Senior Systems Engineer, Missile Defense Payloads

Waypoint Human Capital; Huntsville (AL); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Waypoint’s client in Huntsville, AL seeks a Principal Systems Engineer to provide engineering oversight for target payloads and countermeasures. You will act as a trusted advisor to the program office, delivering critical assessments of prime contractor designs, technical plans, and target instrumentation layouts.

As the technical anchor during major milestones—from System Requirements through Product Acceptance—you will collaborate with modeling teams, cost analysts, and schedulers to ensure

Qualifications

• Active DoD Secret clearance required.
• Master's degree in STEM and 12+ years supporting missile defense or large DoD programs.
• Experience managing end-to-end program lifecycles for complex systems.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment with shifting priorities.
• Willingness to travel up to 20%.

Responsibilities

• Expert Advisory: provide technical guidance on payload and countermeasure requirements, design, and fielding.
• Independent Evaluation: assess prime contractor designs, plans, reports, and procedures.
• Instrumentation Analysis: review instrumentation requirements, layouts, and testing methods.
• Milestone Reviews: support SRR, PDR, CDR, TRR, FRB, MRB, PAR with engineering input.
• Cross-Agency Coordination: lead TIMs and respond to inquiries from external agencies.
• Cost Estimation: contribute to program cost estimates with technical input.
• Schedule Alignment: collaborate with schedulers to monitor deadlines and report status.

Skills

DoD Secret clearance

End-to-end lifecycle management

12+ years missile defense experience

Fast-paced environment

Multi-tasking under pressure

Travel up to 20%

Education

Master's degree in STEM

Job description

Waypoint’s client in Huntsville, AL seeks a Principal Systems Engineer to provide engineering oversight for target payloads and countermeasures. You will act as a trusted advisor to the program office, delivering critical assessments of prime contractor designs, technical plans, and target instrumentation layouts.

As the technical anchor during major milestones—from System Requirements through Product Acceptance—you will collaborate with modeling teams, cost analysts, and schedulers to ensure