Air to Ground Systems Engineer

Systems Engineer Location: Baltimore, Maryland (Onsite) Duration: Long Term contract Clearance: Must be eligible to obtain & maintain DOD Secret / or TS Clearance Experience leading systems engineering efforts for radar or RF sensor systems. Understanding of Air-to-Ground radar modes and radar performance. Experience with: Requirements development and decomposition System architecture Modeling and simulation Integration and Test (I&T) Verification and Validation (V&V) Experience leading cross-functional engineering teams. Ability to troubleshoot and resolve system-level issues spanning hardware and software. Preferred Experience Airborne radar programs. Lead Systems Engineer or IPT Lead experience. MBSE (Model Based Systems Engineering). Cameo / MagicDraw / DOORS. Radar modernization programs. Technology roadmap development. R&D programs involving RF sensors. Military aircraft, ISR, targeting, surveillance, or strike platforms. Key Responsibilities Lead the development of radar system architectures for air-to-ground missions, ensuring alignment with platform and mission needs. Define and partition system-level requirements, performance budgets, and interfaces across RF, processing, software, and platform teams. Direct and review trade studies on waveforms, antenna design, processing architectures, and mission scenarios. Lead radar performance modeling and simulation, including link budgets, coverage, detection/tracking performance, and clutter analysis. Guide the development and evaluation of Air-to-Ground concepts and algorithms from a systems perspective. Define verification strategies and test architectures from lab through flight test for new radar capabilities. Oversee integration and test campaigns, including planning, execution oversight, data analysis, and discrepancy resolution. Drive root cause investigations and corrective actions for complex system-level issues. Represent the radar system engineering team in technical reviews and risk/issue boards. Interface with customers to present technical approaches, performance results, and roadmaps. Support business development, including capture strategy, concept development, and proposal technical volumes. Mentor early and mid-career engineers in radar systems engineering best practices. Required Qualifications Must be willing and able to obtain a DOD Secret clearance and Special Access Program (SAP) Access before starting program work. Education: A Bachelor's degree with 12 years of experience, a Master's degree with 10 years of experience, or a Ph.D. with 8 years of experience in Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM). An additional 4 years of experience may be considered in lieu of a degree. Experience: Experience leading systems engineering for radar or advanced RF sensor systems, including requirements, architecture, modeling, and integration/test. A comprehensive understanding of air-to-ground radar modes and performance is required. Candidates must have experience leading complex technical efforts and resolving system-level issues across hardware and software boundaries. Technical Skills: Experience with radar modeling and analysis tools such as MATLAB or Python. Proficiency in programming languages like C/C++ or shell scripting (Bash, C shell) is necessary. Experience in simulations of RF or related systems and working with digital signal processing is also required. Strong communication and leadership skills are essential. Preferred Qualifications An Active DOD Secret Clearance is highly preferred An advanced degree (MS or PhD) in a relevant STEM field with an emphasis on radar, RF systems, or signal processing. Experience as a lead systems engineer or IPT lead on an airborne radar development or major upgrade program. Familiarity with MBSE approaches and tools to manage complex architectures and requirements. Experience shaping technology roadmaps and R&D efforts in radar or advanced sensors.