Principal Systems Engineer

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MITRE’s Systems Engineering Analytics department is looking for qualified Systems Engineer applicants to support the National Geospatial Agency’s (NGA) Sensor Integration Program Management Office. This role will focus on reducing integration risk, align decisions across programs, and shape the long-term evolution of the ground enterprise. You will examine how changes to sensors, ground systems, data architectures, interfaces, or operational workflows affect performance throughout tasking, collection, processing, exploitation, and dissemination (TCPED).

The strongest candidates will combine technical depth with an enterprise perspective, intellectual curiosity, sound judgment, and the ability to bring structure and clarity to ambiguous, high-consequence national security challenges.

Roles & Responsibilities:

The successful candidate for this position will serve as an independent, objective, and vendor-neutral technical advisor on complex mission and enterprise-integration challenges across the TCPED flow. The candidate will collaborate with acquisition, architecture, research, analysis, engineering, operations, government and industry stakeholders to:

• Frame complex or ambiguous mission and systems-engineering problems that span multiple programs, systems, and TCPED functions.

• Assess mission needs, operational concepts, architectures, interfaces, data flows, and technical alternatives across end-to-end mission threads.

• Identify capability gaps, cross-program dependencies, interoperability constraints, technical risks, and opportunities to improve enterprise mission performance.

• Translate technical and mission analysis into clear, evidence-based recommendations, decision options, and capability roadmaps for government leaders.

Basic Qualifications:

• Typically requires a minimum of 10 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree; or 8 years and a Master’s degree; or a PhD with 5 years’ experience; or equivalent combination of related education and work experience.

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Information Systems, or related field with 10 years of relevant experience.

• Ability to rapidly understand unfamiliar mission problems and translate them into technical approaches

• Strong systems thinking and analytical problem-solving skills

• Experience integrating commercial, government, and open-source technologies to solve operational problems

• Ability to analyze complex technical information and communicate findings and recommendations clearly to technical and non-technical audiences

• Strong written and verbal communication skills

• Experience collaborating with multidisciplinary teams and stakeholders

• Demonstrated experience applying systems engineering, mission engineering, or enterprise engineering to complex systems-of-systems, including architecture development, requirements and interface definition, interoperability analysis, integration planning, and performance verification.

• Experience analyzing end-to-end remote-sensing or imagery mission threads across TCPED, including tracing operational needs to system capabilities, interfaces, data flows, measures of effectiveness, and enterprise architecture priorities.

• Demonstrated ability to frame ambiguous, cross-cutting mission problems and independently assess mission concepts, architectures, and technical alternatives. This includes evaluating capability gaps, cross-program dependencies, technology maturity, integration risks, and lifecycle or transition impacts to develop evidence-based recommendations that inform enterprise evolution, capability roadmaps, and government decisions.

• Demonstrated ability to serve as an objective, vendor-neutral technical advisor; communicate complex findings to technical and senior leadership audiences; and build alignment among IC, DoW, operational, acquisition, research, analysis, engineering and industry stakeholders.

• Ability and willingness to successfully complete a CI polygraph within 12 months from the date of hire

• Must have an active Top Secret/SCI U.S Government issued Security Clearance and must be eligible to obtain and maintain a Top Secret/SCI/Polygraph U.S Government issued Security Clearance. Per the U.S. Government’s eligibility requirements, you must be a U.S Citizen to be considered for a security clearance.

• Must be eligible to obtain and maintain a Top Secret/SCI U.S Government issued Security Clearance.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in Computer Science, Systems Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Data Science, Information Systems, or related field with 8 years of relevant experience; PhD in Computer Science, Systems Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Data Science, Information Systems, or related field with 5 years of relevant experience.

• Active DoD Top Secret / SCI clearance with polygraph

• Direct experience with NGA missions and customer needs, imagery data products, and ground architecture and infrastructure.

• Experience leading independent architecture assessments, mission analyses, trade studies, modeling or simulation efforts, or cross-agency technical studies that evaluate integration and mission performance across multiple TCPED functions in GEOINT, national security, space, defense, or intelligence environment

• Ability to operate independently in a sponsor-facing environment with minimal supervision

This requisition requires the candidate to have a minimum of the following clearance(s):

Top Secret/SCI

This requisition requires the hired candidate to have or obtain, within one year from the date of hire, the following clearance(s):

Top Secret/SCI/Polygraph

Salary compensation range and midpoint:

$162,400 - $203,000 - $243,600 Annual

Work Location Type:

Onsite

Commitment to Non-Discrimination

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to disability, status as a protected veteran or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, local or international law.

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