Systems R&D Engineer

Penn State University•University Park, IL

16h•$161,004 - $265,704•Hybrid

About The Position

Penn State’s Applied Research Laboratory (ARL) is seeking a Systems Research and Development Engineer to serve as an Engineering Senior Land, Air, and Multi-Domain Systems (SLAM) Advisor. The position is a senior-level advisor to ARL on integration with the U.S. Army and ground elements of other services. It maintains engagement with Army stakeholders and connects Army operational and strategic needs with ARL research, capabilities, and technical expertise across land, air, cyber, space, analytics, and multi-domain systems. The advisor interprets Army problem sets, identifies technology and analysis gaps, and connects them with ARL researchers to develop solutions in systems engineering, modeling, analytics, and multi-domain integration. The role is based in a hybrid on-site/work-from-home arrangement, with an on-site location in State College, Pennsylvania, and periodic travel to remote locations. ARL is an authorized DoD SkillBridge partner and welcomes transitioning military members to apply. The position involves conducting independent and collaborative research, development, testing, and evaluation for Department of Defense sponsors and national security missions. Work may include analytical studies, modeling and simulation, laboratory experimentation, field testing, prototype demonstrations, and the design, integration, analysis, and evaluation of complex mission-critical technologies. The engineer applies systems engineering throughout the project lifecycle, supports work in unclassified, CUI, and classified environments, and provides technical leadership and mentorship. Applicants must be U.S. citizens, eligible to obtain a government security clearance, and able to comply with ARL’s drug-testing and electronic and physical monitoring requirements. The posting requires an active TS/SCI clearance. Employment is contingent on successful completion of required background checks.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or Science.
19 or more years of relevant experience.
Past success working with military organizations, preferably the U.S. Army, in senior technical, analytic, advisory, or systems engineering roles.
Experience translating complex operational requirements into data-driven analytic approaches or systems engineering models.
Ability to engage senior leaders by presenting clear, actionable analysis.
Technical capabilities in systems engineering, decision analytics, forecasting, automation, or operations research.
Past success developing analytic tools, models, or workflows that improve decision timeliness and clarity.
Ability to navigate multidisciplinary research teams in a fast-moving environment.
Active security clearance at the Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) level.
Must be a U.S. citizen.
Must be eligible to obtain a government security clearance and comply with ARL drug-testing and electronic and physical monitoring requirements.

Nice To Haves

Experience with Army educational or modernization institutions.
Technical depth with modern analytic stacks such as Python, R, SQL, Power BI, and modeling workflows.
Past success delivering data-literacy or executive-level technical education programs.
Experience participating in technology transition activities, including system integration, operational demonstrations, customer evaluations, manufacturing support, and field implementation.
Experience identifying technical risks and developing mitigation strategies to improve program execution, system performance, reliability, maintainability, and mission effectiveness.
Experience contributing to business development through technical concept development, customer engagement, proposal preparation, IRAD initiatives, and strategic technology planning.
Experience presenting technical information and research results to sponsors, program managers, technical review boards, and other stakeholders.
Experience managing technical tasks and engineering projects, including technical performance, schedules, budgets, deliverables, and risk management.
Experience collaborating with multidisciplinary teams and external research partners.
Experience ensuring engineering activities comply with sponsor requirements, engineering and quality standards, cybersecurity policies, export controls, information assurance requirements, and laboratory security procedures.
Experience developing experimental plans, test procedures, data collection methodologies, and performance metrics; analyzing results and recommending design improvements.
Experience supporting advanced prototypes and transitioning research concepts into operational capabilities.
Experience preparing technical reports, engineering analyses, research publications, white papers, proposals, briefings, and sponsor deliverables.

Responsibilities

Serve as ARL’s primary technical and strategic interface to the U.S. Army for land, air, and multi-domain systems.
Translate Army operational and strategic requirements into actionable systems engineering, modeling, and analytics tasks.
Advise Army stakeholders on ARL capabilities in modeling, data analytics, decision support, and systems integration.
Maintain awareness of Army modernization efforts and identify opportunities for ARL technical contributions.
Collaborate with ARL leadership to develop tailored technical responses and multi-domain integration concepts.
Support early project shaping by refining questions, aligning data sources, and determining analytic and engineering approaches.
Guide ARL teams on Army operational context, decision processes, and constraints.
Build relationships across Army analytic communities and the capability development enterprise.
Assist in program development activities, including technical scoping and sponsor briefings.
Conduct independent and collaborative research, development, testing, and evaluation to address scientific and engineering challenges supporting DoD sponsors and national security missions.
Investigate and apply established and emerging engineering principles, scientific methodologies, and technologies to develop technical solutions.
Plan, perform, and lead analytical studies, modeling and simulation, laboratory experimentation, field testing, and prototype demonstrations.
Design, develop, integrate, analyze, and evaluate complex mission-critical technologies within assigned technical disciplines.
Apply systems engineering across requirements development, architecture definition, design trade studies, integration, verification, validation, risk management, and configuration management.
Support research in unclassified, CUI, and classified environments while safeguarding sensitive technical information and government-furnished data.
Mentor and provide technical leadership to junior engineers, engineering technologists, support personnel, interns, and students.