Hardware Systems Architect / Systems Engineering Lead

The Space and Geophysics Laboratory (SGL) delivers capabilities to government customers for various applications, from real-time data-intensive network operations spanning geographically distributed sites to standalone remote field systems.

We are seeking a hardware systems architect to lead the design of mission-critical hardware systems and to manage the architecture for their ongoing evolution and update. They will serve as a technical leader within the laboratory in the areas of hardware systems architecture, real-time and streaming data paths, firmware-aware design, and distributed data-acquisition systems.

The work spans integrating COTS and custom equipment into racks of equipment that support specialized datacenter processing and remote GNSS data collection at sites around the world, the development of custom GNSS receivers that combine commercial servers with FPGAs and perform direct digitization of incoming RF signals for processing, and RF distribution, splitter, and switch designs.

As a key member of a team of engineers, you will be responsible for eliciting systems scope from stakeholders, guiding the development of requirements, translating requirements into systems designs, guiding the decomposition of those systems into components of actionable units of work, and advising all stakeholders throughout the life-cycle, from systems definition to implementation. This role is primarily a design and architecture role, with limited field-deployment travel.

Responsibilities

• Elicit system scope and requirements from stakeholders for use in systems designs;
• Lead the development and evaluation of the hardware systems architecture and design, including scope, requirements, components, interactions, and interfaces, and manage the architecture for the ongoing evolution and update of those systems;
• Communication of work process, products, and results, including documentation, written reports, and briefs presented to stake-holders;
• Participate in project planning and project decomposition into components and actionable units of work;
• Coordinate with and provide support to stakeholders throughout the life-cycle of the systems definition, design, implementation, integration, and deployment;
• Perform engineering estimates, guide project schedules, and identify dependencies;
• Conduct engineering evaluations, such as trade studies, reliability analysis, functional analysis, risk analysis assessments;
• Mentoring of junior engineering staff, technicians and students.
• Other related functions as assigned., The retirement plan for this position is Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS), subject to the position being at least 20 hours per week and at least 135 days in length., Employees may be required to report violations of law under Title IX and the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act). If this position is identified a Campus Security Authority (Clery Act), you will be notified and provided resources for reporting. Responsible employees under Title IX are defined and outlined in HOP-3031.

• Bachelor’s degree in science, applied science, or engineering
• Three years of relevant professional work experience.
• Demonstrated experience integrating hardware systems (e.g. COTS/custom equipment into racks, RF signal distribution/switching, or FPGA/digitizer-based data acquisition)
• Demonstrated experience designing hardware systems for fault tolerance, high availability, and operational continuity across multiple nodes or sites
• Experience in designing/maintaining formal APIs and Interface Specifications, including the hardware-software interfaces (e.g. register maps, memory-mapped or streaming data interfaces, device driver/control-plane contracts) that integrate hardware components into the broader system
• Demonstrated ability to design, develop, evaluate, and support the development of large and complex systems.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, including demonstrated ability to communicate technical detail to staff and stakeholders of varying backgrounds and experiences.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively, both independently and collaboratively, with a strong commitment to contribution and enabling the entire team.
• Demonstrated ability to make architectural decisions balancing performance, reliability, and operational complexity, * Post-graduate degree in systems engineering, engineering management, engineering mechanics, operations research, industrial engineering, electrical engineering, or related field;
• More than 12 years relevant professional work experience in the architecting and/or design of FPGA, RF, real-time, embedded, or distributed data-acquisition systems
• Immediate or previous eligibility to classified information.
• Specialized study, research, or work-experience with a specific emphasis on direct RF digitization, custom GNSS receiver front-ends, and/or RF distribution, splitter, and switch designs;
• Specialized study, research, or work-experience with real-time / streaming data, firmware, and distributed hardware systems, including high-speed data paths from digitizers/FPGAs to host systems (e.g. memory-mapped, DMA, or serial/fabric links), real-time data streams, and the transport interfaces that connect hardware to the broader system;
• Work experience specific to GNSS observation and navigation data, and/or GNSS data collection systems;
• Experience with multidisciplinary hardware integration such as sensor integration, precision leveling/pointing, or field metrology (e.g. systems combining optics/telescopes, GNSS, and gravimeters);
• Demonstrated experience using Jira or similar work-tracking and project-management tools;
• Experience with model-based systems engineering (MBSE) tools and techniques (experience with Structurizr is a plus);
• Cumulative GPA of 3.0

General Notes, A criminal history background check will be required for finalist(s) under consideration for this position., * E-Verify Poster (English and Spanish) [PDF]

• Right to Work Poster (English) [PDF]
• Right to Work Poster (Spanish) [PDF]

UT Austin offers a competitive benefits package that includes:

• 100% employer-paid basic medical coverage
• Retirement contributions
• Paid vacation and sick time
• Paid holidays, * Standard office conditions
• Repetitive use of a keyboard at a workstation
• Use of manual dexterity
• Some weekend, evening and holiday work
• Possible interstate/intrastate travel

The Clery Act requires all prospective employees be notified of the availability of the Annual Security and Fire Safety report. You may access the most recent report here or obtain a copy at University Compliance Services, 1616 Guadalupe Street, UTA 2.206, Austin, Texas 78701.