2026 Internship - Systems Engineer

Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory • Laurel, MD

78d • $22 - $47

About The Position

Are you interested in learning more about systems engineering in support of nationally important defense programs? If you are pursuing a degree in Engineering, Mathematics, Physics or related technical field and want to apply systems engineering on multiple strategic weapons systems, we'd love to have you join our team! We are seeking a Systems Engineering Intern for the System Definition and Validation Group in the Force Projection Sector. Our team focuses on translating warfighter needs and capability gaps into system definitions for development of strategic weapon systems, and validate the developed systems meet those needs. We serve as trusted technical partners to sponsors, industry, and stakeholders for defining and validating system capabilities required to meet evolving threat and warfighter needs. Our team works directly with the government sponsors, the prime contractors, and a national team of UARCs, FFRDCs, and industry partners, providing independent, technical inputs and recommendations to help ensure the nation and warfighter receive the required capabilities for the mission. To achieve this, we provide expertise in weapon systems engineering, weapon system design and analysis, requirements and architecture definition, decision science and trade space exploration, and mission and CONOPS definition. Your contributions will be key to advancing nationally important defense programs and providing critical contributions to strategic weapon systems.

Requirements

• Are pursuing a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Engineering, Mathematics, Physics or related technical field.
• Have interest in Systems Engineering, MBSE, enterprise and system architecture design and analysis, or decision science.
• Have a minimum 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale.
• Are able to obtain an Interim Secret security clearance by your start date and can ultimately obtain a Secret clearance.

Nice To Haves

• Have previous internship experience applying systems engineering principles.
• Have familiarity or experience using systems engineering software, especially MBSE tools like Cameo/Magic Draw and DOORS.
• Have experience (or interest) in developing and implementing model-based approaches to enhance the design and analysis of complex systems, including requirements development.
• Have used MBSE tools and methods to design, analyze, and optimize systems for definition and validation, including the development of system models, simulation, and trade studies to evaluate system performance.
• Have an active Secret or Top Secret security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Work on teams to support systems engineering activities such as requirements analysis, architecture development, concept/technology development, risk assessments and test & evaluation for strategic deterrent systems.
• Learn how to apply MBSE tools on the development and evaluation of complex strategic deterrent systems and supporting infrastructure.
• Collaborate on defining model-based design review requirements and updating the systems engineering process to apply advanced MBSE techniques.
• Develop systems engineering experience on real-world systems.

Benefits

• Generous benefits including a robust education assistance program.
• Unparalleled retirement contributions.
• Healthy work/life balance.
• Comprehensive benefits package including retirement plans, paid time off, medical, dental, vision, life insurance, short-term disability, long-term disability, flexible spending accounts, education assistance, and training and development.

What This Job Offers

• Career Level: Intern
• Industry: Educational Services
• Education Level: Bachelor's degree
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees