Advanced Programs Mission Management & Control Architect

Job Summary

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) is a leader in remotely piloted aircraft and tactical reconnaissance radars. The Advanced Programs group in San Diego, CA (Poway, CA) seeks a Mission Management & Control Architect to support their next-generation advanced UAS programs.

Responsibilities

• Lead the architecture and design of the UAS ground control segment, including fixed, mobile, and deployable GCS configurations.
• Define system-of-systems architecture linking airborne vehicles, payloads, datalinks, operators, and enterprise networks.
• Develop architectural artifacts including CONOPS, logical/physical architectures, interface control documents (ICDs), and trade studies.
• Establish modular, open-systems designs compliant with MOSA, OMS/UCI, FACE, and government interoperability frameworks.
• Drive partitioning between hardware, software, and network functions to meet performance, security, and growth objectives.
• Translate mission needs and operational CONOPS into technical requirements for the ground segment.
• Manage ground segment allocations for latency, bandwidth, reliability, cybersecurity, and human-machine interface (HMI).
• Lead cross-domain interface definition with air vehicle, payload, communications, and enterprise teams.
• Drive operator-centric GCS designs emphasizing usability, workload management, and mission effectiveness.
• Define crew station concepts, displays, controls, automation, and autonomy interfaces.
• Ensure compliance with human factors and safety standards.
• Lead integration of GCS hardware, mission software, simulators, and datalink interfaces.
• Support SIL/HIL labs, distributed test environments, and operational demonstrations.
• Define upgrade paths, spiral development strategies, and technology insertion plans.
• Serve as primary technical interface to customers, program leadership, and external partners for ground segment matters.
• Support proposals, technical reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR), and customer briefings.

Qualifications

• Typically requires a bachelors degree, masters degree or PhD in engineering or a related technical discipline from an accredited institution and progressive engineering experience as follows; 18 or more years of experience with a bachelors degree, 16 or more years of experience with a masters degree, or 13 or more years with a PhD.
• May substitute equivalent engineering experience in lieu of education.
• Degree in aerospace/aeronautical, electrical, mechanical, or systems engineering is highly desirable.
• Demonstrated experience architecting complex distributed systems or C4ISR platforms.
• Strong background in systems engineering and architecture frameworks (MBSE/SysML preferred).
• Experience with tactical datalinks, SATCOM, LOS/BLOS communications, and networked systems.
• Knowledge of government interoperability standards (e.g., OMS/UCI, FACE, STANAGs).
• Experience with cybersecurity architectures and RMF.
• Experience leading an engineering team or project.
• Must possess the ability to understand new concepts quickly and apply them accurately throughout an evolving environment.
• Must have excellent written, presentation, and verbal communication skills.
• Must be able to distill complex engineering topics into concise presentation materials, and present effectively to customers, internal stakeholders, and senior leadership.
• Must have a current DoD Secret clearance and a periodic reinvestigation, or an original adjudication date completed within the last 5 years.
• Able to obtain SAP access.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in engineering or technical management.
• Experience with autonomy frameworks and multi-vehicle operations.
• Familiarity with digital engineering environments and model-based acquisition.
• Experience designing expeditionary or mobile GCS solutions.
• Prior work on DoD or intelligence community programs.
• Background in safety-critical software and airworthiness considerations for control systems.