Innovation Strategic Initiatives/Senior Principal Systems Engineer

Date Posted:

2026-03-17

Country:

United States of America

Location:

US-CA-REMOTE

Position Role Type:

Remote

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

U.S. citizenship is required, as only U.S. citizens are authorized to access information under this program/contract.

Security Clearance Type:

None/Not Required

Security Clearance Status:

Not Required

At Raytheon, the foundation of everything we do is rooted in our values and a higher calling to help our nation and allies defend freedoms and deter aggression. We bring the strength of more than 100 years of experience and renowned engineering expertise to meet the needs of today’s mission and stay ahead of tomorrow’s threat. Our team solves tough, meaningful problems that create a safer, more secure world.

Raytheon’s Technology organization is seeking a passionate and experienced Principal Systems Engineer to perform in the role of Principal System Engineer - Innovation Strategic Initiatives. This role applies systems engineering discipline to emerging concepts to transform high-level ideas towards technically credible approaches, prototypes, and demonstrations. This role serves as a technical catalyst for internal innovators, partnering with idea authors to refine concepts, strengthen technical approaches, and guide projects through early maturation towards successful internal transition pathways.

The selected candidate will work across engineering disciplines to define problem spaces, shape solution architectures, and guide early technical development activities. By applying systems thinking and engineering rigor early in the innovation lifecycle this role helps move promising concepts into viable capabilities ready for internal transition pathways. As a technical lead the candidate will mentor innovators, facilitate technical requirements decomposition, and support the maturation of conceptions from ideation to proof-of-concept opportunities.

What You Will Do

• Apply systems engineering principles to accelerate early-stage innovation projects by partnering directly with innovators to refine technical concepts, clarify problem statements, and strengthen solution approaches.

• Decompose mission need and capability gaps into well-defined engineering problems that can be addressed through targeted technical efforts, prototypes, or demonstrations.

• Guide innovators in translating high-level concepts of operations into feasible innovation approaches and towards early protypes, demonstrations, models or simulations.

• Coach and mentor idea authors as they mature concepts into executable R&D efforts.

• Provide systems engineering oversight during early innovation maturation activities to drive technical rigor in areas such as requirements and idea risk reduction.

• Participate in technical reviews to assess feasibility, maturity, and mission relevance of employee submitted ideas.

• Support transition planning with idea owners to help ensure innovations demonstrate sufficient technical credibility for alignment with follow on opportunities.

• Maintain awareness of the enterprise R&D landscape, connecting idea authors with existing SMEs, labs, and resources to avoid reinventing the wheel.

• Build relationships with internal and external stakeholders to support a strong culture of innovation.

Qualifications You Must Have  

• Typically requires a degree in Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) and a minimum of 10 years of prior relevant experience

• Experience as a Principal Investigator (PI), Technical Lead, Systems Architect or System Design.

• Experience using standard data languages and tools (Python, R, Excel VBA, PowerBI, etc.)

• Experience writing and reviewing technical scoping documentation such as Concept of Operations (CONOPS), requirements documents, unit tests, and/or readiness review packages.

Qualifications We Prefer

• Advanced degree in Engineering, Technology Management, or STEM

• Experience with "Challenge Driven Innovation" methodologies.

• Experience with innovation management platforms: QMarkets, Ideanote, Brightidea, Itonics, Wazoku and/or IdeaScale  

• Experience translating business needs into specific, actionable technical initiatives or innovation campaigns.

• Experience leading innovation-focused workshops, hackathons, or ideation challenges.

• Experience with agile hardware or software prototyping (e.g., 3D printing/additive manufacturing, agile software methods, MVP software development)

•  Experience with gras