Systems Engineer

Tensec; Oxnard (CA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive base salary

Comprehensive benefits including medical and dental

Monthly wellness stipend

Paid parental leave

Job summary

A pioneering defense technology firm located in California seeks a Systems Engineer to maintain and refine system architecture for innovative aircraft. Candidates should have over 5 years of experience in systems engineering, especially with aerospace, and be skilled in writing clear system requirements using modern tools. The role includes supporting cross-discipline integration and ensuring systems verification through testing. Competitive salary and equity offered in a high-growth environment.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of systems engineering experience on aerospace or defense platforms.
• Ability to write verifiable and testable system requirements.
• Experience with systems verification and validation methodologies.

Responsibilities

• Maintain and refine system architecture based on mission requirements.
• Lead cross-disciplinary integration across various aircraft systems.
• Support hardware-in-the-loop and software-in-the-loop integration testing.

Skills

Systems engineering experience

Model-based systems engineering

Integration across teams

Digital tools for requirements management

Clearable security clearance

Tools

Jama

Polarion

Jira

SysML tools

Job description

About Swarm Aero

Swarm Aero is redefining air power, building the largest swarming UAV and the most versatile swarming aircraft network in the world. The company is moving quickly to launch the first aircraft designed specifically for swarming, as well as the Command & Control software to mobilize swarms of thousands of heterogeneous autonomous assets and empower human operators to achieve superhuman results.

The team has created and exited multiple startups, negotiated defense deals worth billions of dollars, and designed and built 30+ novel aircraft, with aerospace experience from Scaled Composites, Airbus, Archer Aviation, Blue Origin, and Boom Supersonic.

Our aircraft are complex platforms that will operate at the edge of what's possible in non-segregated airspace and at a variety of altitudes. We need a Systems Engineer who can support the architecture that holds it all together — from requirements through integration and flight.

Responsibilities

• Maintain and refine the system architecture, translating mission and operational requirements into clear technical specifications
• Develop and maintain system requirements, interface control documents (ICDs), and functional decomposition across aircraft subsystems
• Lead cross‑discipline integration across avionics, propulsion, structures, autonomy, and ground systems to ensure that subsystem interfaces are well‑defined and validated
• Develop and implement the digital thread that supports configuration management
• Perform system‑level trade studies and participate in design reviews to drive architecture decisions that balance performance, risk, schedule, and mass constraints
• Support hardware‑in‑the‑loop (HIL) and software‑in‑the‑loop (SIL) integration testing, including investigation and resolution of anomalies
• Coordinate with ground and flight test teams to define system verification plans and close requirements through analysis and test artifacts
• Identify, track, and mitigate technical risk across the program lifecycle, escalating issues with data‑driven recommendations
• Contribute to airworthiness and flight authorization documentation

Qualifications

• 5+ years of systems engineering experience on aerospace, defense, or UAS platforms
• Familiarity with authoring, negotiating, managing, and maintaining system requirements using modern digital tools (e.g., Jama, Polarion, Jira, etc.) for software and hardware
• Ability to write clear, verifiable, and testable system requirements using industry‑standard patterns
• Strong command of model‑based systems engineering (MBSE) principles including modeling, analysis, and simulation with digital connections to requirements
• Deep experience with systems modeling using SysML (e.g., Rhapsody, Cameo, etc.)
• Hands‑on experience driving integration across multi‑disciplinary hardware and software teams
• Experience maintaining configuration control and digital continuity across models, requirements, and verification artifacts
• Familiarity with systems verification and validation methodologies (test, analysis, inspection, demonstration) including digital traceability to requirements
• Ability to define, validate, refine, and verify requirements and system architectures
• Must have the ability to obtain and maintain a DoD Secret security clearance

Nice to Have

• Background in flight control, avionics, or propulsion subsystem integration
• Experience with ARP4754 in a vehicle or platform development program
• Exposure to defense programs, military airworthiness, or flight authorization processes including MIL‑HDBK‑516
• Active security clearance

Compensation & Benefits

• Meaningful equity stake in a high‑growth defense technology company
• Competitive base salary commensurate with experience
• Comprehensive benefits including medical, dental, vision, and 401(k)
• PTO and paid sick time
• Monthly wellness stipend
• Daily catered lunch at the office
• Paid parental leave
• Direct impact opportunity – be a key leader in building a critical technology for national security
• World‑class team – work alongside exceptional engineers and operators solving hard problems

Legal Requirements

To conform to U.S. Government controlled technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. § 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

As set forth in Swarm Aero’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.