Principal Systems Engineer - Software
We’re ALTEN Technology USA, an engineering company helping clients bring groundbreaking ideas to life—from advancing space exploration and life-saving medical devices to building autonomous electric vehicles. With 3,000+ experts across North America, we partner with leading companies in aerospace, medical devices, robotics, automotive, commercial vehicles, EVs, rail, and more.
As part of the global ALTEN Group—57,000+ engineers in 30 countries—we deliver across the entire product development cycle, from consulting to full project outsourcing.
When you join ALTEN Technology USA, you’ll collaborate on some of the world’s toughest engineering challenges, supported by mentorship, career growth opportunities, and comprehensive benefits. We take pride in fostering a culture where employees feel valued, supported, and inspired to grow.
As Senior Principal Systems Engineer you will be responsible for;
- Lead the design, development, and analysis of advanced satellite and aerospace systems across the full engineering lifecycle, including requirements definition, validation, verification, and operational planning.
- Drive system‑level requirements development, decomposition, and flow‑down to subsystems and components, ensuring technical clarity and completeness.
- Conduct high‑level architecture and concept trade studies to guide detailed design decisions and mission‑level system optimization.
- Develop verification plans, traceability matrices, test strategies, and analysis plans to confirm system compliance with mission and performance requirements.
- Ensure engineering standards and systems processes are properly implemented across internal teams and the supplier network, including maintenance of requirements traces and RVTMs.
- Collaborate extensively with cross‑functional technical groups and external stakeholders to ensure accurate communication of system needs, interfaces, and constraints.
- Guide subsystem teams in applying design‑for‑cost, design‑for‑manufacturing, and design‑for‑test principles throughout the development lifecycle.
- Identify opportunities for reuse of existing heritage designs and determine when modifications are required for new missions or architectures.
- Oversee multiple design or development workstreams simultaneously, including spacecraft bus, payloads, avionics, and launch integration activities.
- Support long‑term product roadmap planning, including system customization approaches, cost‑targeting, and design evolution for future mission opportunities.
- Promote cost efficiency and process optimization through reuse of heritage platforms, manufacturing processes, and engineering infrastructure.
Qualifications;
- Bachelor’s degree in a STEM field; Master’s degree preferred.
- 18–20+ years of experience working with complex aerospace hardware or software systems across concept development, design, manufacturing, integration, testing, deployment, and operations.
- Demonstrated success leading multi‑disciplinary engineering teams on complex technical challenges.
- Strong background in systems architecture, requirements development, decomposition, and verification/validation practices.
- Familiarity with space mission architecture elements such as launch operations, flight operations, mission CONOPS, and user interface requirements.
- Experience using requirements management tools and developing verification and traceability documentation.
- Experience in specialty engineering disciplines (e.g., reliability, safety, maintainability, survivability, system security, certification, human systems integration).
- U.S. citizenship required; ability to obtain and maintain a government security clearance.
Salary Range: $150,000 - $190,000
The actual salary offered is dependent on various factors including, but not limited to, location, the candidate’s combination of job-related knowledge, qualifications, skills, education, training, and experience
Note: Due to the nature of the work, only US Persons (citizens or permanent residents) need apply for this position.
ALTEN Technology is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Our Policy is to extend opportunities to qualified applicants and employees on an equal basis regardless of an individual’s age, race, color, sex, religion, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression or veteran status.
Please beware of job seeker scams and see this important notice on our careers page for more information about our recruiting process.
Compliance Notice: Alten USA is a federal contractor subject to the requirements of the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) and Executive Order 11246. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.
Drug Screening Requirement: As a federal contractor, Alten USA maintains a drug-free workplace. All candidates selected for employment will be required to successfully complete a pre-employment drug screening as a condition of hire.
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