - Active Candidates: https://www.aptiv.com/privacy-notice-active-candidates
Aptiv is an equal employment opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability status, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.
