> Markdown version of [/jobs/ext/3144092-principal-systems-engineer](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/jobs/ext/3144092-principal-systems-engineer). Every page supports `.md` or `Accept: text/markdown`. Links point to the HTML versions so they work for humans too. Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md).

---

# Principal Systems Engineer

- **Company:** MANTECH INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION
- **Location:** Chantilly, VA, United States (Remote available)
- **Experience:** Expert
- **Salary:** $140,000.0 - $200,000.0
- **Contract:** Permanent contract
- **Skills:** Algorithm Design, Altium Designer, Systems Engineering, Databases, SolidWorks (CAD), Firmware, Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), OSI Models, LTspice, Networking Basics, Requirements Management, Schematic Capture, Signal Processing, Signal Integrity, Simulink, Software Requirements Analysis, Verification and Validation (Software), Systems Architecture, System on a Chip, Pspice, Pcb Layout
- **Published:** September 29, 2026
- **Apply:** https://www.careerjet.com/job/usea10c5c3dfdd87747f3bf545a3d6c577/eaa

## About the Role

A bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline (electrical, computer, or mechanical preferred) and typically 12 or more years of related experience; an advanced degree may offset some of the experience requirement

 - A record of leading complex spaceflight or aerospace hardware through the full life cycle: concept, design, qualification, production, and delivery to the customer
 - Deep expertise in at least one engineering domain and enough fluency in the others to resolve cross-discipline problems
 - Practical command of systems engineering methods applied to real product development, not just process documentation
 - The judgment to work from high-level objectives with minimal direction
 - Clear written and verbal communication, including presenting technical positions to customers and executives
Nice to Have

 - Master's degree in a STEM field
 - Prior work on high-reliability or radiation-hardened electronics for space or similar survivability-driven applications
 - Software-defined system architecture experience
 - Board-level design background: schematic capture, PCB layout, high-speed digital, mixed-signal, and signal integrity analysis, with tools such as Altium, PSpice, LTspice, Keysight ADS, or SOLIDWORKS
 - FPGA and embedded hardware experience, including Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ or Versal devices and VPX (VITA 46, VITA 65) form factors
 - Signal processing or algorithm development
 - Modeling and requirements tooling such as MBSE, MATLAB Simulink, STK, or requirements management databases
 - Networking fundamentals and familiarity with the OSI model

## Description

Intrepidus Talent Solutions is an aerospace and defense executive search firm. On behalf of a client that builds flight electronics for national security and civil space missions, we are recruiting a Principal Systems Engineer to lead multidisciplinary development programs from concept through delivery.
The company designs radiation-tolerant electronic systems for harsh space environments and has a track record of getting hardware qualified and on orbit. Engineering rigor is the culture: formal design and peer reviews, disciplined baselines, and development processes scaled to the size of the program rather than imported from a large prime.
What You Will Do
You will be the senior technical voice on your programs. Reporting to the head of systems engineering, you will drive the technical approach, set and defend the baseline, and make sure trade studies, analysis, and verification actually close before hardware ships. You will work alongside program managers and chief engineers as the technical point of contact for the program, including in front of customers.

 - Lead engineers across electrical, mechanical, software, and firmware disciplines in developing RF, digital processing, and networking electronics for spaceflight, without formal direct reports
 - Run the systems engineering process for your programs: requirements definition and flow-down, trade studies and analysis, technical baseline control, and verification and validation through qualification
 - Plan and present internal and customer design reviews and serve as the program's technical representative to customers
 - Contribute to internal research and development planning and new product roadmaps
 - Support capture and proposal activity with technical approaches, estimates, and risk assessment
 - Balance performance, cost, schedule, and risk across programs and make the calls when they conflict
 - Help engineering leadership build capability across the organization through mentoring, process improvement, and hiring input
What You Bring


## Related Videos

- [Playing Pong on a shoulder press machine](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100140-playing-pong-on-a-shoulder-press-machine)
- [More efficient software for more efficient microchips](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1164-more-efficient-software-for-more-efficient-microchips)
- [Agent Smith Gets Hardware: Autonomous IoT Hacking From Debug Port to Cloud API](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100258-agent-smith-gets-hardware-autonomous-iot-hacking-from-debug-port-to-cloud-api)
- [Strange New Worlds: shaping the future of the digital age](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/677-strange-new-worlds-shaping-the-future-of-the-digital-age)
- [My ongoing quest to code in VR](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/2080-my-ongoing-quest-to-code-in-vr)
- [Model Based Systems Engineering in an Agile Product Development Process](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/68-model-based-systems-engineering-in-an-agile-product-development-process)

## Related Articles

- [How We Built a Worry-Free System That Runs for 10+ Years – And What We’d Do Again](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/751-how-we-built-a-worry-free-system-that-runs-for-10-years-and-what-we-d-do-again)
- [What is Software Engineering?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/289-what-is-software-engineering)
- [From developer to manager – what does it take to become an engineering manager?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/42-from-developer-to-manager-what-does-it-take-to-become-an-engineering-manager)
- [Top Characteristics of a Software Engineer](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/166-top-characteristics-of-a-software-engineer)
- [Software Engineer Career: Things You Should Know](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/143-software-engineer-career-things-you-should-know)
- [Is Software Engineering Hard?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/448-is-software-engineering-hard)