Mission-Driven Systems Acquisition Lead

American Systems Corporation; Hillcrest Heights (MD); Hybrid; USD 111,000 - 185,000; Full time

Job summary

AMERICAN SYSTEMS is seeking a hybrid acquisition-systems engineering professional to translate mission needs into executable technical solutions across the full lifecycle.

The ideal candidate combines FAR/DFARS and DoD framework expertise with systems engineering discipline to ensure strategy, contracts, and baselines deliver capability on time and within budget, with measurable mission impact.

Qualifications

• Education: BS in Systems Engineering, Electrical/Mechanical/Software Engineering, Operations Research, or related field.
• Experience: 8+ years across government acquisition and systems engineering; demonstrated success through at least one full lifecycle from concept to fielding.
• Acquisition Knowledge: Proficient with FAR/DFARS, DoD AAF pathways, source selection processes, contracting vehicles (e.g., OTA, IDIQ).
• Systems Engineering: Requirements engineering, architecture, T&E, risk management, configuration/change control; familiarity with ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288.
• Communication: Ability to create clear, concise artifacts and brief senior leaders.
• Clearance: Active Secret or ability to obtain; TS/SCI preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead mission translation by eliciting objectives, MOEs, and MOPs and converting to requirements and artifacts.
• Establish traceability from mission needs to system requirements, architecture, verification, and fielded performance.
• Shape acquisition strategies aligned with maturity, risk, and schedule; integrate AAF pathways with baselines.
• Plan AoA, source selection inputs, contracting packages, and sustainment strategies.
• Develop/curate architecture views (SysML/UML, DoDAF-lite) and define verification strategies.
• Coordinate T&E planning and ensure test cases map to mission outcomes and acceptance criteria.
• Run risk workshops, maintain risk registers with mitigations tied to gates; support cost realism analyses.
• Bridge engineering, contracting officers, program managers, and operators with clear artifacts and dashboards.
• Promote MBSE and digital threads; align agile backlogs and CI/CD with requirements and tests.

Skills

Systems Engineering

Acquisition Knowledge

MBSE / Digital Engineering

Communication

Education

B.S. in Systems Engineering

B.S. in Electrical/Mechanical/Software Eng

Operations Research

Tools

SysML/UML

DoDAF-lite

EVMS

Job description

AMERICAN SYSTEMS is seeking a hybrid acquisition-systems engineering professional to translate mission needs into executable technical solutions across the full lifecycle.

The ideal candidate combines FAR/DFARS and DoD framework expertise with systems engineering discipline to ensure strategy, contracts, and baselines deliver capability on time and within budget, with measurable mission impact.