Senior Systems Engineer

UIC Alaska • Indian Head, MD

1d • Onsite

About The Position

Bowhead Advanced Technology is seeking a Senior Systems Engineer to serve as the Systems Engineering Lead for a warhead prototyping and development team supporting the Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Division, Energetic Systems Division in Indian Head, Maryland. This technical leadership role guides systems engineering activities across development, integration, testing, and transition to production in support of Navy acquisition and fleet deployment priorities.

The Senior Systems Engineer leads systems engineering planning, requirements verification, and technical coordination across government and industry partners. The position serves as the primary systems engineering interface with the Program Office, external stakeholders, and Technical Area Experts in torpedoes and energetics. The engineer maintains a long-range outlook for testing and production, aligns verification evidence with acquisition milestones, and adapts engineering priorities to evolving program demands and fleet deployment needs.

The target salary range is $150,000–$170,000, commensurate with experience. Salary information is a general guideline; Bowhead considers factors including the position’s scope and responsibilities, work experience, education and training, key skills, internal peer equity, and market and business considerations. Candidates must be able to maintain a Secret-level security clearance. Candidates with Top Secret/SCI are preferred. U.S. citizenship is required for Secret clearance at this location.

Requirements

• At least 10 years of systems engineering experience supporting complex defense systems, including leadership of multidisciplinary technical activities.
• Bachelor’s degree in Systems Engineering or a related engineering or technical discipline.
• Demonstrated experience with requirements management, traceability, verification planning, and technical evidence supporting DoD acquisition milestones.
• Proven ability to lead technical coordination across government customers, external stakeholders, and technical experts, resolve issues, and drive actions to completion.
• Experience developing and managing long-range technical, test, and production schedules and assessing the downstream effects of changing priorities.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including experience briefing leadership and translating complex engineering issues into clear recommendations.
• Must be able to maintain a Secret-level security clearance.
• U.S. citizenship is required for Secret clearance at this location.

Nice To Haves

• Experience supporting torpedo, undersea weapon, warhead, or energetics programs.
• Familiarity with Model-Based Systems Engineering, SysML, DOORS, or equivalent requirements management tools.
• Experience supporting rapid prototyping, transition to production, or fleet deployment.
• Master’s degree in a relevant technical discipline.
• Top Secret/SCI clearance.

Responsibilities

• Lead systems engineering activities across warhead prototyping, development, integration, and test, coordinating multidisciplinary teams from requirements definition through production readiness.
• Serve as the principal systems engineering liaison with the Program Office, external stakeholders, and Technical Area Experts in torpedoes and energetics; resolve technical issues and drive decisions and actions to closure.
• Develop and maintain long-range test, evaluation, and production schedules, identifying dependencies, resource constraints, lead times, and risks to acquisition milestones and fleet delivery commitments.
• Lead requirements development, decomposition, allocation, and traceability; establish verification methods and coordinate objective evidence demonstrating requirements compliance in support of acquisition milestones.
• Prepare engineering documentation and decision packages; support Systems Requirements Reviews, Preliminary and Critical Design Reviews, test and production readiness reviews, and acquisition decision points.
• Coordinate engineering, test, manufacturing, and quality activities; maintain interface alignment, configuration control, and visibility into the technical and schedule effects of proposed changes.
• Communicate complex technical information through briefings, written assessments, and recommendations tailored to technical experts, program leadership, and external stakeholders.
• Identify and manage technical and programmatic risks; recommend mitigation strategies, communicate emerging issues early, and track corrective actions through closure.

What This Job Offers

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