Senior Directed-Energy Systems Architect (Aerospace)

The Boeing Company; Albuquerque (NM); On-site; USD 165,000 - 223,000; Full time

Job summary

The Boeing Company in Albuquerque, NM seeks a Principal Aerospace Systems Architect/Engineer with deep expertise in directed energy to lead system architecture and engineering execution from concept maturation through fielding. You will drive cross-program decisions and mentor teams to deliver safe, effective DE capabilities for the warfighter.

This senior role requires owning verification strategies, interfacing with senior stakeholders, and guiding requirements and trade studies to balance

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering, Engineering Technology, Computer Science, Data Science, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry or non-US equivalent qualifications directly related to the work statement
• 10+ years of experience in systems engineering

Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership and vision for directed energy system architectures, advancing technology roadmaps to meet near-term and future warfighter needs
• Act as the primary technical interface with senior customer stakeholders, program leadership, and external partners to translate operational needs and doctrine into capability-level requirements and measurable success criteria
• Lead development of high-level concepts of operation, mission use cases, and architecture trade studies that balance lethality, throughput, range, power/energy budgets, survivability, and cost
• Drive functional decomposition and requirements derivation for complex DE systems and subsystems, ensuring traceable, verifiable requirements
• Leverage extensive experience leading directed energy weapon system development through PDR/CDR to successful integration, test, and fielding
• Apply deep knowledge of beam control, optical propagation physics, atmospheric effects modeling, power/thermal subsystem scaling, and laser safety/regulatory regimes
• Champion MBSE adoption and governance across program portfolios: establish modeling standards, manage MBSE configuration and workflows, and integrate engineering toolchains
• Lead cross-functional technical teams to produce physical decompositions and detailed design solutions; resolve architecture-level hardware/software partitioning, define interfaces, and allocate performance requirements
• Own verification and validation strategy across programs: define verification logic, acceptance criteria, test architectures, and demonstration plans for optical performance, energy-on-target, tracking/pointing accuracy, reliability, and safety
• Lead modeling & simulation and algorithm development activities (beam propagation, atmospheric effects, target interaction, opto-electrical behavior) to inform design trades and employment decisions
• Ensure incorporation of safety, product assurance, regulatory, and certification considerations into architecture and program plans—laser safety standards, range operations, and environmental/EMC requirements
• Direct risk management, technical maturation plans, and mitigation strategies for key DE uncertainties
• Prepare technical content for SRR/SDR/PDR/CDR and milestones; respond to review findings, drive corrective actions, and maintain configuration and documentation
• Drive cost-, schedule-, and resource-informed engineering decisions; support input to program cost estimates, trade studies, and roadmap prioritization
• Mentor and develop engineering leads and cross-disciplinary teams; set technical standards, review critical designs, and cultivate rigorous analysis culture
• Represent the program and company at technical forums, customer briefings, industry consortia, and advanced technology strategy discussions
• Support deployment and sustainment strategies, including integration with host platforms and field validation

Skills

Systems engineering

Technical leadership

MBSE adoption

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering or related field

Job description

The Boeing Company in Albuquerque, NM seeks a Principal Aerospace Systems Architect/Engineer with deep expertise in directed energy to lead system architecture and engineering execution from concept maturation through fielding. You will drive cross-program decisions and mentor teams to deliver safe, effective DE capabilities for the warfighter.

This senior role requires owning verification strategies, interfacing with senior stakeholders, and guiding requirements and trade studies to balance