Range Safety & Flight Termination Engineer (MDA)

Mission Driven Research; Huntsville (AL); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Mission Driven Research is seeking a Range Safety & Flight Termination Engineer to support the Missile Defense Agency. You will provide engineering expertise for flight termination systems used on launch and reentry vehicles and participate in tests, reviews, and technical forums.

Requirements include a Master’s with 12+ years or a Bachelor's with 20+ years in defense or large DoD programs, and an active DoD Secret clearance. Travel for deployments is expected as part of responsibilities.

Qualifications

• Master's degree with 12+ years of defense or DoD program experience, or Bachelor's with 20+ years.
• Active DoD Secret clearance required.
• Experience with flight termination systems and ordnance.
• Familiarity with RCC-319 and RCC-324 standards.

Responsibilities

• Serve as Range Safety expert on flight tests and termination testing.
• Oversee requirements development and verification for FTS products.
• Surveil FTS hardware/software development through integration and checkout.
• Author technical reports detailing status, findings, and recommendations.
• Represent stakeholders in design reviews and technical forums.

Skills

Flight termination systems

Range Safety

DoD programs experience

Security clearance

Technical briefing

Education

Master's degree +12+ years experience

Bachelor's degree +20+ years experience

Tools

RCC-319

RCC-324

GPS

IMU

Job description

MDR is seeking a highly skilled Range Safety & Flight Termination Engineer to support the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) Targets and Countermeasures Engineering Directorate. In this role, you will provide critical engineering expertise for the flight terminations systems (FTS) used across launch and reentry vehicles.

What You'll Be Doing:

• Serve as Range Safety expert on behalf of the Targets Program office during flight tests, Range Safety Working Groups, and flight termination testing.
• Provide oversight of requirements development, allocation and verification for target system FTS products, including autonomous flight termination systems.
• Conduct technical surveillance across FTS hardware and software development, qualification, acceptance, integration, and final checkout.
• Author technical reports detailing system status, analytical findings, and formal recommendations.
• Represent government stakeholder interests in technical working groups, customer forums, and formal design reviews.

What Required Skills You'll Bring:

• Technical Expertise: Demonstrated background in flight termination systems and ordnance systems.
• Education & Experience: Master's degree with 12+ years of experience, or a Bachelor's degree with 20+ years of experience, supporting missile defense or large-scale, complex DoD programs.
• Security Clearance: Active DoD Secret clearance
• Standards: Proficient in flight safety analysis products, specifically RCC-319 (Flight Termination Commonality Standard) and RCC-324 (Range Safety Tracking Systems Commonality Standard).
• Tracking Systems: Working knowledge of range tracking architectures, including GPS, Inertial Measurement Units (IMU), and C-band tracking
• Communication & Mobility: Strong written and verbal briefing skills; willingness and ability to travel for mission deployments..

What Desired Skills You'll Bring:

• Direct experience with Autonomous Flight Termination Systems (AFTS)
• Hands-on flight test operations experience.
• Technical background in RF systems, antennas, batteries, and ordnance devices.
• 10 + years of experience in defense and aerospace.

Position Requirements

• Clearance Required
  • Secret
• Position Level
  • Principal
• FT/PT
  • Full Time
• Years Related Work Experience
  • 20
• Education Level Required
  • 4-yr

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.