STRATEGIC SYSTEMS PROGRAMS (SSP) logo

MISSILE BRANCH SAFETY LEAD

STRATEGIC SYSTEMS PROGRAMS (SSP)

Washington Navy Yard, DCFull-time$144–197K/yrPosted today

Most applications go out cold — see where you stand first. No sign-up to start.

You apply on the employer's site, with no Olive account needed.

Watch jobs like this.

Don't just apply. Show up ready.

Olive works from this exact posting.

At a glance

Compensation
$144–197K/yr
Location
Washington Navy Yard, DC
Schedule
Full-time
Work Authorization
Not specified

Olive lists jobs from US employers, including remote roles you can work from the United States.

Job overview

The Missile Branch Safety Lead will support system engineering, integration, and testing for an assigned program. The role reviews program progress and addresses technical, schedule, and cost issues across design, development, test, and evaluation. It also provides engineering guidance and acquisition advice, ensures quality requirements are implemented, and plans and coordinates program budgets and support.

Skills & qualifications

RequiredNice to have

Skills

Systems EngineeringSystems IntegrationTest and EvaluationStrategic Weapons SystemsDoD Test Program DevelopmentProgram ManagementContract ManagementBudget Management

Qualifications

One Year Specialized ExperienceEngineering Degree or EquivalentEngineer Intern or EIT or PE RegistrationFundamentals of Engineering Exam60 Semester Hours Engineering SciencesRelated Bachelor's Curriculum and Experience

Benefits

Relocation Assistance

Full job description

Summary

This is a public notice flyer to notify interested applicants of anticipated vacancies. Applications will not be accepted through this flyer. Interested applicants must follow the directions in the "How to Apply" section of this flyer to be considered. There may or may not be actual vacancies filled from this flyer. Notice of Result letters will not be sent to applicants who respond to this flyer.

Duties

  • You will be responsible for system engineering, integration and test of the assigned program.
  • You will review and assess overall progress, and develop solutions for all technical, schedule, and cost problems that arise during the design, development, test and evaluation.
  • You will provide scientific, technical, and professional engineering guidance, and acquisition advice on all aspects of the assigned program area.
  • You will ensure that all quality requirements for the assigned program are implemented by the applicable segment of the Defense Contract Management Command and contractors.
  • You will plan, program, and budget for all aspects of design, development, and test and evaluation for the assigned program area.
  • You will plan and coordinate all related support for the assigned program area, taking into account the extremely complicated equipment, software, and documentation

Qualifications

In addition to the basic education requirement your resume must also demonstrate at least one year of specialized experience at or equivalent to the GS-13 grade level or NH-03 pay band in the Federal service or equivalent experience in the private or public sector. Specialized experience must demonstrate professional engineering experience directing the full systems engineering life cycle from design through production for integrated strategic weapons systems, experimental payloads, including developing DoD test/evaluation programs, and managing major program plans, contracts, and budgets. Additional qualification information can be found from the following Office of Personnel Management website: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/0800/files/all-professional-engineering-positions-0800.pdf and https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/#url=Group-Standards Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., professional, philanthropic, religious, spiritual, community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment.

