Senior Embedded Systems Architect — Aerospace/Defense

Spectra Defense; Alpharetta (GA); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Spectra Defense Technologies is seeking a Senior Systems Engineer with deep embedded systems expertise to lead design, development, integration and sustainment of products for military and aerospace platforms. You will collaborate across engineering, program management, manufacturing, supply chain, and customers to deliver robust system solutions.

The role requires 7–10+ years in aerospace systems engineering, hands-on experience with DO-178C/DO-254, and strong communication and leadership

Qualifications

• 7–10+ years of aerospace systems engineering experience.
• We deliver complex embedded systems products across the full lifecycle.
• Experience leading cross-functional engineering teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead customer engagement to translate use cases into system requirements.
• Define and decompose system requirements and verify them throughout the lifecycle.
• Oversee requirements traceability and formal documentation.
• Ensure compliance with aerospace standards and regulatory requirements.
• Provide technical mentorship and drive process improvements.

Skills

Requirements management

Cross-functional collaboration

Leadership

Communication

Systems thinking

Education

Bachelor in Systems Engineering or related field

Master's in Systems Engineering or Electrical Engineering (plus)

Tools

DOORS

Jama

Polarion

Clearquest

JIRA

Rational Development Tools

Job description

Position Overview

Spectra Defense Technologies is seeking a highly skilled, experienced, and motivated Senior Systems Engineer with deep expertise in embedded systems. This senior-level role is critical to the design, development, integration, life cycle management, and sustainment of Spectra’s products supporting military and aerospace platforms. The ideal candidate brings strong technical leadership, deep technical expertise, advanced systems engineering capabilities, ability to collaborate across engineering, program management, manufacturing, supply chain, and customers and a desire to operate in an innovative, fast-paced product development environment.

Key Responsibilities

Systems Requirements Development

• Lead customer engagement to understand operational use cases and translate them into high‑quality, actionable system requirements.
• Lead the definition, decomposition, allocation, and verification of system requirements throughout the product lifecycle.
• Oversee requirements capture, traceability, and formal documentation.
• Ensure accuracy, traceability, and regulatory compliance across all engineering documentation.
• Experience leading product qualification efforts, including developing bid strategies, defining qualification scope, estimating resources, and executing qualification plans to meet customer and regulatory requirements

Systems Architecture

• Ensure compliance with applicable military, aerospace, and industry standards.
• Partner across cross-functional engineering teams to define system architectures and embedded system specifications.
• Drive quality and usability of system architectures, ICDs, and CONOPS.

Integration

• Conduct trade studies, modeling, simulation, and analyses to support design decisions and optimize system performance.
• Serve as a technical point of contact with internal stakeholders, external partners, and customer agencies (e.g., NASA, DoD, FAA).
• Manage system-level risk identification, mitigation plans, and technical issue resolution.

Technical Leadership, Collaboration and Communication

• Work closely with leadership, engineering disciplines, IPTs QA, and program teams to meet schedule and technical objectives.
• Provide technical mentorship to junior engineers and support continuous improvement of systems engineering processes.
• Collaborate across engineering, operations, manufacturing, suppliers, and customers to ensure alignment and execution success.
• Communicate complex technical concepts effectively to both engineering and non‑engineering stakeholders.
• Represent the business in customer meetings, design reviews, and technical interchange sessions.

Continuous Improvement

• Stay current with emerging technologies, industry trends, and evolving best practices in embedded systems and avionics.
• Identify and champion opportunities to streamline processes, strengthen engineering rigor, and enhance product quality.
• Mentor junior engineers and contribute to organizational knowledge growth.

Qualifications

Educational Background

• Bachelor’s degree in Systems Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related discipline.
• Master’s degree in Systems Engineering or Electrical engineering a plus

Experience

• 7–10+ years of experience in aerospace systems engineering or related fields
• Demonstrated success delivering complex embedded systems products across the full engineering lifecycle.
• Experience operating as a technical leader in cross-functional engineering environments.

Technical Skills

• Advanced proficiency in requirements management processes and tools (e.g., DOORS, Jama, Polarion).
• Ability to interpret hardware schematics and review embedded software or firmware source code.
• Strong understanding of embedded architectures including FPGAs and microcontrollers.
• Familiarity with aerospace standards including DO‑178C (software) and DO‑254 (hardware) a plus.
• Experience with configuration management and modern systems engineering toolchains.
• Deep understanding of hardware-software interactions and real-time system constraints.
• Familiarity with systems engineering frameworks (INCOSE SE Handbook, MBSE, SysML, and Virtual Twin methods).
• Hands‑on experience in system integration and testing of aerospace hardware or software.
• Knowledge of system hardware/software development, integration and test for deployed military vehicle applications
• Working knowledge of engineering development tools like Clearquest, JIRA, and Rational Development Tools
• Solid understanding of SOSA and VPX system design standards
• Solid understanding of serial communication protocols such as MIL-STD-1553, RS422, RS485, RS232, 10G and 100G Gigabit Ethernet, PCIe, and USB
• Solid understanding of the latest processing and graphics solutions
• Excellent troubleshooting skills of rugged computing systems
• Ability to drive clarity to ambiguous requests or requirements
• Ability to work well in a fast-paced professional office environment

Communication & Leadership Skills

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Proven ability to lead cross-disciplinary engineering efforts and collaborate effectively across teams.
• Confident presenting complex technical information to customers, leadership, and program stakeholders.

Teamwork & Problem Solving

• Strong analytical, diagnostic, and problem‑solving capabilities.
• Passion for helping customers identify right‑sized system solutions and delivering products that meet mission-critical needs.

Clearance Requirements

• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government Security Clearance at the Secret level.
• Must be a U.S. person. as defined by ITAR.