Engineer V

General Atomics•Poway, CA

13d•Onsite

About The Position

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), an affiliate of General Atomics, is a world leader in proven, reliable remotely piloted aircraft and tactical reconnaissance radars, as well as advanced high-resolution surveillance systems. The System Integration Project Engineer provides technical leadership for the development and integration of capabilities across an unmanned aircraft system. This role bridges systems engineering, software development, hardware engineering, integration, and test to ensure individual engineering efforts come together as a complete, functional system. The ideal candidate combines strong unmanned aircraft systems knowledge with hands-on experience supporting complex system development and integration. This individual must be able to understand the system at both the architectural and implementation level—from aircraft and ground-system functions to the LRUs, software components, interfaces, and data flows that enable those functions. The role requires the technical depth to challenge engineering decisions, the systems perspective to understand their broader implications, and the judgment to independently identify and manage technical and integration risks.

Requirements

Typically requires a bachelors degree, masters degree or PhD in engineering or a related technical discipline from an accredited institution and progressive engineering experience as follows; nine or more years of experience with a bachelors degree, seven or more years of experience with a masters degree, or four or more years with a PhD. May substitute equivalent engineering experience in lieu of education.
Strong technical knowledge of unmanned aircraft systems or similarly complex aerospace systems, including aircraft systems, ground systems, major subsystems, hardware/software interfaces, and system-level capabilities.
Demonstrated experience with system integration and the ability to understand how hardware, software, interfaces, requirements, and operational capabilities interact across a complex system.
Experience working with software engineering teams and a strong understanding of the software development lifecycle, including requirements, design, implementation, software testing, integration, and system verification.
Ability to independently analyze complex technical problems, recognize integration risks and dependencies, evaluate system-level impacts, and drive development of practical mitigation or resolution plans.
Strong technical leadership and communication skills with demonstrated ability to work effectively with software developers, systems engineers, hardware engineers, test organizations, program management, customers, and senior leadership.
Able to work extended hours as required.
Able to travel to support meeting and test activities as required.
Ability to obtain and maintain a DoD secret security clearance is required.

Nice To Haves

Software development experience is highly desirable.
Experience with hardware/software integration, SILs, simulation environments, system test, qualification, or end-to-end system verification is highly desirable.
Working knowledge of hardware interfaces, data communications, networking concepts, Ethernet, serial communications, or Interface Control Documents (ICDs) is desirable.
Experience with JIRA, Confluence, Jama, or similar engineering, requirements, and collaboration tools is desirable.
Professional proficiency in Korean to communicate effectively with Korean-speaking customers and partners is desirable, but not required.

Responsibilities

Lead technical software integration activities for an unmanned aircraft platform across systems, electrical, mechanical, integration, test, and other engineering teams.
Develop and maintain a detailed understanding of aircraft and ground-system architectures, including major subsystems, Line Replaceable Units (LRUs), Computer Software Configuration Items (CSCIs), interfaces, data flows, and their relationships to system features and capabilities.
Work closely with software development teams throughout requirements, design, implementation, software test, hardware/software integration, and system-level verification and test.
Lead technical discussions and recurring execution reviews with software and engineering teams.
Understand development status at a technical level, identify dependencies and obstacles, drive issues toward resolution, and ensure development remains aligned with integration objectives.
Work with systems engineering to define, mature, and allocate requirements for new capabilities and support the Design Review process and other technical reviews.
Coordinate software development and release activities with hardware development, simulation capabilities, Software Integration Laboratory (SIL) availability, integration events, and system test activities.
Provide technical input into software release content, roadmaps, and software version matrices, including CSCI dependencies, integration sequencing, system configurations, and capability maturity.
Independently identify and assess technical and integration risks, develop mitigation strategies, and determine when issues require escalation based on potential impacts to system performance, development objectives, cost, or schedule.
Evaluate proposed design changes and technical decisions from a system perspective, identifying impacts to hardware/software interfaces, dependent subsystems, integration, verification, and downstream activities.
Coordinate development and implementation or execution of engineering documentation such as system feature capabilities, requirements, modification and documentation.
Track technical execution, issues, risks, dependencies, and metrics using JIRA, Confluence, and other engineering management tools.
Communicate effectively across technical and organizational levels—from detailed engineering discussions with developers to concise communication of technical status, risks, and decisions to program and executive leadership.
Lead through technical credibility and influence within a matrixed organization, coordinating priorities and execution across engineering teams without direct authority over functional resources.