Hardware Systems Engineer

Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory•Laurel, MD

1d•Onsite

About The Position

We are seeking an experienced Hardware Systems Engineer to help us design, review, and evolve mission-critical distributed C2 systems for DoD applications. You’ll be joining a hardworking team of engineers who tackle challenging real-time problems in support of the warfighter. We strive to foster an environment of technical excellence, collaboration, and continuous learning. As a member of our team, you will contribute to the development, integration, and sustainment of advanced tactical systems. As a Hardware Systems Engineer in the Distributed C2 Real-time Engineering, your primary responsibility will be to review and contribute to the design and integration of complex digital hardware and embedded systems, with a strong focus on circuit card assemblies, computing architectures, and system-level performance. You will review circuit card schematics, drawings, and test procedures, providing thoughtful and technically sound feedback to improve design quality and test coverage. You will support ongoing equipment obsolescence analysis and future equipment architecture planning, particularly around computing hardware, operating systems, and cybersecurity. You will participate in systems engineering activities for a complex DoD tactical system, including requirements analysis, architecture definition, and verification planning. You will contribute to hardware/software integration and testing in a development laboratory, assisting with troubleshooting and root cause analysis across hardware and software boundaries.

Requirements

B.S. degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a closely related technical field.
3+ years of experience working in an engineering role (hardware, systems, embedded, or closely related).
Skilled in one or more of the following: Digital hardware or circuit card assembly design, review, or test; Embedded/real-time systems or computer architectures; Systems engineering for complex systems.
Willing and able to travel up to 10% as needed.
Able to obtain an Interim Secret level security clearance by your start date and can ultimately obtain a Secret level clearance.
U.S. citizenship.

Nice To Haves

Master’s or Ph.D. degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field.
5 or more years of experience working with complex circuit card assembly design taken from concept through manufacturing and production of multiple units.
Experience with Printed circuit board design, manufacturing, and test processes.
Experience with embedded real-time or near real-time systems and real-time operating systems (e.g., VxWorks, RT Linux, Integrity).
Experience with computer architectures, including VPX-based or SOSA-aligned systems.
Familiarity or experience with Sensor Open Systems Architecture (SOSA) standard.
Familiarity or experience with VITA 46, VITA 65 (VPX) standards.
Familiarity or experience with Cybersecurity fundamentals and practice for embedded/tactical systems.
Familiarity or experience with Anti-tamper systems engineering and technologies.
Familiarity or experience with Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) methods and tools.
Familiarity or experience with Navy and/or other DoD tactical systems.
Familiarity or experience with Software engineering, scripting, or code design (e.g., C/C++, Python, shell scripting) to support integration, test automation, or tooling.
Hold an active Top Secret or higher security clearance, or are able to qualify for one.

Responsibilities

Review and contribute to the design and integration of complex digital hardware and embedded systems, with a strong focus on circuit card assemblies, computing architectures, and system-level performance.
Review circuit card schematics, drawings, and test procedures, providing thoughtful and technically sound feedback to improve design quality and test coverage.
Support ongoing equipment obsolescence analysis and future equipment architecture planning, particularly around computing hardware, operating systems, and cybersecurity.
Participate in systems engineering activities for a complex DoD tactical system, including requirements analysis, architecture definition, and verification planning.
Contribute to hardware/software integration and testing in a development laboratory, assisting with troubleshooting and root cause analysis across hardware and software boundaries.