System Engineer 3

Adaptic; Maryland; On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Adaptic is seeking a Senior Systems Engineer to lead the technical direction for complex mission systems supporting the DoD and Intelligence Community.

You will influence architecture, guide engineering teams, and ensure solutions align with the full system lifecycle from conception through decommissioning. Strong systems thinking, CONOPS development, and translation of customer needs into actionable technical direction across product teams are essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or a relevant technical field with 10 years of relevant experience, or Master’s with 8 years, or Doctoral with 6 years.
• Experience spanning conception, design and development, testing, production, deployment, operations, maintenance, support, and decommissioning.

Responsibilities

• Define and document CONOPS, requirements, and use cases.
• Lead or contribute to high-level system design.
• Establish system performance and interface requirements.
• Develop installation, integration, and acceptance test plans.
• Translate customer and mission needs into clear technical direction.
• Coordinate with customers, project teams, and related organizations to satisfy requirements.
• Assess engineering processes and work products to support objectives.
• Guide engineering activities across the system lifecycle.
• Resolve cross-system technical and integration challenges.
• Define and communicate a shared technical and architectural vision across product teams.

Skills

CONOPS

Systems engineering

Lifecycle engineering

Test planning

Cross-team collaboration

Architectural vision

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering

Master’s degree in Engineering

Doctoral degree in Engineering

Job description

Lead the Technical Vision: Join Us as a Senior Systems Engineer!

At Adaptic, senior Systems Engineers help shape the technical direction behind complex mission systems. Supporting the DoD and Intelligence Community, you’ll work at the intersection of mission needs, system architecture, engineering teams, and technical execution—helping ensure solutions are designed with the full system lifecycle in mind.

We’re looking for an experienced Systems Engineer who can bring technical depth, systems-level thinking, and a clear architectural vision to complex mission challenges.

Your Impact

You’ll help guide technical solutions from initial mission concepts through deployment and sustainment. Day-to-day, that can look like:

• Defining and documenting CONOPS, operational/system requirements, and use cases
• Leading or contributing to high-level system design
• Establishing system/component performance and interface requirements
• Developing installation, integration, and acceptance test plans
• Translating complex customer and mission needs into clear technical direction
• Coordinating across customers, project teams, and related organizations to ensure solutions satisfy requirements
• Assessing organizational engineering processes and work products to ensure they effectively support strategic and tactical objectives
• Guiding engineering activities throughout the system lifecycle
• Helping resolve complex, cross-system technical and integration challenges
• Defining and communicating a shared technical and architectural vision for solutions developed across product teams

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or a relevant technical field + 10 years of relevant experience; OR
• Master’s degree + 8 years of relevant experience; OR
• Doctoral degree + 6 years of relevant experience
• Relevant technical fields may include Computer Science, Mathematics, or Physics
• Relevant experience must involve engineering systems throughout their lifecycle, including conception, design and development, testing, production, deployment, operations, maintenance, support, and decommissioning.

See the whole system. Set the technical direction. Drive the mission forward.