Principal Targets & Countermeasures Systems Engineer

Modern Technology Solutions, Inc. (MTSI); Huntsville (AL); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Modern Technology Solutions, Inc. (MTSI) in Huntsville, AL seeks a Principal Targets & Countermeasures Systems Engineer to oversee target system payloads and countermeasure development.

You will advise the program office, assess prime contractor designs, and anchor technical plans from system requirements through product acceptance. The role requires DoD Secret clearance and 7+ years in missile defense or large DoD programs, with a focus on end-to-end lifecycles and cross-organizational

Qualifications

• Active DoD Secret clearance required.
• 7+ years in missile defense or large DoD programs.
• End-to-end program lifecycle experience from development through fielding.
• Willingness to travel up to 20%.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the technical expert on payload and countermeasure requirements development, analysis, design, qualification, and fielding.
• Review and provide assessments of prime contractor designs, plans, reports, and technical procedures.
• Evaluate target instrumentation requirements, physical layouts, component selection, and testing methodologies.
• Provide technical evaluation and engineering support during all major program milestones (SRR, PDR, CDR, TRR, FRB, MRB, PAR).
• Answer technical inquiries from external organizations and lead TIMs with multi-disciplinary teams.
• Provide technical assessments to the cost analysis team to support accurate budgets.
• Partner with the program scheduler to track deadlines and inform leadership of status.

Skills

Active DoD Secret clearance

Program lifecycle management

Cross-functional collaboration

DoD missile defense experience

Education

Bachelor's degree in a relevant field

Master's degree in STEM (preferred)

Job description

MTSI is seeking a highly skilled Principal Targets & Countermeasures Systems 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.

Job Responsibilities

• Serve as the technical expert on payload and countermeasure requirements development, analysis, design, qualification, and fielding.
• Review and provide assessments of prime contractor designs, plans, reports, and technical procedures.
• Evaluate target instrumentation requirements, physical layouts, component selection, and testing methodologies
• Provide technical evaluation and engineering support during all major program milestones (including SRR, PDR, CDR, TRR, FRB, MRB, and PAR).
• Answer technical inquiries from external MDA organizations and lead multi-disciplinary Technical Interchange Meetings (TIMs).
• Provide technical assessments to the cost analysis team to ensure accurate program management budget estimates.
• Partner with the program scheduler to track delivery deadlines and proactively keep leadership advised of status.

Required Qualifications

• Active DoD Secret clearance
• Bachelor's degree and 7+ years supporting missile defense or large-scale, complex DoD programs.
• Experience managing end-to-end program lifecycles, including the development, testing, and fielding of complex systems.
• Thrive in a fast-paced environment where priorities change quickly.
• Handle multiple urgent tasks at once without losing focus.
• Able to support travel request up to 20% of the time.

Desired Qualifications

• Master's degree in STEM and 12+ years supporting missile defense or large-scale, complex DoD programs.
• 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 and ability to apply those requirements to payload hardware development.
• Technical proposal development and evaluation.