The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory

Senior Requirements Engineer

Aerospace & Defense
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in engineering, physics, mathematics, or related field; master's preferred.
  • 5-10 years of systems engineering experience, emphasizing requirements engineering.
  • Proficiency with MBSE tools (SysML, MagicDraw) and trade-space analysis required.
  • Strong Python programming skills for automation tasks.
  • Excellent communication skills, with the ability to simplify complex technical information.

Responsibilities

  • Conduct detailed requirements engineering to derive clear specifications from system directives.
  • Lead the development of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) solutions for data workflows.
  • Mentor junior engineers and interns to enhance their professional growth.
  • Perform trade space analyses (TSE) to evaluate alternative designs and impacts.
  • Manage project scope, schedule, and cost while keeping stakeholders informed.

Benefits

  • Workplace flexibility to support work-life balance.
  • Access to health and finance workshops and employee clubs.
  • Opportunities for offsite social events and community engagement.
  • Discounts to local museums and cultural activities.
Full Job Description
Job Description Summary:
The SMTS will provide deep technical expertise across the full lifecycle of national security programs, translating system level mission goals into detailed, verifiable requirements and leading innovative, model driven solutions. Working in the Digital Retrieval, Engineering, Architecture, and Management (DREAM) Group, you will mentor teammates, drive process improvements, and ensure alignment with Draper's strategic priorities.
Core Responsibilities
1. Requirements Engineering
- Derive detailed component level requirements from system level directives.
- Maintain requirement traceability matrices linking requirements to architecture, design, and test artifacts.
- Write clear, measurable, and verifiable requirement statements.
2. Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE)
- Create and manage SysML models (e.g., MagicDraw) to represent requirements, interfaces, and architectures.
- Conduct trade space analyses (TSE) to evaluate alternative designs and performance impacts.
- Integrate digital twins and digital threads throughout the development lifecycle.
3. Technical Design & Implementation
- Lead the development of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) solutions and cross domain data workflows.
- Develop Python scripts or tools for custom requirement analysis and validation.
4. Process & Quality Leadership
- Follow Draper's Quality Management System (QMS) and engineering standards.
- Identify process gaps, propose improvements, and champion best practice adoption.

5. Team Leadership & Mentoring
- Lead small technical teams (64 5 members), delegating tasks, tracking progress, and ensuring high quality deliverables.
- Mentor junior engineers and interns, providing constructive feedback and fostering their growth.
6. Strategic Alignment & Business Development
- Understand how projects support Draper's overall strategy and specific customer missions.
- Engage with customers and internal partners to identify new business opportunities.
7. Project Management
- Own assignments, manage scope, schedule, and cost, and communicate status to stakeholders.
- Identify technical risks, develop mitigation plans, and execute them.
8. Professionalism
- Maintain a respectful, collaborative work environment.
- Navigate difficult situations with poise and uphold Draper's professional standards.

Job Description:

Duties/Responsibilities
 Coordinate, schedule and participate in the requirements assessments.
 Assists in strategic technical planning, project management, performance engineering, risk management and interface design.
 Conducts requirements engineering, scheduling, reliability, development, and evaluation, maintainability and analysis for training.
 Supports the analyses and allocation of requirements.
 Assists in the capture and translation of mission and customer requirements/needs into systems/capability requirements and solutions.
 Lead assessment effort in conducting both formal and informal evaluations and analysis.
 Analyze assessment results and make improvement/change recommendations.
 Ensure assessment results and recommendations can be incorporated into the requirements documentation.
 Drive solutions to complex problems with limited direction - contribute to task planning and test development, propose ways forward, and adapt appropriately to changes in program requirements
 Lead small teams. Seeks to align team towards program goals and builds trust within the team.
 Provide insight and suggest design modifications based on analysis outcomes, and to apply analysis techniques across a range of technical challenges.
 Identify program/system-level technical risks and develop and execute mitigation strategies.
 Actively mentor less experienced engineers and provide 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
5-10 years experience in systems engineering with emphasis in requirements engineering.

Additional Job Description:

Technical Skills:

- Proven depth in a technical domain with a record of impactful project contributions.

- Proficiency in MBSE tools (SysML, MagicDraw) and trade-space analysis.

- Strong Python programming ability for data/workflow automation.

- Communication: Excellent verbal and written skills; ability to convey complex technical concepts to diverse audiences.

- Leadership: Demonstrated ability to lead small teams, mentor others, and drive project outcomes.

Desired Attributes

- Continuous learning mindset; active participation in conferences, training, and self-study.

- Ability to quickly acquire new technical skills to support adjacent program needs.

- Creative problem-solver who can develop innovative solutions.

- Collaborative spirit - seeks diverse perspectives and works across organizational boundaries.

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
$82,300.00 - $220,000.00
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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