As Lead Systems Engineer, you will own the systems engineering life cycle for next-generation loitering munition systems developed for the U.S. Army. This hands-on technical leadership role spans requirements, architecture, verification, and hardware-software integration. You will grow, lead, and mentor a team of systems engineers while serving as the program's individual technical authority within the Systems Engineering Integrated Product Team (IPT). You will shape the Systems Engineering Management Plan (SEMP) and act as the technical conscience of the program.

Responsibilities

Lead the development and management of system and subsystem requirements, translating U.S. military operational needs into detailed engineering specifications.
Own requirements traceability from the Government Requirements Matrix through to system verification and validation.
Collaborate with multidisciplinary engineering teams, including software, safety, hardware and integration, to develop robust system architectures.
Support the system's path to certification by ensuring compliance with technical and regulatory requirements.
Partner directly with U.S. Government stakeholders, System Architects and internal engineering teams to deliver mission-critical capabilities.
Act as the technical authority during design reviews, balancing high-level architecture decisions with hands-on technical problem solving.
Troubleshoot complex system integration and interface issues throughout development and testing.
Provide technical leadership throughout the full system development lifecycle, acting as the program's trusted engineering authority.
Shape customer needs into system and subsystem requirements in collaboration with multidisciplinary teams.
Develop systems engineering artifacts, including the system model, to trace every requirement from stakeholder input through a verified design in a single digital thread.
Communicate and manage program risk together with the Chief Engineer and Program Management.
Lead the System Engineering IPT and own the SRR, PDR, and CDR, and organize and execute Interim Progress Reviews and Test Readiness Reviews, ensuring every technical baseline is established, maintained, and configuration controlled.
Ensure the system meets every technical and engineering requirement, including quality assurance, reliability, maintainability, system compatibility, and system safety engineering.
Assess the progress of development test and evaluation, production, and sustainment, and recommend design or requirement changes as new technology or test results warrant.
Work with Test and Evaluation and Field Engineering teams to plan and guide execution of the verification and validation campaign, including hardware-in-the-loop testing and analysis, to verify system performance against requirements before government developmental and safety testing.

Requirements

Hold a university degree in systems engineering, aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computer science, or a related discipline.
Have 10 or more years of systems engineering experience across the life cycle of complex defense, aerospace, or munition systems.
Have outstanding communication skills, including presenting engineering artifacts to technical and non-technical audiences.
Have experience developing subsystem and component requirements and interfaces, including mission systems.
Have experience with systems engineering, requirements elicitation and management, integration, and test activities on complex DoD weapon systems.
Have experience on mature aircraft or munition development programs, including operational testing and airworthiness certification.
Are familiar with the following standards and handbooks: MIL-HDBK-516C (Airworthiness Certification Criteria), MIL-STD-882E (System Safety), SAE ARP-4754A and ARP-4761 (Development and Safety Assessment), DO-178C (Software Assurance), DO-254 (Complex Hardware Assurance), and MIL-STD-881 (Work Breakdown Structures).
Have experience with Cameo MagicDraw or similar systems engineering software.
Are a U.S. citizen and able to obtain and maintain a Secret security clearance.
Are willing to travel to government test facilities and vendor or partner sites as required.

Benefits

A focus on outcomes, not time-tracking
A generous compensation and benefits package (in addition to base salary) that includes, but may not be limited to, insurance coverage (medical and travel), flexible paid time off, paid holidays, and remote and/or hybrid work available depending on position. All compensation and benefits are subject to the terms and conditions of the underlying plans or programs, as applicable and as may be amended, terminated or superseded from time to time.