Principal Aerospace Systems Architect/Engineer (Directed Energy)

Boeing•Albuquerque, NM

About The Position

The Boeing Company is seeking a Principal Aerospace Systems Architect/Engineer with deep expertise in directed energy weapon systems to provide technical leadership and strategic direction across multi-year programs in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The role owns system architecture and engineering execution from concept maturation through fielding, drives cross-program technical decisions, and mentors engineering teams in delivering safe, effective, and affordable directed energy capabilities. The position leads architecture development, requirements derivation, technical trade studies, modeling and simulation, and verification and validation across complex directed energy systems and subsystems. It also establishes and governs model-based systems engineering practices, coordinates multidisciplinary technical teams, manages technical risks and program milestones, and incorporates safety, regulatory, certification, and product assurance considerations. The role supports deployment and sustainment planning and represents the program and company to customers, partners, and technical forums. The position requires a Bachelor of Science degree in a relevant field and at least 10 years of systems engineering experience. An active U.S. Top Secret security clearance is required. The role is not contingent upon program award. Relocation is available subject to candidate eligibility. The position offers a summary pay range of $164,900–$223,100, with pay based on experience, qualifications, market, and business considerations.

Requirements

Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering, Engineering Technology (including Manufacturing Technology), Computer Science, Data Science, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, or a non-U.S. equivalent qualification directly related to the work statement.
At least 10 years of experience in systems engineering.
Active U.S. Top Secret Security Clearance; U.S. citizenship is required for the clearance.
U.S. Person status as defined by 22 C.F.R. §120.62 is required to meet U.S. export control compliance requirements.

Nice To Haves

Experience leading large, multidisciplinary engineering efforts, influencing program strategy, and interacting effectively with senior government stakeholders and prime contractor leadership.
Experience overseeing and validating electronic/electrical system requirements and subsystem designs, including PWB layouts, power distribution architectures, thermal management, EMI/EMC mitigation, and grounding for high-power directed energy environments.
Experience integrating cybersecurity and product security concerns at the architecture level, assessing vulnerabilities, defining protections, and coordinating with security and product assurance teams.
Experience directing assembly, integration, and test planning and execution at system and subsystem levels, ensuring approaches de-risk fielding and produce defensible test evidence for milestones and contractual reviews.

Responsibilities

Provide technical leadership and vision for directed energy system architectures and advance technology roadmaps.
Serve as the primary technical interface with senior customer stakeholders, program leadership, and external partners; translate operational needs and doctrine into capability-level requirements and measurable success criteria.
Lead concepts of operation, mission use cases, and architecture trade studies balancing lethality, throughput, range, power and energy budgets, survivability, and cost.
Lead functional decomposition and requirements derivation for directed energy systems and subsystems, ensuring requirements are traceable and verifiable.
Lead directed energy weapon system development through design reviews, integration, test, and fielding.
Apply knowledge of beam control, optical propagation physics, atmospheric effects modeling, power and thermal subsystem scaling, and laser safety and regulatory regimes.
Champion model-based systems engineering adoption and governance, including modeling standards, configuration, workflows, and integration of engineering toolchains.
Lead cross-functional teams in physical decomposition and detailed design; resolve hardware/software partitioning, define interfaces, and allocate performance requirements.
Own verification and validation strategy, including verification logic, acceptance criteria, test architectures, and demonstration plans.
Lead and prioritize modeling, simulation, and algorithm development activities to inform design trades and operational employment decisions.
Ensure safety, product assurance, regulatory, and certification considerations are incorporated into architecture and program plans, including laser safety, range operations, and environmental and EMC requirements.
Direct technical risk management, maturation plans, and mitigation strategies for key directed energy uncertainties.
Prepare technical content for SRR, SDR, PDR, CDR, and other milestones; respond to review findings, drive corrective actions, and maintain configuration and documentation for audits and reviews.
Drive cost-, schedule-, and resource-informed engineering decisions and provide technical input to cost estimates, trade studies, and roadmap prioritization.
Mentor engineering leads and cross-disciplinary teams, set technical standards, review critical designs, and promote rigorous analysis and engineering best practices.
Represent the program and company at technical forums, customer briefings, industry consortia, and advanced technology strategy discussions.
Support deployment and sustainment strategies, including host-platform integration, logistics planning, and operationally relevant field validation.