PLATS - Sensor Platforms - Research Engineer

Select Search Associates LLC; Bethesda (MD); On-site; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Select Search Associates LLC is seeking a SETA Support Specialist to support a government research organization focused on high-risk, high-payoff programs in national security. You will assist in lifecycle management, develop source selection materials, and ensure program management best practices across performers and IV&V entities.

The role focuses on platforms for advanced sensor and transmission technologies, innovative collection techniques, and integrating information from multiple sources

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's in a technical field with required years of experience.
• Experience in system-level design and analysis of platforms.
• Experience with test & measurement equipment or environmental qualification tools.
• Experience managing a multi-disciplinary R&D or T&E team.
• Experience creating program plans, WBS, and milestones.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate across government, academic, and industry teams.
• Review deliverables, milestones, and evaluation results.
• Prepare reports and briefings for senior leadership.
• Liaise between performers, T&E contributors, government and transitions partners.
• Support systems integration, data analytics, and architecture design.

Skills

Systems engineering

R&D program management

Test & evaluation

Milestone planning

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering/Mechanical Engineering/ Aerospace/ Computer Engineering/ Physics/ Systems Engineering

Master's degree (preferred)

Job description

PLATS - Sensor Platforms - Research Engineer

• Bethesda, MD

Overview:

We are seeking a Scientific, Engineering, and Technical Assistance (SETA) Support Specialist to join our team in support of a government research organization dedicated to investing in high-risk, high-payoff research programs to tackle some of the most difficult challenges of national security. The successful candidate will support the government program managers in the execution of the lifecycle of various research programs to include development of source selection materials, execution assistance, closeout, and transition. The SETA should be competent in Research and Development (R&D) programmatic reviews and procedures. The candidate will also be responsible for ensuring that project management best practices are followed by the individual programs to include performers, independent verification and validation (IV&V) entities, and within the government research organization itself.

The research programs you would support focus on developing platforms for advanced sensor and transmission technologies, innovative collection techniques that more precisely target desired information, and methods for collecting information from previously inaccessible sources. Additional efforts explore new approaches for integrating information from multiple sources to improve the quality, reliability, and operational utility of collected data.

Responsibilities

• Support the program managers in coordination, monitoring, communication, and integration of all technical aspects of the Program lifecycle that includes:
  • Coordinate across government, academic, and industry research teams.
  • Review and assess technical deliverables, milestones, and evaluation results.
  • Track risks, dependencies, and integration issues across performers.
• Prepare reports, technical summaries, and briefings for senior leadership.
• Serve as a liaison between performers, Test & Evaluation contributors, government and transition partners;
• Provide support for program related requirements for systems integration, design, development, modeling and simulation, data analytics and architecture design;
• Stay current on advances in technologies relevant to the research programs and perform technical studies as requested on topics of interest to the program managers.
• Provide technical support and expertise on new concepts relevant to the program managers.
• Support the evaluation of Seedling concepts

Qualifications

Required:

• Bachelors' degree in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, computer engineering, applied physics, systems engineering, or a related technical field, with six plus (6+) years of work experience in one of these fields, or Masters' degree with two plus (2+) years of work experience.
• Four (4) years of experience or equivalent education involving system‑level design and analysis of space or terrestrial platforms, including power subsystems, environmental resilience, hardware integration, thermal or structural modeling, or the development and evaluation of platform components intended for long‑duration or extreme‑environment operation.
• Two (2) years of experience or equivalent education using test and measurement equipment or environmental qualification tools relevant to platform engineering, such as electrical instrumentation, power‑system diagnostics, thermal‑vacuum chambers, vibration and shock testing systems, long‑duration endurance testing setups, or prototype subsystem testbeds.
• One (1) year of experience managing a multi-disciplinary research and development (R&D) or Test and Evaluation (T&E) team.
• Two (2) years of experience creating program plans, work breakdown structures, and milestone schedules.

Desired:

• Masters' degree or PhD in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, computer engineering, applied physics, systems engineering, or related fields, with four plus (4+) years of work experience.
• Four (4) years of experience with tools used for modeling, simulation, design, or testing of platform subsystems, such as MATLAB, Python, C/C++, LabVIEW, or engineering analysis tools supporting power, thermal, structural, or environmental modeling.
• Two (2) years of experience with analytical or algorithmic methods supporting resilient platform performance, such as optimization of resource‑constrained systems, anomaly detection, degradation modeling, or predictive performance modeling for components operating in extreme environments.
• Two (2) years of experience in the Intelligence Community (IC), including experience with requirements, CONOPS, and transition.
• Awareness of supply‑chain, reliability, environmental durability, and mission‑lifetime considerations associated with space‑qualified or ruggedized ground‑based platform components.
• Four (4) years of experience managing a multi-disciplinary research and development (R&D) or Test and Evaluation (T&E) team.
• One (1) year of experience as a Project Manager or Deputy Project Manager.

Why Join Us?

This role offers the opportunity to be part of mission-critical programs advancing collection technologies and national security. You will collaborate with leading universities, research labs, and industry partners on groundbreaking research and technologies.