Principal Systems Engineer – KC-135 PSE (Onsite)

Date Posted:

2025-08-07

Country:

United States of America

Location:

HIA32: Cedar Rapids, IA 400 Collins Rd NE , Cedar Rapids, IA, 52498-0505 USA

Position Role Type:

Onsite

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:

None/Not Required

The KC-135 Stratotanker provides the core aerial refueling capability for the United States Air Force and has excelled in this role for more than 60 years. This unique asset enhances the Air Force's capability to accomplish its primary mission of global reach. It also provides aerial refueling support to the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and allied nation aircraft. The KC-135 is the backbone of the USAF refueling fleet and is scheduled to remain so for decades to come. 

We are looking for an established Principal Systems Engineering professional with a passion for engineering, a high degree of accountability and the ability to thrive in an Agile team environment as a part of the KC-135 Platform Systems team in the Military Avionics & Helicopters engineering organization. 

What You Will Do:

• Provide technical leadership through all phases of the system development lifecycle including requirements capture, system design and modeling, integrating with hardware and software components, system validation and verification 
• Support planning, execution and documenting of test events in a simulated lab environment 
• Support internal and external stakeholders in ground and aircraft test activities  
• Provide leadership in planning increments and sprints for the Agile roadmap alongside program leadership 
• Assist in the collaboration of cross-functional teams to coordinate and work with other domains and departments to realize a functional system 
• Work with external customers to document operational scenarios, develop system requirements, define system interfaces, and perform system validation testing 
• Serve as a subject matter expert for pursuit activities, internal design reviews and external customer reviews 
• Help manage the scope for moderately sized system development activities 
• Identify and implement process, system, and product improvements to enhance performance and improve efficiency 
• Willingness to travel (domestically and globally <10%).

What You Will Learn:

• Deepen your understanding of aircraft systems engineering, gaining insights into advanced integration and development processes    

• Enhance your leadership skills, directing critical test operations and influencing major project outcomes    

• Expand your professional network, working alongside avionics experts and customers  

• You will have the unique opportunity to build customer relationships with the KC-135 customer   

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.
• 5+ years in a current or previous systems role.
• Experience with testing in a systems role.
• Experience with Agile principles.
• Ability to obtain a US Department of Defense (DoD) SECRET security clearance after day 1.

Qualifications We Prefer:

• Experience with various engineering tools including TNT, DOORS/JAMA, JIRA, PREP, Microsoft, SVN and others is desired 
• Working knowledge / understanding of data buses and protocols (Ethernet, MIL-STD-1553B, and ARINC-429) 
• Strong continuous improvement skills and customer focus 
• Familiarity with US export regulations: International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and Export Administration Regulations (EAR) 
• Experience with Model-Based Design (MBD)/Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) tools (Cameo Enterprise Architecture (SysML specifically)) 
• Collaboration with cross-functional teams to gather necessary information and data for reports and presentations 
• Earned Value Management / Cost Account Management experience 
• Experience coordinating the development of technical proposals and cost estimates during the bid and proposal phase 
• Strong technical, analytical, and problem-solving skills 

What We Offer:

Benefits:

Some of our competitive benefits package includes:   

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance  
• Three weeks of vacation for newly hired employees