Education

Applicants must meet the following basic education requirements of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualifications Standards Manual: Basic Requirements: A. Degree: Engineering. To be acceptable, the program must:(1) lead to a bachelor's degree in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by ABET; or (2) include differential and integral calculus and courses (more advanced than first-year physics and chemistry) in five of the following seven areas of engineering science or physics: (a) statics, dynamics; (b) strength of materials (stress-strain relationships); (c) fluid mechanics, hydraulics; (d) thermodynamics; (e) electrical fields and circuits; (f) nature and properties of materials (relating particle and aggregate structure to properties); and (g) any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, soil mechanics, or electronics. OR B. Combination of education and experience -- college-level education, training, and/or technical experience that furnished (1) a thorough knowledge of the physical and mathematical sciences underlying engineering, and (2) a good understanding, both theoretical and practical, of the engineering sciences and techniques and their applications to one of the branches of engineering. The adequacy of such background must be demonstrated by one of the following:1. Professional registration or licensure -- Current registration as an Engineer Intern (EI), Engineer in Training (EIT)1, or licensure as a Professional Engineer (PE) by any State, the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico. Absent other means of qualifying under this standard, those applicants who achieved such registration by means other than written test (e.g., State grandfather or eminence provisions) are eligible only for positions that are within or closely related to the specialty field of their registration. For example, an applicant who attains registration through a State Board's eminence provision as a manufacturing engineer typically would be rated eligible only for manufacturing engineering positions. 2. Written Test -- Evidence of having successfully passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE)2 examination or any other written test required for professional registration by an engineering licensure board in the various States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico. 3. Specified academic courses -- Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences and that included the courses specified in the basic requirements under paragraph A. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of an engineering program as described in paragraph A. 4. Related curriculum -- Successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in an appropriate scientific field, e.g., engineering technology, physics, chemistry, architecture, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, or geology, may be accepted in lieu of a bachelor's degree in engineering, provided the applicant has had at least 1 year of professional engineering experience acquired under professional engineering supervision and guidance. Ordinarily there should be either an established plan of intensive training to develop professional engineering competence, or several years of prior professional engineering-type experience, e.g., in interdisciplinary positions. How You Will Be Evaluated

In order to qualify for this position, your resume must provide sufficient experience and/or education, knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the duties of the specific position for which you are being considered. Resumes are restricted to no more than 2 pages. Illegible/unreadable resumes will not be considered. Your resume is the key means we have for evaluating your skills, knowledge, and abilities as they relate to this position. Therefore, we encourage you to be clear and specific when describing your experience. As vacancies occur, the Human Resources Office will review your resume to ensure you meet the hiring eligibility and qualification requirements listed in this flyer. You will be rated based on the information provided in your resume, along with your supporting documentation. If selected, you may be required to provide additional supporting documentation. If after reviewing your resume and supporting documentation, a determination is made that you inflated your qualifications and/or experience, you may be found ineligible/not qualified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment. All qualification requirements must be met before being considered for any vacancies. Other Information

This announcement uses the Acquisition Workforce Personnel Demonstration Project (AcqDemo) Business & Technical Management direct hire authority to recruit and appoint qualified candidates to certain positions in competitive service. This position is covered by the Department of Defense Priority Placement Program. Certain incentives (such as Recruitment, Relocation) may be authorized to eligible selectees. A relocation incentive is generally a single payment intended to offset some of the relocation costs experienced by the selectee. A relocation incentive may be authorized. Several vacancies may be filled. A tentative offer of employment will be rescinded if the selectee fails to meet the pre-employment requirements, including failure to report to any of the scheduled appointments. Federal annuitant information: The selection of an annuitant is subject to the Department of Defense and Department of the Navy policy on the employment of annuitants. Policy information may be found at: http://www.secnav.navy.mil/donhr/Documents/CivilianJobs/FedCivAnnuitants.pdf. Veteran's preference does not apply when selecting individuals under this specific hiring authority. However, if you claim veteran's preference, you will be required to submit supporting documentation with your application as described in the Required Documents section below.

How this job compares

Set against the 11,497 open Systems Engineer jobs on Olive Jobs, counted November 5, 2026.

Pay
  • This posting$144–197K/yr
  • Washington, D.C. median$140–195K/yr129 salary ranges
  • US median$116–190K/yr8,430 salary ranges

This range's midpoint, $171K, is close to the Washington, D.C. median midpoint ($168K) — in the middle half of Systems Engineer salary ranges in Washington, D.C..

Openings
Olive Jobs lists 176 open Systems Engineer jobs in Washington, D.C. and 11,497 across the US. 5% of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
Hiring the most in Washington, D.C.
Experience
This posting asks for at least 1 year of experience — less than three in four Systems Engineer postings that state a minimum ask for (median 5 years, across 9,601 postings).
Education
4,536 of the 11,497 open Systems Engineer jobs (39%) ask for a bachelor's degree or higher.

Counted across the open, public US postings on Olive Jobs on November 5, 2026. Pay medians are the middle values of the low ends and of the high ends of postings that list both ends of a range in the same cadence (a yearly salary or an hourly rate); a range's midpoint is halfway between its ends. Pay and experience figures resting on fewer than 20 postings are left out.

Prepare for this role

You've read the whole posting — now see how you match it.