Lead Systems Engineer Western Range

SAIC•Santa Maria, CA

4d•$180,001 - $220,000•Onsite

About The Position

SAIC seeks an experienced and energetic Senior Principal Systems Engineer to support modernization of the space launch ranges, meet mission requirements, provide range capabilities, and support the Assured Access to Space (AATS) mission. The program performs system modernization and digital transformation projects intended to accelerate the space launch cadence and enable the Spaceport of the future. This position is located in Santa Maria, California. The Western Range Lead Systems Engineer provides technical leadership across complex, cross-functional initiatives, driving systems architecture, integration, scalability, and operational excellence. The role partners with program management, product, and engineering teams to define system requirements, lead design reviews, ensure compliance with enterprise standards, and oversee delivery of high-quality system solutions. The engineer also provides system-level expertise to a cross-functional team and supports engineering work involving ground-based systems such as RF, communications, telemetry, and system virtualization.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in engineering, mathematics, physics, or an equivalent technical discipline and 14 years of systems integration and systems engineering-related or equivalent experience; alternatively, a master’s degree in one of these disciplines and 12 years of related or equivalent experience.
Familiarity with collaboration and analysis tools such as Microsoft SharePoint, Excel, Access, and Project.
Familiarity with Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE), including generating, analyzing, and maintaining a digital model.
Must have a Secret clearance.
Experience working on projects updating ground-based systems such as RF systems, communication systems, telemetry, and/or virtualization of systems.

Nice To Haves

Master of Science in engineering, science, or a related technical field.
Experience in large government systems acquisition.
Thorough understanding of space systems design, integration, and test requirements and test execution, including test equipment support.
Experience in cloud, distributed systems, embedded systems, or enterprise-scale platforms.

Responsibilities

Lead end-to-end systems engineering efforts across multiple projects or products.
Define system architecture, interfaces, and integration strategy.
Translate functional requirements into detailed technical specifications.
Drive system design reviews, risk assessments, and trade studies.
Oversee system validation, verification, and performance analysis.
Partner with project managers to align technical scope, schedule, and resources.
Mentor junior engineers and promote engineering best practices.
Coordinate across cross-functional teams to resolve issues and ensure seamless system integration.
Support roadmap planning, capacity forecasting, and technology strategy.
Provide system-level engineering support and expertise to a cross-functional team.
Provide preliminary solutions to engineering problems of moderate scope and complexity in an expeditious, efficient, and timely manner.
Identify and apply current and emerging Digital Engineering practices, methods, and tools to address sponsor and partner challenges.
Apply agile acquisition, architecture design, system integration, risk assessment and management, and other systems engineering principles to recommend solutions.
Employ rapid prototyping and technical recommendations to inform sponsor and partner capability requirements and decisions.
Collaborate with platform partners to advance MBSE and Digital Engineering practices across the enterprise.
Author and maintain technical documentation, including Requirements Specifications, Concepts of Operation, Product and Performance Specifications, Interface Control Documents, Compliance Matrices, Qualification Test Plans, procedures, and reports.
Develop and document engineering processes and standards in support of customer requirements.