Principal Systems Engineer - Test Director (Onsite)

Date Posted:

2026-01-29

Country:

United States of America

Location:

US-VA-STERLING-291 ~ 22640 Davis Dr ~ DAVIS

Position Role Type:

Onsite

U.S. Citizen, U.S. Person, or Immigration Status Requirements:

Active and transferable U.S. government issued security clearance is required prior to start date.​ U.S. citizenship is required, as only U.S. citizens are eligible for a security clearance​

Security Clearance Type:

Secret - Current

Security Clearance Status:

Active and existing security clearance required on day 1

Principal Systems Engineer - Test Director (Onsite)

Our nation's security depends on the sacrifice of the men and women who defend our country. For them to do this effectively, they need the technology that keeps them a step ahead of their adversaries. This means providing secure yet technologically advanced equipment to our service personnel, fielded as quickly as possible. Our commitment is to do exactly that.

This position is for a Test Director to join the Simulations and Training Solutions team within the Mission Systems BU of Collins Aerospace. This role will help shape, define, and design training solutions that enable pilots to be prepared for real life scenarios and be effective and efficient in their missions.  As a Test Director within the STS group, you will design and develop verification and validation approaches to complex systems that are being built at various levels so as to test the software and also gain customer acceptance. 

We are looking for talented individuals that love to problem solve and have a desire to grow and gain exposure to new skills. Our customers come from all different backgrounds, and so do our employees. If you're passionate about what you could accomplish here, we'd love to hear from you.

What You Will Do:

• Understand the system architecture of training devices in order to design the verification and validation approach at all levels of the total system product including concept, design, fabrication, modeling, test, installation, operation, maintenance and disposal. 
• Perform functional analysis', trade studies, requirements allocation and interface definition studies to translate customer requirements into hardware and software specifications. 
• Provide analysis’ for the decomposition of customer specifications and system level requirements into sub-system and piece part requirements, and develops verification criteria and plans for the requirements 
• Perform technical planning, system integration, verification and validation, cost and risk, and supportability and effectiveness analyses for total system solutions.
• Perform bid and proposal efforts 

What You Will Learn:

• You will gain technical leadership experience, mentorship opportunities, and exposure to very influential individuals within Mission Systems that will help advance your career.
• You will obtain invaluable experience working with our subject matter experts , our customer base, and cross-functional integrated product team.
• You can take flight to becoming knowledgeable in security hardened products with exposure to the variety of business and products in an ever-evolving field. We are growing, so can you!

Qualifications You Must Have:

• Typically requires a degree in Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) and minimum 8 years prior relevant experience or an Advanced Degree in a related field and minimum 5 years of experience or in absence of a degree, 12 years of relevant experience
• Active and transferable U.S. government issued secret security clearance is required prior to start date
• Experience with the systems development process, including requirements capture, design, decomposition, integration, verification/validation, and transition to production. 

Qualifications We Prefer:

• Familiarity with the Scaled Agile framework 
• Exceptionally strong communication skills, experience presenting technical data to program management and executive leadership 
• Experienced with Embedded Systems and Digital Hardware architecture/design
• Experience with tools such as DOORS, CAMEO or similar
• Experience with Python

Do you want to be a part of something bigger? A team whose impact stretches across the world, and even beyond? At Collins Aerospace, our Mission Systems team helps civilian, military and government customers complete their most complex missions — whatever and wherever they may be. Our customers depend on us for intelligent and secure communications, missionized systems for specialized aircraft and spacecraft and collaborative space solu