Principal Engineer - IV

About the role

Join a leading Defense Manufacturing Company as a Direct Hire Principal Controls Engineer to support Control Development and Implementation for Weapon Systems and Combat Vehicle systems. This highly technical, hands-on role involves the design, development, implementation, and validation of embedded control systems for defense applications. You will work across the full lifecycle, from modeling and algorithm development to hardware integration and vehicle-level deployment.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop control algorithms using classic and modern control techniques, including stability, robustness, and performance analysis.
• Tune multi-loop and multi-axis control architectures and deploy algorithms using Simulink and embedded C/C++ environments.
• Validate control strategies through SIL, HIL, bench, and vehicle testing.
• Support system commissioning, calibration, and field troubleshooting.
• Develop state-space and frequency-domain models of electromechanical, hydraulic, and vehicle systems using physical modeling and system identification methods.
• Identify performance metrics and system specifications from model results and validate models against test data.
• Use models to develop and test controls algorithms.
• Support the design, selection, and integration of electronic components and communicate mechanical requirements to design staff.
• Identify controller hardware to meet I/O and computational requirements.
• Troubleshoot and resolve system and electrical issues.

Requirements

• MS or PhD in Automotive, Mechanical, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or Mechatronic Systems.
• 8+ years of engineering experience.

Skills

• Control system modeling and simulation in MATLAB, Simulink, and Stateflow.
• Classical control techniques: PID, lead-lag compensation, loop shaping, root locus design, feedforward control, and cascaded loop architectures.
• Modern control techniques: state-space modeling, LQR/LQG, Kalman Filtering, Model Predictive Control (MPC), robust control, and MIMO system design.
• Numerical optimization methods for parameter fitting and control tuning.
• Embedded Model-Based Development tools (Simulink/Stateflow Coder, MotoHawk, Raptor, OpenECU, dSPACE).
• Embedded software in C/C++ on microcontrollers, Linux, or RTOS-based platforms.
• Expertise in weapon systems, combat vehicle engineering, fire control systems, turrets, and ammo handling systems.
• Knowledge of MIL Standards (MIL-STD-498, MIL-STD-461, MIL-STD-882E, DO-178C, DO-254).
• Experience delivering defense software CDRLs.
• Networking protocols and standards (Ethernet, TCP/IP, UDP, EtherCAT, DDS, TSN).
• Automotive protocols (CAN, LIN, J1939, XCP/CCP) and tools (Vector, Kvaser, INCA).
• Actuator controls (motors, valves) and by-wire design.
• Electric and hybrid vehicle architecture.
• Vehicle/system-level simulation (ADAMS, Dymola, CarSim/TruckSim, FMI/FMU).
• Vehicle and system troubleshooting experience.
• Electrical/mechanical/hydraulic/pneumatic system design and simulation.
• Data acquisition hardware and software experience.
• Must meet requirements for obtaining US Government clearance.

Benefits

At Net2Source, we build careers, not just jobs. We offer work-life balance, professional growth, and a collaborative culture where your ideas matter. We champion leadership at all levels and celebrate diverse perspectives, empowering you to make an impact.