Senior Advanced Concept Engineer - Defense Missile Systems

Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory; Laurel (MD); On-site; USD 105,000 - 245,000; Full time

Job summary

Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, MD, seeks a Senior Advanced Concept Engineer to conduct multidisciplinary studies and evaluate next‑generation missile and weapon concepts for critical defense programs.

You will translate real‑world constraints into mathematical models, develop physics‑based analyses, and distill insights for sponsors, executives, and technical teams while exploring new approaches with autonomy and ownership.

Qualifications

• PhD in Aerospace Engineering or related discipline with strong modeling background
• Experience in aerospace system or subsystem disciplines such as vehicle design, propulsion, aerodynamics, GNC, or sensors
• Proficiency translating real-world problems into mathematical models and deriving conclusions from numerical results
• Ability to independently tackle open-ended technical problems and communicate findings clearly

Responsibilities

• Conduct multidisciplinary trade, optimization, sensitivity, and system-of-systems studies to develop and evaluate next-generation missile and weapon concepts.
• Analyze problems spanning missile design, mission planning, fire control, defense, and early-stage hardware design.
• Formulate and implement physics-based and empirical models for design and performance analysis of weapon systems.
• Distill complex analyses into actionable insights and communicate them to sponsors, executives, and technical teams.
• Translate operational needs into mathematical formulations for modeling, simulation, and optimization.

Skills

Trajectory optimization

Aerothermal modeling

Mechanical design of aerospace systems

Numerical analysis

Systems engineering thinking

Education

PhD in Aerospace Engineering

PhD in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

MATLAB

Python

C++

Job description

Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, MD, seeks a Senior Advanced Concept Engineer to conduct multidisciplinary studies and evaluate next‑generation missile and weapon concepts for critical defense programs.

You will translate real‑world constraints into mathematical models, develop physics‑based analyses, and distill insights for sponsors, executives, and technical teams while exploring new approaches with autonomy and ownership.