Senior Systems Engineer

SAIC is seeking a mid-level Senior Systems Engineer to support the Common Translator (CT), an embedded software module that acts as a translator between existing aircraft software and a new Identification, Friend or Foe (IFF) transponder located in Huntsville, AL.  In this role, you will lead and support systems engineering activities across the lifecycle of safety-critical avionics software developed under DO-178C (DAL C) objectives.

The ideal candidate will work closely with software and test engineers to translate operational and certification requirements into well-structured system and software requirements, architectures, interfaces, and verification strategies. This position is ideal for an engineer who thrives on rigorous requirements engineering, system architecture, and disciplined verification in a standards-driven aerospace environment.

The Senior Systems Engineer will be responsible for but not limited to the following duties: 

• Elicit, analyze, and document system-level and software-level requirements for transponder-based capabilities.
• Ensure requirements are clear, consistent, testable, and traceable to customer needs, standards, and DO-178C DAL C objectives.
• Decompose and allocate system requirements to software components and interfaces, maintaining end-to-end traceability from high-level requirements through design and test.
• Manage requirements baselines and changes, performing impact analyses on architecture, design, integration, and verification activities.
• Maintain requirements traceability matrices and support audits and reviews focused on requirements completeness and consistency.
• Develop and refine system and software architectures for CT configurations, including data interfaces, and integration with avionics systems.
• Define and maintain interface control documents (ICDs) and data models for integration with aircraft flight management systems, and other avionics subsystems.
• Collaborate with software engineers to ensure the architecture and requirements support performance, safety, configurability, and maintainability goals.
• Data analysis and testing in customer and/or 3rd-party labs (to include some travel)
• Apply DO-178C and related aerospace standards and guidance to systems engineering and requirements activities.
• Support the development of plans, standards, and guidelines (e.g., requirements standards, architecture guidelines) for CT-based solutions.
• Contribute to compliance evidence by producing and reviewing systems engineering and requirements artifacts required for audits and certification reviews.
• Define and maintain verification and validation strategies, including mapping of system and software requirements to test plans and procedures.
• Develop and review test plans, procedures, and cases, ensuring they provide adequate coverage of requirements and key operational scenarios.
• Support integration and system test activities, including anomaly investigation, root cause analysis, and requirements-focused corrective actions.
• Work closely with test engineers to evaluate test results, confirm requirement satisfaction, and improve test effectiveness and traceability.
• Participate in agile ceremonies (backlog refinement, sprint planning, daily standups, reviews, retrospectives) representing systems and requirements engineering concerns.
• Collaborate with software engineers, test engineers and customer stakeholders to refine features and ensure they meet operational needs and certification constraints.
• Lead or contribute to technical reviews (requirements reviews, architecture/design reviews, test readiness reviews) to ensure quality and compliance.
• Develop and maintain systems engineering documentation, including requirements specifications, architecture descriptions, ICDs, and verification reports.
• Ensure systems engineering and requirements artifacts are properly baselined, controlled, and integrated with configuration management tools and processes.
• Identify opportunities to improve requirements management, architecture practices, and verification workflows, and help implement process and tool enhancements.
• Support customer interactions and technical presentations, clearly communicating requirements rationale, system capabilities, constraints, and trade-offs.

Required Education:

• Bachelor's degree and five (5) years’ experience; additional four (4) years’ experience can be considered in lieu of degree.

Required Clearance:

• Must possess an active Secret security clearance with the ability to maintain; US Citizenship required.

Required Skills:

• Experience in requirements engineering: elicitation, analysis, decomposition, allocation, baselining, and traceability.
• Experience developing system and software architectures, defining interfaces, and working with multidisciplinary teams to realize designs.
• Experience collaborating closely with software engineering teams; ability to understand and discuss software design and implementation trade-offs in the context of requirements.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including the ability to perform impact analyses and resolve complex integration and requirement issues.
• Proficiency with requirements management practices and tools (e.g., traceability matrices, baseline control, change management).
• Clear written and verbal communication skills, with experience producing technical documentation and participating in formal reviews.

Desired Skills:

• Familiarity with DO-178B/C concepts and the role of systems engineering and requirements management in safety-critical software development and certification.
• Experience in aerospace, avionics, or other safety-critical domains (e.g., flight displays, flight management systems, or navigation/mission systems).
• Knowledge and experience of MIL-STD-1553 databuses, including bus monitoring and analysis.
• Experience in development and use of Interface Control Documents (ICDs), particularly related to MIL-STD-1553.
• Hands-on experience with requirements management tools, preferably IBM Engineering Requirements Management DOORS (DOORS Classic or DOORS Next Generation).
• Prior experience mentoring engineers or acting as a technical lead for systems and requirements engineering activities.