Engineer Senior Principal - Systems - Mission Architect

Location: Broomfield, Colorado; Boulder, Colorado; Westminster, Colorado

Job Description

BAE Systems Space & Mission Systems (SMS) is seeking a visionary leader to serve as a cornerstone of our Mission Engineering team. This is not a traditional systems engineering role; it is a strategic mandate to define the future architectures and technological trajectories of our business.

As a Mission Architect, you will operate at the critical intersection of technical excellence and business growth. You will lead the conceptualization of cutting-edge systems from the earliest stages of proposal and study through to implementation and launch. If you are an independent, action-oriented architect who thrives on ambiguity and possesses the technical gravity to guide multidisciplinary teams toward high-impact solutions, we invite you to shape the future of our mission capabilities.

You will be responsible for translating complex customer needs into discriminating technical architectures, ensuring BAE Systems SMS remains the partner of choice for the most challenging missions in the space and defense domains.

The Engineering, Science and Analysis (ESA) Strategic Capabilities Unit comprises the technical talent and organizational leadership that enables the successful delivery of high-impact discriminating technologies for our customers’ missions. Our collaborative, cross-functional teams are committed to innovation, integrity, continual learning and strong execution.

• Architectural Vision & Strategy:
  • Conceptual Leadership: Lead the end-to-end program lifecycle, transforming abstract concepts into rigorous designs and actionable requirement sets.
  • Advanced Trade Analysis: Develop and execute sophisticated technical trade studies to define system architectures, balancing performance, risk, and cost to determine the optimal path forward.
  • Operational Design: Define the System Concept of Operations (CONOPS), ensuring that technical architectures are grounded in operational reality and mission success.
  • Future-Proofing: Stay at the vanguard of emerging trends in data analytics, modeling and simulation, and space architecture to ensure our technology roadmap remains competitive.
• Business Growth & Capture:
  • New Business Architecture: Partner with business development teams to architect the technical responses for new pursuits, ensuring our proposals are both innovative and executable.
  • IRAD & Tech Development: Contribute to the internal research and development (IRAD) pipeline, identifying the "gap" in current capabilities and designing the technologies to fill them.
  • Customer Stewardship: Cultivate and expand strategic relationships with customers, aligning their mission needs with the BAE Systems SMS technology roadmap during both the capture and execution phases.
• Technical Leadership & Mentorship:
  • Team Orchestration: Lead and organize multidisciplinary teams to hit critical milestones, providing the technical guidance and problem-solving expertise necessary to overcome complex bottlenecks.
  • Professional Stewardship: Mentor and coach the next generation of systems engineers, elevating the team's collective capability in mission architecture and systems thinking.
• Maintain a regular and predictable work schedule.
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships within the department, the Strategic Business Units, Strategic Capabilities Units and the Company. Interact appropriately with others in order to maintain a positive and productive work environment.
• Perform other duties as necessary.

On-Site Work Environment: This position requires regular in-person engagement by working on-site five days each normally scheduled week in the primary work location. Travel and local commute between company campuses and other possible non-company locations may be required.

• Work is performed in an office, laboratory, production floor, or cleanroom, outdoors or remote research environment.
• May occasionally work in production work centers where use of protective equipment and gear is required.
• May access other facilities in various weather conditions.

• Core Requirements:
  • BS degree or higher in Engineering or a related technical field is required plus 8 or more years related experience.
  • Each higher-level degree, i.e., Master’s Degree or Ph.D., may substitute for two years of experience. Related technical experience may be considered in lieu of education. Degree must be from a university, college, or school which is accredited by an agency recognized by the US Secretary of Education, US Department of Education.
  • A current, active Secret security clearance is required with the ability to obtain and maintain a Top Secret/SCI.
• Technical Mastery:
  • Systems Architecture: Proven expertise in the full systems engineering lifecycle, with a specific focus on Architecture Development, the execution of complex Trade Studies, and the definition of Concept of Operations (CONOPS).
  • MBSE Proficiency: Demonstrated experience utilizing Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) to design and validate complex system architectures.
  • Multi-Domain Expertise: Deep strategic understanding of mission sets and customer requirements across the Ground, Air, and Space domains.
• Strategic Leadership & Business Growth:
  • Capture & Proposal Leadership: Extensive experience in proposal development and delivery, with a proven ability to translate mission needs into winning technical architectures.
  • Technical Orchestration: A track record of leading and mentoring high-performing technical teams to achieve critical milestones in fast-paced, ambiguous environments.
  • Executive Communication: Exceptional ability to synthesize complex technical analysis into professional presentations for senior internal leadership and external government/industry customers.
  • Strategic Relationship Management: Ability to cultivate and maintain high-level relationships with customers, aligning their operational needs with corporate technology roadmaps.

• Academic Depth: An advanced degree (MS/PhD) in Physics or Mathematics, providing the theoretical foundation necessary for complex architectural challenges.
• Aerospace Mastery: A proven track record of working with aircraft, spacecraft, and the critical ground systems that support them.
• Specialized Knowledge: A solid technical background in electro-optics and photonics, enabling the design of next-generation sensing capabilities.
• Digital Engineering Proficiency: Expert-level skill in the MBSE ecosystem, specifically leveraging Cameo, SysML, Jama, and DOORS to create rigorous, scalable system models.