Principal Systems Engineer

LinQuest is seeking an experienced, customer service-oriented Principal Systems Engineer to join our team at Los Angeles Air Force Base in El Segundo, California.

The candidate selected for this position will support the United States Space Force (USSF) Space Systems Command (SSC) Space Domain Awareness and Combat Power (SDA & CP) Delta's Innovation Development Branch (SSC/SZII). We seek a candidate with a strong systems engineering and project management background to work alongside U.S. Space Force officers, Government civilians, and other stakeholders to provide space systems acquisition support to the dynamic programs, projects, and payloads under the development and management of the overarching Innovation & Prototyping Directorate. Position responsibilities include providing acquisition and engineering services for a variety of unique prototype space systems and space vehicle development activities and supporting the organization’s vision to innovate, acquire, launch, and deploy systems having an immediate positive impact on our nation’s space capabilities.

Responsibilities:

• Work in an assigned customer location during core business hours (Monday – Friday, 8 am - 4 pm)
• Provide expertise and advice to Government Program Managers, Project Managers, Mission Managers, and other senior USSF personnel on acquisition strategies, contracting, project execution, budgeting, and scheduling
• Provide general and technical engineering support for the development of space vehicles, payloads, and related space systems
• Apply DoD systems engineering, management policies, and principles to assigned projects
• Develop and coordinate planning and implementation documents (e.g., RFPs, SOWs, CDRLs, Technical Evaluations, etc.) as prescribed by or tailored from relevant DoD, USSF, and SSC policies
• Provide technical and programmatic assessments of contractor designs and milestone reviews to assess progress, evaluate risks, issues, and opportunities, and to fulfill mission requirements
• Attend and contribute to program and project management meetings and collaboration sessions
• Facilitate communication and prepare/update plans of action and milestones (PoAMs)
• Lead problem documentation and problem-solving efforts
• Provide status reports including updates on contract and program performance, major activities, challenges, deliverables, and subcontractor performance
• Develop productive relationships with Prime/Subcontractor counterparts, functional counterparts, and other subject matter experts (SMEs)
• Author, review, and coordinate documents and data to aid Government decision-making
• Actively participate and represent the customer in various Government and contractor meetings; attend program and technical reviews (e.g., PMRs, PDRs, CDRs, and other milestone and coordination meetings) to provide technical and programmatic system recommendations and risk assessments
• Travel is required (up to 25% a month at times but generally significantly less) 

 

Required Skills:

• B.S. in Engineering
• Twenty or more years of applicable engineering experience
• Able to effectively interact, support, and coordinate daily with leaders and stakeholders including Program Managers, Project Managers, Mission Managers, Action Officers, external organizations, and engineering peers
• Able to effectively coordinate and accomplish support tasks for Government Program Management Offices (PMOs) and integrated product teams
• Able to identify risks, issues, and interdependencies between stakeholders, system elements, contracts, and agreements
• Able to skillfully interface with all levels of technical and functional organizations
• Excellent communication skills, customer relationship skills, organizational skills, and technical proficiencies
• Able to develop and brief analyses and data packages to decision-makers which provide clear recommendations and course of action choices
• Proficiency in MS Office products, MS Teams, and other collaborative tools
• An active TS/SCI Security Clearance is required to be considered for this position

 

 Preferred Experience: 

• Previous DoD, Air Force, or Space Force, or Space Systems Command (SSC) systems engineering experience is preferred

 

Compensation: 

• The salary for this position ranges from approximately $165,000 to $175,000 depending on relevant experience and qualifications

 

Why LinQuest?

LinQuest Corporation has a stellar 40-year track record of providing end-to-end system-of-systems (SoS) architecture definition, engineering design, integration and test, and operations experti