Lead Systems Engineer, Defense Programs

longshot•Alameda, CA

2d•$160,000 - $200,000•Onsite

About The Position

We're hiring a Lead Systems Engineer to be the technical face of Longshot to the Department of War (DoW) and the technical spine of our defense capture efforts. You'll shape technical solutions during early customer pursuits (capture), write the white papers and design review packages that carry them, and stand in front of program offices to defend them, owning the translation between what our accelerator can do and what the DoW is trying to buy. You'll report to the VP of Government Programs, working as a peer to Longshot's engineering and manufacturing leads with direct visibility into the technical baseline for every defense pursuit. This is a senior individual contributor role today, with a clear path to building a defense systems engineering team as our program portfolio grows. The role is split deliberately: roughly 75% of your time is with Government Programs on capture and execution, and 25% stays embedded with the core engineering team, because you can't credibly represent a technology you've stopped touching. It's a rare seat that combines deep technical ownership with direct customer-facing influence, rather than one narrow slice of either.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Systems Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related technical field
5+ years of experience in systems engineering within aerospace and defense programs.
Direct experience with DoW/DoD customers and programs (hypersonics, long-range strike, missile defense, or space access), including capture engineering and developing technical solutions for defense acquisition
Excellent technical writing and communication skills, including preparing and delivering briefings to DoW/DoD customers, program offices, and senior leadership
Strong understanding of DoD acquisition lifecycle (MDD, MSA, TMRR, EMD, P&D) and systems engineering processes (requirements, architecture, V&V)
Experience with requirements management and traceability tools (DOORS, Jama, or equivalent)
Ability to obtain security clearance
Ability to work fully onsite at our Alameda, CA facility, with up to 25% travel to test sites, government partner sites, bases, conferences, and tradeshows.

Nice To Haves

Active Secret security clearance
Proven track record of writing technical white papers, proposals, PDR/CDR packages, and other program deliverables

Responsibilities

Lead capture engineering on defense pursuits, from early customer discovery through proposal submission
Identify and develop the technical discriminators that separate Longshot from conventional and non-conventional competitors
Shape technical solutions that align to customer requirements, acquisition strategy, and evaluation criteria
Partner with business development and program management on pursuit strategy, bid decisions, and teaming
Debrief the internal team on what the customer actually said, and what it means for the roadmap
Conduct trade studies across cost, performance, risk, schedule, and supportability to defend solution choices
Perform requirements analysis, functional decomposition, and architecture development for defense applications of our launch platform
Define and document system interfaces, requirements traceability, and verification and validation plans
Author and review technical white papers and responses to RFIs, BAAs, and RFPs
Build and lead SRR, PDR, CDR, and TRR packages, including the analysis and traceability behind them
Draft statements of work, work breakdown structures, milestone definitions, and integrated master schedule inputs
Develop CDRL deliverables and ensure compliance with applicable Data Item Descriptions
Track and report technical performance measures, risks, and opportunities
Prepare and deliver technical briefings to program offices, service leadership, and senior government stakeholders
Build capability briefings and quad charts that hold up to technical scrutiny