Systems Engineer

Kratos Defense and Security Solutions, Inc.; Birmingham (AL); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Kratos Defense & Rocket Support Services, Inc. seeks a senior Systems Engineer with 8–12 years of experience to lead system-level development, integration, verification, and sustainment for complex defense systems.

The role emphasizes translating customer needs into technical solutions, leading multidisciplinary teams, and maintaining rigorous system requirements, architectures, and interfaces throughout program lifecycles.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Systems/EE/ME/CE or related discipline.
• 8–12 years of progressive systems engineering experience.
• Experience in requirements development, analysis, allocation, verification, and validation.
• Experience defining and controlling system and subsystem interfaces.

Responsibilities

• Lead development and sustainment of system-level requirements and technical documentation.
• Translate customer needs into clear system requirements and solutions.
• Perform requirements analysis, allocation, traceability, and verification planning.

Skills

Leadership

Requirements management

System thinking

Cross-functional collaboration

Problem solving

Technical communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering

Master’s degree in Systems Engineering

Tools

MBSE tools (Cameo)

MBSE tools (MagicDraw)

Job description

Kratos Defense & Rocket Support Services, Inc. is seeking a senior Systems Engineer with 8-12 years of experience to lead system-level development, integration, verification, and sustainment activities for complex defense systems. This role requires a seasoned systems thinker with deep experience translating customer needs into technical solutions, guiding multidisciplinary engineering efforts, and maintaining rigorous system-level requirements, architectures, and interfaces throughout the program lifecycle. The ideal candidate demonstrates leadership, technical ownership, strong cross-team collaboration, and the ability to drive clarity in complex engineering environments.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead development, documentation, and sustainment of system-level requirements, specifications, and technical documentation.
• Translate customer and operational needs into clear system requirements and actionable technical solutions.
• Perform advanced requirements analysis, allocation, traceability, and verification planning throughout the system lifecycle.
• Develop and maintain system architectures, functional analyses, high-level designs, and interface definitions for complex systems.
• Provide system-level leadership during integration, verification, validation, qualification, and sustainment activities.
• Coordinate across electrical, mechanical, software, manufacturing, test, and quality engineering teams to ensure system requirements are fully satisfied.
• Lead system-level technical trade studies balancing performance, cost, risk, schedule, and producibility.
• Develop and maintain Interface Control Documents (ICDs) and manage system and subsystem interfaces.
• Develop system-level test plans, procedures, and reports; support and lead integration and test events.
• Participate in formal design reviews, technical interchange meetings, program reviews, and customer engagements.
• Identify system-level risks and lead the development of mitigation strategies.
• Lead troubleshooting and root-cause analysis of system-level issues during development, integration, testing, and production.
• Maintain rigorous requirements traceability from customer inputs through design, integration, verification, and validation.
• Support configuration management, change control, and system baseline documentation.
• Analyze system performance, identify improvement opportunities, and drive system enhancements.
• Prepare high-quality technical reports, specifications, presentations, and customer-facing documentation.
• Provide leadership and mentorship to less-experienced systems engineers and contribute to overall team development.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Systems Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related discipline.
• 8-12 years of progressive systems engineering experience supporting complex defense or mission-critical systems.
• Significant experience with requirements development, analysis, allocation, verification, and validation across the full lifecycle.
• Proven experience developing system architectures and defining/controlling system and subsystem interfaces.
• Strong experience with system integration, verification, validation, and test processes.
• Ability to analyze complex technical problems and develop clear, practical engineering solutions.
• Experience working within multidisciplinary engineering teams and driving cross-functional collaboration.
• Deep understanding of the systems engineering lifecycle and associated processes.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills for communicating with engineering teams, leadership, and customers.
• U.S. Citizenship required.
• Ability to obtain a DoD security clearance; active clearance preferred.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Systems Engineering or a related discipline.
• Experience working directly with DoD customers, program offices, or prime contractors.
• Experience with MBSE tools (e.g., Cameo, MagicDraw); helpful but not required.
• Familiarity with applicable DoD standards, including MIL-STD-810, MIL-STD-882, MIL-STD-961, or similar.
• Experience developing system specifications, ICDs, verification matrices, CONOPS, and technical baselines.
• Experience supporting SRR, PDR, CDR, TRR, and FRR design reviews.
• Experience in risk management, reliability, maintainability, and safety engineering.
• Experience supporting integration and test of complex hardware/software systems.
• Experience with configuration management and change control processes.
• Active DoD clearance preferred.

Key Competencies

• Systems engineering leadership and ownership
• Advanced requirements management and traceability
• System architecture and interface control
• Integration, verification, and validation expertise
• Complex problem solving and decision support
• Technical documentation and clear communication
• Risk identification and mitigation
• Trade study development and analysis
• Familiarity with MBSE tools and modern SE methods
• Customer interaction and collaboration
• Understanding of DoD program environments