Senior Systems Engineer

Overview

SENIOR SYSTEMS ENGINEER (AT):

The Bowhead Advanced Technology team is seeking a Senior Systems Engineer to serve as the Systems Engineering Lead for a warhead prototyping and development team supporting the Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Division, Energetic Systems Division located in Indian Head, MD. This technical leadership role guides systems engineering activities across development, integration, testing, and transition to production in support of Navy acquisition and fleet deployment priorities.

Position Overview:

The Senior Systems Engineer will lead systems engineering planning, requirements verification, and technical coordination across government and industry partners. This position serves as the primary systems engineering interface with the Program Office, external stakeholders, and Technical Area Experts in torpedoes and energetics. The selected engineer will maintain a long-range outlook for testing and production, align verification evidence with acquisition milestones, and adapt engineering priorities to evolving program demands and fleet deployment needs.

Responsibilities

- Lead systems engineering activities across warhead prototyping, development, integration, and test, coordinating multidisciplinary teams from requirements definition through production readiness.

- Serve as the principal systems engineering liaison with the Program Office, external stakeholders, and Technical Area Experts in torpedoes and energetics; resolve technical issues and drive decisions and actions to closure.

- Develop and maintain long-range test, evaluation, and production schedules, identifying dependencies, resource constraints, lead times, and risks to acquisition milestones and fleet delivery commitments.

- Lead requirements development, decomposition, allocation, and traceability; establish verification methods and coordinate objective evidence demonstrating requirements compliance in support of acquisition milestones.

- Prepare engineering documentation and decision packages; support Systems Requirements Reviews, Preliminary and Critical Design Reviews, test and production readiness reviews, and acquisition decision points.

- Coordinate engineering, test, manufacturing, and quality activities; maintain interface alignment, configuration control, and visibility into the technical and schedule effects of proposed changes.

- Communicate complex technical information clearly through briefings, written assessments, and recommendations tailored to technical experts, program leadership, and external stakeholders.

- Identify and manage technical and programmatic risks; recommend mitigation strategies, communicate emerging issues early, and track corrective actions through closure.

Qualifications

- Ten (10+) years of systems engineering experience supporting complex defense systems, including leadership of multidisciplinary technical activities.

- Bachelor’s degree in Systems Engineering or a related engineering or technical discipline.

- Demonstrated experience with requirements management, traceability, verification planning, and technical evidence supporting DoD acquisition milestones.

- Proven ability to lead technical coordination across government customers, external stakeholders, and technical experts, resolve issues, and drive actions to completion.

- Experience developing and managing long-range technical, test, and production schedules and assessing the downstream effects of changing priorities.

- Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including experience briefing leadership and translating complex engineering issues into clear recommendations.

Preferred Qualifications:

- Experience supporting torpedo, undersea weapon, warhead, or energetics programs.

- Familiarity with Model-Based Systems Engineering, SysML, DOORS, or equivalent requirements management tools.

- Experience supporting rapid prototyping, transition to production, or fleet deployment.

- Master’s degree in a relevant technical discipline.

Physical Demand:

- Frequent walking, standing, and moving between workstations in the machine shop environment.

- Ability to lift and move materials or parts weighing up to 50 pounds.

- Regular exposure to noise, dust, and vibrations typical of a machine shop.

- Use of personal protective equipment (PPE) as required, including safety glasses, gloves, and hearing protection.

- Occasional bending, kneeling, and reaching to access materials or equipment.

Target salary range is between $150,000 - $170,000 commensurate with experience.

Please note that the salary information is a general guideline only. Bowhead considers factors such as (but not limited to) scope and responsibilities of the position, candidate’s work experience, education/training, key skills, internal peer equity, as well as, market and business considerations when extending an offer.

SECURITY CLEARANCE REQUIREMENTS: Must be able to maintain a security clearance at the Secret level. Candidates with Top Secret/SCI preferred. US Citizenship is a requirement for Secret clearance at this location.

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