Principal Engineer in Huntsville

Energy Jobline ZR; Huntsville (AL); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Energy Jobline ZR in Huntsville, AL is seeking a Principal-level systems engineer to oversee payload and countermeasure requirements, evaluate prime contractor designs, and support fielding of complex DoD programs at Redstone Arsenal. You will act as the technical expert across the program lifecycle and coordinate across engineering disciplines.

The role demands an active DoD Secret clearance, a Master’s in STEM, and 12+ years in missile defense or large-scale defense programs, with travel up to

Qualifications

• Security clearance required: active DoD Secret clearance.
• 12+ years supporting missile defense or large-scale DoD programs.
• Experience managing end-to-end program lifecycles.
• Willingness to travel up to 20% of the time.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical advisory as the engineering expert on payload and countermeasure requirements development, analysis, design, qualification, and fielding.
• Review prime contractor designs, plans, reports, and technical procedures and provide assessments.
• Evaluate target instrumentation requirements, layouts, components, and testing methodologies.
• Support milestone reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR, TRR, FRB, MRB, PAR) and lead TIMs with cross-agency coordination.
• Assist cost estimation and schedule alignment with planning teams.

Skills

DoD Secret clearance

Program management

Multitasking

Travel readiness

Adaptability

Education

Master's degree in STEM

Job description

Requisition #: TLS-26-030 | Clearance: Active DoD Secret (US citizenship required) | Level: Principal | Experience: 12+ years | Education: Master's | Work site: Redstone Arsenal - Huntsville, AL (on-site)

What you'll do

Engineering oversight & design assessment

• Expert advisory: serve as the technical expert on payload and countermeasure requirements development, analysis, design, qualification, and fielding
• Independent evaluation: review and provide assessments of prime contractor designs, plans, reports, and technical procedures
• Instrumentation analysis: evaluate target instrumentation requirements, physical layouts, component selection, and testing methodologies

Program milestone & lifecycle support

• Milestone reviews: provide technical evaluation and engineering support during all major program milestones (including SRR, PDR, CDR, TRR, FRB, MRB, and PAR)
• Cross-agency coordination: answer technical inquiries from external MDA organizations and lead multi-disciplinary Technical Interchange Meetings (TIMs)

Program management & operations collaboration

• Cost estimation: provide technical assessments to the cost analysis team to ensure accurate program management budget estimates
• Schedule alignment: partner with the program scheduler to track delivery deadlines and proactively keep leadership advised of status

Required qualifications

• Security clearance: active DoD Secret clearance
• Education & experience: Master's degree in STEM and 12+ years supporting missile defense or large-scale, complex DoD programs
• Program execution: experience managing end-to-end program lifecycles, including the development, testing, and fielding of complex systems
• Adaptability: thrive in a fast-paced environment where priorities change quickly
• Multitasking: handle multiple urgent tasks at once without losing focus
• Travel: able to support travel requests up to 20% of the time

qualifications

• Understanding of IR/RCS signatures for flight objects and countermeasures
• Experience with material properties and material property measurements
• Knowledge of real-world threat systems and how they impact target designs
• Understanding of MDA flight test requirements applied to payload hardware development
• Technical proposal development and evaluation