Lead Systems Engineer – Communication & Sensing Systems

Viasat, Inc. • Carlsbad, CA

11d • Onsite

About The Position

As a Lead Systems Engineer - Communications and Sensing Systems within the Viasat Government Space and Emerging Technologies group, you will lead the system architecture for a sophisticated communication and sensing system; drive end‑to‑end technical definition from mission needs through delivery, lead the flow-down and development of requirements to ensure mission objectives, performance goals, and system constraints are correctly captured, allocated, and maintained.

Requirements

• 10+ years' experience in system‑level engineering, architecture development or technical leadership for complex communications, RF, space, or sensing systems
• Proven understanding of systems engineering fundamentals
• Demonstrated experience leading multi‑discipline engineering teams across hardware, firmware, software, and algorithm domains
• Ability to distill mission needs into clear architectural decisions and technical direction
• Proven communication skills (both verbal and written) with experience delivering technical briefs and guiding design reviews
• Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Systems Engineering or related technical field
• US Government position. US Citizenship required
• Active DoD Top Secret Clearance (with SCI eligibility) or have held one in the last two years
• Ability to travel up to 10%
• This role must be based in Carlsbad, CA

Nice To Haves

• Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Systems Engineering or related technical field
• Active DoD TS/SCI Clearance with SAP
• Experience with modeling and simulation environments for system‑level performance prediction and trade studies
• Familiarity with RF systems, waveform design principles, calibration strategies, or sensing system performance metrics
• Proven experience with integration of hardware, firmware, and software on platforms such as FPGAs, processors, or embedded architectures
• INCOSE ASE/CSEP systems engineering certification

Responsibilities

• Guide CONOPS development, subsystem architecture decisions, interface definitions, calibration strategies and system‑level performance modeling, and serve as the technical authority for hardware, firmware, software, algorithms, networking, and integration & test teams
• Drive cross‑program consistency to ensure system-level traceability, verification strategy and integration readiness across engineering disciplines
• Support proposal architecture trades, cost/schedule planning and technical communication with internal stakeholders and government customers while managing the system technical baseline, including requirements, interfaces, architecture decisions, and configuration control
• Support system integration by providing guidance on expected behaviors, root‑cause analysis and performance optimization in addition to delivering high-quality engineering documentation, technical briefs, and formal design review materials

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level