Airborne Mission Systems Engineer - Testbed Associate

MIT Lincoln Laboratory; Lexington (MA); On-site; USD 116,000 - 182,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health/Dental/Vision

MIT Pension

401K Matching

Paid Leave

Tuition Reimbursement

Mentorship Programs

Work-Life Balance Options

Job summary

MIT Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington, MA seeks an engineer to develop, integrate, operate, and sustain mission systems aboard airborne testbeds, including RF/IR sensing, avionics interfaces, mission computing, networking, data recording, and supporting software.

This hands‑on role requires collaboration with researchers, pilots, flight test engineers, aircraft maintenance personnel, and sponsors to prepare systems for test events and execute airborne experiments.

Qualifications

• Master's degree or equivalent in a related technical field.
• 3+ years of airborne systems/instrumentation experience if only a bachelor’s degree.
• Experience in aircraft flight test programs or mission systems engineering.
• Experience integrating and troubleshooting complex hardware/software systems.

Responsibilities

• Integrate, test, modernize, and sustain mission systems on airborne test platforms, including sensors, computing, networking, and data recording equipment.
• Coordinate with software teams to resolve anomalies and thoroughly test before installation.
• Develop and troubleshoot interfaces between aircraft systems and experimental payloads.
• Serve as a mission systems operator during flight-test missions, with growth to airborne test director.
• Support pre-flight, in-flight, and post-flight activities including data collection and anomaly resolution.
• Evaluate system performance using lab measurements, flight data, and model predictions.
• Develop procedures, checklists, and documentation for operation of mission systems.
• Coordinate with pilots, maintainers, researchers, flight test engineers, and sponsors to safely meet test objectives.

Skills

Python

C++

MATLAB

C#

Embedded systems

Flight test experience

Data analysis

DoD security clearance

Team collaboration

Technical writing

Education

Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Computer Engineering, Systems Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical discipline

Bachelor's degree with 3+ years of relevant experience in airborne systems integration, flight testing, or mission systems engineering

Tools

IP network configuration

Instrumentation hardware

Job description

MIT Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington, MA seeks an engineer to develop, integrate, operate, and sustain mission systems aboard airborne testbeds, including RF/IR sensing, avionics interfaces, mission computing, networking, data recording, and supporting software.

This hands‑on role requires collaboration with researchers, pilots, flight test engineers, aircraft maintenance personnel, and sponsors to prepare systems for test events and execute airborne experiments.