Future Systems Lead

The Aerospace Corporation; Chantilly (VA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation assistance

Professional growth & development

Education assistance

Job summary

The Aerospace Corporation in Chantilly, VA seeks a Senior Project Leader for Synthetic Aperture Radar to steer system vision, architecture, and roadmap while coordinating diverse SMEs to deliver demonstrations and mission capabilities. The role requires leadership across teams and frequent engagement with the government customer.

Applicants should have 12+ years in engineering or technical management, experience with RF/SAR payloads, and hold a current TS/SSBI/SCI clearance with polygraph. U.S.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in mathematics, physics, engineering or a related technical discipline.
• Twelve or more years of professional engineering or technical management experience.
• Experience with RF or SAR space systems or payloads.
• Experience with requirements development, verification, or systems architecting.
• Strong customer‑oriented attitude and ability to coordinate between SMEs and customers.
• Ability to distill complex technical information and communicate findings at the appropriate level.
• Willingness to provide backup support and travel frequently.
• Current TS/SSBI/SCI clearance with polygraph; U.S. citizenship required for clearance.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership to shape system vision, roadmap, requirements, architecture, and demonstrations.
• Lead a diverse team of technical SMEs to support acquisition tradespace decisions.
• Define and lead development of payload prototype/testbed or related analytics and AI/ML capabilities.
• Identify and develop R&D investment opportunities to advance future systems.
• Provide on-site support to the government customer and collaborate with SETA contractors and other Aerospace personnel.

Skills

Technical leadership

Stakeholder management

Communication

Systems engineering

Education

Bachelor’s degree in a technical discipline

Advanced degree (MS/PhD) in a related field

Job description

Senior Project Leader – Synthetic Aperture Radar

Location: Chantilly, VA. 100% on‑site work is required. A current TS/SSBI/SCI clearance with polygraph and U.S. citizenship are mandatory.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Provide technical leadership to shape the future system vision, technology development roadmap, requirements, architecture, and associated demonstration missions while applying lessons learned from heritage missions.
• Lead a diverse team of technical SMEs to support these activities in a timely and responsive fashion to help define the acquisition tradespace and inform customer decision‑making.
• Define and lead the development of a potential Aerospace payload prototype or testbed, or any independent lab/range testing, analysis, modeling and simulation, advanced processing or AI/ML capabilities needed to reduce risk, solve contractor problems, or advance mission capabilities.
• Identify and develop R&D investment opportunities, both within and external to Aerospace, to help the customer advance the state of technology in the future system.
• Provide on‑site Aerospace support to the government customer, including facilitating requested technical training or technology deep dives, and collaborate closely with the customer team (SETA contractors, other Aerospace personnel) and development contractors to bring future systems to fruition.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in mathematics, physics, engineering or a related technical discipline.
• Twelve or more years of professional engineering or technical management experience, working across boundaries to develop an integrated system.
• Experience with the development and testing of RF or SAR space systems or payloads.
• Experience with requirements development, verification, or systems architecting.
• Strong customer‑oriented attitude, ability to cultivate relationships across organizations, and demonstrated aptitude for coordinating exchanges between technical SMEs and customers.
• Ability to distill complex technical information into key findings and communicate those findings efficiently and credibly to the customer team at the appropriate level of technical depth.
• Willingness to provide occasional backup support to other team members and flex with program office needs as the mission evolves.
• Willingness to support frequent travel (typically one trip per month).
• Current and active TS/SSBI/SCI security clearance and polygraph issued by the U.S. government.
• U.S. citizenship is required to obtain a security clearance.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced degree in mathematics, physics, engineering or a related discipline.
• Experience developing SAR or RF payloads specifically for National Security Space customers.
• Industry experience developing ISR or commercial remote‑sensing satellites.

Benefits

• Comprehensive health care and wellness plans.
• Paid holidays, sick time, and vacation.
• Standard and alternate work schedules, including telework options.
• 401(k) plan – company‑paid benefit of 8%, 10%, or 12% of eligible compensation based on years of service and matching contributions; employees are immediately eligible and vested upon hire.
• Flexible spending accounts.
• Variable pay program for exceptional contributions.
• Relocation assistance.
• Professional growth and development programs.
• Education assistance programs.
• Inclusive work environment built on teamwork, flexibility, and respect.

Equal Opportunity Commitment

The Aerospace Corporation is an equal‑opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, age, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, color, religion, genetic information, marital status, ancestry, national origin, protected veteran status, physical or mental disability, or any other characteristic protected by state or federal law. If you’re an individual with a disability or a disabled veteran who needs assistance using our online job search and application tools or needs reasonable accommodation to complete the job application process, please contact us by phone at 310.336.5432 or by email at [e-mail] .