Senior Principal Systems Engineer

Bestinfo Systems LLC; Fort Wayne (IN); Hybrid; USD 174,000 - 183,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401k matching

Health benefits

Paid parental leave

Flexible schedule

Job summary

Bestinfo Systems LLC in Fort Wayne, IN is seeking a Senior Principal Systems Engineer for Weapons and Energetics. The role is onsite/Hybrid in Fort Wayne with DoD security clearance requirements and leadership across engineering, safety, test, and manufacturing teams.

The position emphasizes ownership of high-consequence hardware, system safety, and test planning, with extensive collaboration with suppliers and government partners.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Systems Engineering or related field with 10+ years of relevant experience or Master’s degree with 8+ years.
• Proven ownership of high-consequence hardware through design, qualification and production readiness.
• Experience decomposing system requirements into interfaces and verification evidence.

Responsibilities

• Lead verification, qualification, environmental and live-fire test activities.
• Balance safety, manufacturability, cost and schedule in engineering decisions.
• Manage interfaces among energetic payloads and weapon platforms.
• Provide technical reviews and mentor engineers in disciplined practice.

Skills

Technical ownership

Payload architecture

System requirements decomposition

Risk-reduction planning

Interfaces management

Verification planning

System safety practices

Modeling & simulation

Technical leadership

Mentoring engineers

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Systems Engineering, or a related Science, Engineering or Mathematics field

Master’s degree, plus a minimum of 8 years of relevant experience

Tools

Design of Experiments

Digital Twins

Ansys Tool chain

MATLAB

Hydrocode

CTH

Job description

Senior Principal Systems Engineer - Weapons and Energetics_Fort Wayne, IN_Full-Time(FTE)_Direct Hire

Position Title: Senior Principal Systems Engineer - Weapons and Energetics

Job Type: Full-Time

Location: Fort Wayne, IN

Base Salary: $174,000 to $183,000 + Best-in-class benefits

Industry: Aerospace / Aviation / Defense

Job Category: Engineering - Systems

Department of Defense Secret security clearance is required at time of hire.

Basic Qualifications:

• Education Requirements:
• Bachelor’s degree in Systems Engineering, or a related Science, Engineering or Mathematics field, plus a minimum of 10 years of relevant experience; or Master’s degree, plus a minimum of 8 years of relevant experience.

Clearance Requirements:

Department of Defense Secret security clearance is required at time of hire. Applicants selected will be subject to a U.S. Government security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information.

• Due to the nature of work performed within our facilities, U.S. citizenship is required.

Job Description:

Required Skills and Expertise:

• Demonstrated technical ownership of warhead, energetic payload, munitions, or comparable high-consequence hardware through design, qualification, and production readiness.
• Experience defining payload architecture and decomposing system requirements into interfaces, verification evidence, technical trade studies, and risk-reduction plans.
• Ability to balance mission effects, safety, insensitive-munitions objectives, integration, manufacturability, cost, and schedule in defensible engineering decisions.
• Experience managing interfaces among energetic payloads, initiation or fuzing systems, mechanical structures, and weapon or delivery platforms.
• Experience planning and leading verification, qualification, environmental, and live-fire test activities; interpreting results and driving corrective action.
• Experience applying system-safety, hazard-analysis, and safety-evidence practices for energetic or safety-critical hardware.
• Experience with supplier technical oversight, configuration control, traceability, and technical-data review for controlled or safety-critical components.
• Experience with modeling and simulation processes and tools (e.g. Design of Experiments ,Digital Twins, Ansys Tool chain, MATLAB, Hydrocode, CTH).
• Technical leadership experience across engineering, safety, test, manufacturing, quality, suppliers, customers, and program management.
• Ability to lead technical reviews, communicate risks and evidence clearly, and mentor engineers in disciplined engineering practice.

Highly Desired Differentiators:

• Leadership on fielded or government-qualified warhead, energetic-payload, or munitions programs.
• Direct experience shaping or executing insensitive-munitions strategy, survivability assessment, or associated redesign efforts.
• Experience preparing technical evidence for DoD or service munitions-safety reviews.
• Background with government laboratories, test ranges, or munitions-development organizations.
• Experience using physics-based analysis, modeling, and test correlation to support payload design decisions.
• Experience transitioning energetic hardware from development into qualified, repeatable production.
• Experience supporting multiple military services, international programs, or controlled export programs.

Our Commitment to You:

• An exciting career path with opportunities for continuous learning and development.
• Research oriented work, alongside award winning teams developing practical solutions for our nation’s security
• Flexible schedules with every other Friday off work, if desired (9/80 schedule)
• Competitive benefits, including 401k matching, flex time off, paid parental leave, healthcare benefits, health & wellness programs, employee resource and social groups, and more
• See more at gdmissionsystems.com/careers/why-work-for-us/benefits]

Workplace Options:

• This position is fully onsite or hybrid/flex with opportunity to be fully remote/telework for candidates with strong experience and background.
• While on-site, you will be a part of the Advanced Electronics Systems team located in Ft Wayne, Indiana

Skills and Certifications:

• Energetic Payloads
• Warheads
• Modeling and Simulation Processes and Tools
• Security Clearance Required: Yes

Compensation

• Full-time
• Benefits - Full

Candidate Details

• 10+ to 15 years experience
• Seniority Level - Mid-Senior
• Minimum Education - Bachelor’s Degree
• Willingness to Travel - Often

Ideal Candidate:

• Candidate needs to have an active Dept. of Defense Secret clearance.
• Experience leading fielded DoD warhead or energetic subsystem efforts from early requirements through qualification, safety approval, and production.
• The individual combines practical engineering judgment with established relationships across the government energetics, weapons safety, range, and supplier communities, and can translate mission needs into defensible technical decisions.

Work-Life Balance:

• Flexible schedules including a 9/80 option (every other Friday off)
• Generous paid time off and parental leave
• Employees consistently highlight low micromanagement and autonomy in their roles
• Strong Benefits
• 401(k) with 6% company match and immediate vesting
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Life and disability coverage
• Tuition assistance for continued education

Meaningful, Impactful Work:

• A team of 12,000+ professionals engineering high-tech solutions across defense and scientific domains
• Employees get to work on challenging projects that contribute to national security and scientific advancement

Collaborative Environment:

• Employees praise the supportive, collaborative culture - "Everyone helped each other in a time of need"
• Strong community involvement and veteran support programs

Employee Loyalty:

• Average employee tenure of 12 years, which speaks to long-term satisfaction and retention
• 4.0 out of 5 stars on Indeed in 2026

It's a combination of mission-driven work, strong compensation/benefits, genuine work-life balance.