Principal Engineer (MDA)

Mission Driven Research; Huntsville (AL); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

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Job summary

Mission Driven Research in Huntsville seeks a Principal Engineer to oversee target system payloads and countermeasure development. You will advise the program office, assess prime contractor designs and instrument layouts, and anchor engineering activities from SRR to PAR.

Responsibilities include independent evaluation of designs, leading TIMs, and partnering with cost analysts and schedulers to ensure timely and accurate delivery of complex missile-defense systems.

Qualifications

• Active DoD Secret clearance
• Master's degree in STEM with 12+ years in missile defense or large-scale DoD programs
• Experience managing end-to-end program lifecycles
• Ability to thrive in fast-paced environments with shifting priorities
• Willingness to travel up to 20%

Responsibilities

• Provide engineering oversight and design assessment of payloads and countermeasures.
• Review prime contractor designs, plans, reports, and procedures.
• Lead milestone reviews and provide technical evaluation during SRR, PDR, CDR, TRR, FRB, MRB, PAR.
• Coordinate with external MDA organizations and lead TIMs with cross-disciplinary teams.
• Support cost estimation and align schedules with leadership.

Skills

Security clearance

Education & experience

Program execution

Adaptability

Multitasking

Travel

Education

Master's degree in STEM

Job description

MDR is seeking a highly skilled Principal Engineer to provide engineering oversight for target system payloads and countermeasure development. In this role, you will act as a trusted advisor to the program office, delivering critical assessments of prime contractor designs, technical plans, and target instrumentation layouts. You will serve as a technical anchor during major program milestones-from System Requirements through Product Acceptance-while seamlessly collaborating across multiple organizations, modeling teams, cost analysts, and schedulers to ensure items are delivered accurately and on time.

What You'll Be Doing:

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.

What Required Skills You'll Bring:

• 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 request up to 20% of the time.

What Desired Skills You'll Bring:

• 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.
• Have an understanding of MDA flight test requirements and apply that to the payload hardware development.
• Technical proposal development and evaluation.

Position Requirements

• Clearance Required
  • Secret
• Position Level
  • Principal
• FT/PT
  • Full Time
• Years Related Work Experience
  • 12
• Education Level Required
  • Master's

Mission Driven Research is an Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability/veterans. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran. If you are interested in applying for employment with Mission Driven Research and need special assistance or an accommodation to use our website, please contact us by email ([e-mail]) or by phone by calling [phone]. When contacting us, please provide your contact information and state the nature of your accessibility issue.