The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory

Principal Systems Engineer for GNC Requirements and Interfaces

Aerospace & Defense
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in engineering, physics, mathematics, or a related field; Master's preferred
  • 10+ years of systems engineering experience focused on requirements engineering
  • Knowledge of GN&C and avionics architectures, including fault tolerance and cybersecurity
  • Familiarity with MBSE and DE tools like SysML, STPA, and DOORs
  • Strong communication skills, both verbal and written
  • Experience leading medium-sized teams and delivering tasks

Responsibilities

  • Coordinate and participate in requirements assessments
  • Conduct comprehensive requirements engineering and maintainability evaluations
  • Drive solutions to complex problems and adapt to changing requirements
  • Lead teams towards program goals while building trust and alignment
  • Provide insights and recommend design modifications based on analysis
  • Mentor junior engineers, providing constructive feedback and best practices
  • Identify technical risks and develop mitigation strategies

Benefits

  • Work-life balance programs including flexible work arrangements
  • Employee clubs and wellness workshops
  • Off-site social events and cultural activity discounts
  • Opportunities for professional growth and mentorship
  • Experience in a nationally renowned R&D innovation environment
Full Job Description
Job Description Summary:
The GN&C System Architecture group at Draper is seeking a Principal Systems Engineer to develop and manage requirements and interface specifications for guidance, navigation, and control (GN&C) systems in mission domains such as strategic defense systems, hypersonic and space systems, precision guided munitions, and autonomous air/sea vehicles. This role entails the application of systems engineering methods within a model-based systems engineering (MBSE) and/or digital engineering framework. Responsibilities include the elicitation of stakeholder needs, definition of use cases and operations concepts, descriptive system modeling in SysML, requirement tree development and flow-down, analysis of requirements and interfaces to define architectures and system designs, and requirements management through the product lifecycle.

Job Description:

Duties/Responsibilities
• Coordinate, schedule and participate in the requirements assessments.
• Conducts requirements engineering, scheduling, reliability, development, and evaluation, maintainability and analysis for training.
• Lead assessment effort in conducting both formal and informal evaluations and analysis.
• Independently drive solutions to complex problems - develop requirements, propose ways forward when customer requirements are unclear or incomplete, and adapt appropriately to changes in requirements.
• Sustained record of successful task leadership. Identifies risks and develops and executes mitigation strategies.
• Lead medium-sized teams. Reliably aligns team towards program goals and builds trust within the team.
• Subject Matter Expert (SME) in Systems Engineering.
• Provide insight and suggest design modifications based on analysis outcomes, and to apply analysis techniques across a range of technical challenges and disciplines.
• Identify program/system-level technical risks and develop and execute mitigation strategies.
• Develop, document, and teach best practices to less experienced engineers.
• Demonstrate strong organization, planning, and time management skills to achieve program goals.
• Actively mentors. Recognizes strengths and weaknesses in others and provides thoughtful constructive feedback.
Skills/Abilities
• Highly-organized, capable of approaching problems with a system-level perspective
• Strong oral and written communication skills
• Practical experience with the systems engineering process
• Familiarity with model-based systems engineering (MBSE) and/or digital engineering (DE) tools/methods
• Roles may require proficiency with modeling/simulation, computer coding languages, SysML, STPA, DOORs, and/or other engineering analysis tools
• Knowledge of GN&C, avionics architectures, fault tolerance, cyber/security, comms/encryption, or other technologies may be required as defined in the summary.

Education
Requires a bachelor's degree in engineering, physics, mathematics, or related field. Masters degree preferred.

Experience
10+ years experience in systems engineering with emphasis in requirements engineering.

Additional Job Description:
  • Elicit stakeholder needs, define concept of operations, and identify the system context to bound the problem space
  • Work with subject-matter experts across engineering teams to define requirements and interface specifications
  • Define expectations for verification and validation of requirements and interface specifications
  • Analyze requirements and interfaces to define architectures and system designs
  • Maintain traceability with higher- and lower-level specifications as well as system architecture and design work products
  • Lead a culture of Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) on Draper programs by establishing best practices and standards
  • Lead a team developing and managing one or more requirements & interface specifications
  • Present details of requirements & interfaces to both internal and external stakeholders


Applicants selected for this position will be required to obtain and maintain a government security clearance.

Job Location - City:
Cambridge

Job Location - State:
Massachusetts

Job Location - Postal Code:


The US base salary range for this full-time position is
$95,000.00 - $245,000.00
Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location. The range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target salaries for the position across all US locations. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Union ranges will be in compliance with the collective bargaining agreement's approved rates by location and role. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process. Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only, and does not include bonuses or benefits.

Our work is very important to us, but so is our life outside of work. Draper supports many programs to improve work-life balance including workplace flexibility, employee clubs ranging from photography to yoga, health and finance workshops, off site social events and discounts to local museums and cultural activities. If this specific job opportunity and the chance to work at a nationally renowned R&D innovation company appeals to you, apply now www.draper.com/careers.

About The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory

Draper Laboratory is an American non-profit research and development organization, headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts; its official name is The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc. The laboratory specializes in the design, development, and deployment of advanced technology solutions to problems in national security, space exploration, health care and energy. The laboratory was founded in 1932 by Charles Stark Draper at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to develop aeronautical instrumentation, and came to be called the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory. During this period the laboratory is best known for developing the Apollo Guidance Computer, the first silicon integrated circuit based computer. It was renamed for its founder in 1970, and separated from MIT in 1973 to become an independent, non-profit organization. The expertise of the laboratory staff includes the areas of guidance, navigation, and control technologies and systems; fault-tolerant computing; advanced algorithms and software systems; modeling and simulation; and microelectromechanical systems and multichip module technology.
Learn more about The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory

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