Manager, Systems Engineering

At REGENT, we’re on a mission to revolutionize regional transportation between coastal cities. We're not just building vehicles, we're creating a new category of transportation: the seaglider. These groundbreaking wing-in-ground-effect craft travel just above the water’s surface, combining the speed of an airplane with the low operating costs of a boat. Capable of 180 miles at 180 mph on today's battery tech (and up to 400 miles with next-gen batteries), seagliders will unlock fast, affordable, and sustainable coastal transit for passengers and cargo - connecting cities, islands, and communities like never before.

Backed by leading investors and powered by a team of passionate, forward-thinking engineers, builders, and operators, we’re now scaling from a breakthrough prototype to full production - and building the team to make it happen.

Role Overview:

As the Manager of Systems Engineering, you will define how REGENT builds safe, certifiable vehicles at scale.

This is not just about owning systems engineering - it’s about shaping how the entire organization thinks about requirements, safety, and certification. You’ll lead a team that sits at the center of vehicle engineering, helping translate ambitious vehicle concepts into structured, certifiable systems - and ensuring that safety and rigor are embedded from the very beginning.

You’ll coach and develop a growing team of systems engineers, raising the bar for technical judgment, clarity of thinking, and engineering discipline. At the same time, you’ll partner across the company to ensure systems engineering is not a bottleneck, but a force multiplier, enabling teams to move quickly while staying aligned with certification requirements.

Success in this role means building both a strong team and a strong system: engineers who are trusted leaders in the organization, and processes that scale with the company as we move from prototype to production.

If you’re energized by working at the intersection of cutting-edge innovation, real-world impact, and hands-on engineering, you’ll be in the right place - and we’d be thrilled to have you on the team!

What You'll Do:

• Build and Develop a High-Impact Systems Engineering Team: Lead, coach, and grow a team of systems engineers, investing in their development as both technical experts and cross-functional leaders. Create clarity around expectations, provide regular feedback, and help the team scale with the needs of the program.

• Make Systems Engineering a Force Multiplier Across the Company: Embed systems thinking into the broader engineering organization - helping teams understand how to define requirements, reason about risk, conduct verification and validation, and contribute to certification. Ensure systems engineering enables progress rather than slowing it down.

• Drive Safety and Certification from the Start: Ensure system safety and certification artifacts are developed early and used to actively guide design decisions. Establish a culture where safety analyses and requirements are foundational inputs, not after-the-fact validations.

• Define and Scale the Right Processes: Build, utilize, and refine systems engineering and system safety processes that are rigorous enough for certification, but practical enough for a fast-moving development environment. Continuously improve how the team operates as the company grows.

• Own System Definition and Requirements Quality: Guide and contribute to the development of clear, well-structured requirements across all levels of the vehicle, ensuring alignment across disciplines and traceability to certification needs.

• Lead Risk-Based System Safety Work: Oversee and contribute to analyses such as FHA, FTA, and FMEA, ensuring they are integrated into design decisions and reflect a deep understanding of system-level risk.

• Partner with Regulators and Certification Stakeholders: Work closely with internal teams and external regulators to define and deliver certification artifacts, helping the organization build credibility and confidence with partners like USCG and classification societies.

• Support Critical Program Milestones: Ensure systems engineering and safety deliverables are ready for major reviews and certification gates, and help the team plan ahead for long-term program success.

Experience You’ll Bring:

• Strong Systems Engineering Foundation: Deep experience applying formal systems engineering practices in complex, regulated environments with a demonstrated background in aerospace, systems, mechanical, electrical engineering, or a closely related technical field - through education, hands-on experience, or both.

• Experience in Regulated, Safety-Critical Systems: A track record of working in industries such as aerospace, maritime, automotive, nuclear, or healthcare, with direct involvement in certification processes and engagement with regulatory bodies.

• Leadership Experience: Proven ability to manage and grow engineering teams, including hiring, performance management, coaching, and developing engineers into strong technical leaders.

• Expertise in Systems Engineering and Safety Frameworks: Hands-on experience with industry-standard methodologies such as DO-178, ARP4754/ARP4761, NASA or DoD systems engineering, or ISO 26262 - and the judgment to apply them effectively in real programs.

• Requirements and Analysis Depth: Experience developing requirements across multiple levels of system architecture and performing structured safety analyses such as FHA, FTA, and/or FMEA.

• Cross-Disciplinary Technical Fluency: Ability to work effectively across structural, mechanical, electrical, and software domains, understanding how system-level decisions impact each area.

• Clear and Effective Communication: Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to quickly grasp complex concepts or regulations and translate them into clear documentation, requirements, and guidance for others.

Who We’re Looking For:

• Collaborative Team Player: You believe that great things happen when teams work together. You partner effectively across engineering, certification, and leadership to align on requirements, risk, and execution. You bring clarity to complex discussions and ensure teams are working from a shared understanding of system behavior and certification goals.

• Creative Problem Solver: You thrive on tackling complex, system-level challenges and bringing structure to ambiguity. You don’t just react to gaps - you identify where systems, processes, or requirements are breaking down and build scalable solutions that improve how the organization designs and certifies products.

• Adaptable & Agile: In a fast-paced, evolving environment, you balance rigor with speed. You know when to introduce structure and when to simplify, helping the team move forward without losing sight of safety and certification requirements. You remain calm and decisive in the face of uncertainty.

• Innovative Mindset: You’re driven by curiosity and a passion for building safe, cutting-edge systems. You continuously look for ways to improve systems engineering practices, tools, and processes - raising the bar for how the team operates and enabling the broader organization to scale effectively.

What We Offer:

• Competitive compensation including a robust equity incentive plan to reward your contributions to our success.

• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance - we cover 100% of your premiums (including dependents!).

• 401(k) with company matching, so you can plan for the future.

• Generous flexible time off, paid parental leave, and company-wide holiday breaks.

• Relocation packages available for those moving to join our team.

• Daily, free catered lunches

• Learning & professional development opportunities with the chance to make a direct impact on the company’s growth and success.

If you’re ready to take on an exciting challenge, grow with us, and make a lasting impact, we want to hear from you. Even if you don’t meet every requirement, but you see yourself contributing to our mission, we encourage you to apply! We value diverse skillsets and experiences and believe in the potential of passionate individuals to make a big impact.

Equal Opportunity Employer

REGENT is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive work environment. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law.