Ground Systems Engineer

The National Systems Group serves as the technical advisor to the Intelligence Community and its mission partners involved in the collection and distribution of national and tactical intelligence, including electronics programs, advanced technologies, ground and communications, imagery programs, and systems engineering and launch.

We are seeking a Ground Systems Engineer (Senior Project Engineer - Systems Software Engineering and Cloud Computing Architecture) to be part of the National Reconnaissance Office’s Ground Enterprise Directorate (GED) Chief Architect’s Office. GED Chief Architect develops and provides NRO’s ground strategies and priorities guiding development of ground capabilities directly supporting NRO constellations through evolution of systems to a fully integrated and resilient enterprise. In this position, you will be contributing to the development of the US Government’s next-generation Ground systems architecture, more specifically acting as senior technical authority, consultant, primary investigator, or team leader of ground and enterprise architectures to facilitate the evolution of NRO ground capabilities to meet the needs of the future.

Work Model

This is a full-time position based in Chantilly, VA, which requires 100% onsite work.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Partner with the US Government in developing ground mission management, mission processing, resiliency and software test architecting solutions for the GED Chief Architect and entire directorate
• Supporting end-to-end mission closure and satisfaction for existing, new and emerging NRO collection and ground architectures, with the aim of deploying them within a commercial cloud and hybrid-cloud environments
• Identifying risks and proposing solutions across both NRO offices and IC/DoD elements to solve hard mission integration challenges for future systems with an emphasis on tactical Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) requirements
• Proactively identify new technologies and commercially available capabilities for integration into the framework
• Provide technical support and contribution to teams comprised of diversely skilled engineers servicing a major portion of a large project to help guide next-generation NRO ground and enterprise architecture development
• Coordinate with enterprise stakeholders to ensure that user needs are properly understood and satisfied
• Coordinate across Aerospace to use existing areas of expertise and increase internal efficiencies
• Work with teams of Aerospace subject matter experts in analyzing new technologies, integrating new systems and sensors, and delivering a resilient, responsive ground and enterprise architecture

What You Need to be Successful

Minimum Requirements for the Senior Project Engineer - Systems Software Engineering and Cloud Computing Architecture

• Bachelor's degree in an engineering, scientific, or related field.
• Space experience (satellite ground development, acquisition, and/or operations)
• Cloud experience (deployment, migration, single vs multi-cloud, and/or operations)
• 10 or more years of professional engineering/scientific/program management experience.
• Willing to travel domestically approx. 25% of the time
• This position requires a current and active TS/SSBI/SCI security clearance and polygraph, which is issued by the US Government. U.S. citizenship is required to obtain a security clearance.

How You Can Stand Out

It would be impressive if you have one or more of these:

• An advanced degree in an engineering, scientific, or related field.
• Experience or working knowledge in one or more of the following domains:
  • enterprise software acquisition/development,
  • multi-cloud and hybrid cloud architectures
  • mission management or mission processing systems for space systems,
  • constellation tasking and optimization,
  • geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) or signal intelligence (SIGINT),
  • US Government acquisitions
  • systems engineering, or
  • software development
• Experience designing and implementing complex, distributed cloud projects supporting DoD/IC users
• Ability to work in a highly dynamic Program Office environment with a mix of government, FFRDC, and SETA personnel
• Ability to pivot with changing customer priorities.
• Extensive knowledge of Intelligence Community or U.S. Department of Defense business practices, acquisition policies, or space mission portfolios.
• Strong teamwork and written and oral communication skills.

Leadership Competencies

Our leadership philosophy is simple: every employee, regardless of level and role, can demonstrate leadership. At Aerospace, our commitment is our people. To cultivate our talent and ensure that we have a strong pipeline of future leaders, we want individuals who:

• Operate Strategically
• Lead Change   
• Engage with Impact   
• Foster Innovation   
• Deliver Results  

Ways We Reward Our Employees

During your interview process, our team will provide details of our industry-leading benefits.

Benefits vary and are applicable based on Job Type.  A few highlights include:

• Comprehensive health care and wellness plans
• Paid holidays, sick time, and vacation
• Standard and alternate work schedules, including telework options
• 401(k) Plan — Employees receive a total company-paid benefit of 8%, 10%, or 12% of eligible compensation based on years of service and matching contributions; employees are immediately eligible and vested in the plan upon hire
• Flexible spending accounts
• Variable pay program for exceptional contributions
• Relocation assistance
• Professional growth and development programs to help advance your career
• Education assistance programs
• An inclusive work environment built on teamwork, flexibility, and respect

We are all unique, from diverse backgrounds and all walks of life, yet one thing bonds all of us to each other—the belief that we can make a difference. This core belief empowers us to do our best work at The Aerospace Corporation.

Equal Opportunity Commitment

The Aerospace Corporation is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. We believe that a diverse workforce creates an environment in which unique ideas are developed and differing perspectives are valued, producing superior customer solutions. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, age, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, color, religion, genetic information, marital status, ancestry, national origin, protected veteran status, physical disability, medical condition, mental disability, or disability status and any other characteristic protected by state or federal law. If you’re an individual with a disability or a disabled veteran who needs assistance using our online job search and application tools or need reasonable accommodation to complete the job application process, please contact us by phone at 310.336.5432 or by email at ieo.mailbox@aero.org. You can also review Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal, as well as the Pay Transparency Policy Statement.