R&D Satellite Ground Systems Engineer

KBR Careers; Chantilly (VA); On-site; USD 153,000 - 191,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401K with company match

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Life insurance

AD&D

Flexible spending account

Disability insurance

Paid time off

Flexible work schedule

Job summary

KBR is seeking an innovative R&D Systems Engineer to support USG ground systems and satellite data processing. You will provide SETA support across the full lifecycle from concept to mission ops, focusing on automation, orchestration, and data workflows.

Responsibilities include technical analysis, design reviews, optimization of data processing, and integration of ML/AI techniques. Travel is minimal and on-site work in Chantilly, VA.

Qualifications

• Active TS/SCI clearance with polygraph.
• Bachelor’s degree with 5+ years of relevant experience, Master’s 3+, or PhD with 0+ years.
• Domain expertise in satellite ground system architecture, operations, and inference pipelines.
• Proficient with Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint), Python, PyTorch/TensorFlow, and multi-modal LLMs.
• Strong analytical and communication skills for reports and presentations.

Responsibilities

• Conduct technical analysis of ground system concepts, architectures and emerging technologies.
• Review design, modeling, and analysis for orchestration, task scheduling, and high-throughput data processing.
• Evaluate and optimize data processing workflows; integrate ML/AI for ground systems.
• Provide lifecycle support across concept to transition, identifying bottlenecks to meet requirements.
• Perform cost and trade analyses for next-gen designs including pipelines (llama.cpp, vLL, Ollama).
• Collaborate in enterprise R&D to advance satellite ground systems.
• Scout and curate state-of-the-art technologies and research partners.

Skills

Python

PyTorch/TensorFlow

Multi-modal LLMs

Analytical thinking

Communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree + 5+ years

Master’s degree + 3+ years

PhD + 0+ years

Tools

Microsoft Office Suite

SharePoint

Job description

KBR is seeking an innovative R&D Systems Engineer to support USG ground systems and satellite data processing. You will provide SETA support across the full lifecycle from concept to mission ops, focusing on automation, orchestration, and data workflows.

Responsibilities include technical analysis, design reviews, optimization of data processing, and integration of ML/AI techniques. Travel is minimal and on-site work in Chantilly, VA.