System Realization and Resilience Engineer

Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) seeks a Senior System Realization and Resilience Engineer to architect, implement, and harden complex defense and aerospace systems against advanced threats. You will lead end-to-end system realization-from concept, modeling, and tradespace analysis through integration and test-while embedding resilience, cyber-physical security, and graceful degradation strategies. Collaborating with multidisciplinary experts, you’ll apply model-based systems engineering, reliability engineering, and mission assurance methods to ensure critical national security and space systems remain robust, survivable, and operational under contested and uncertain conditions. You will mentor junior engineers, engage sponsors, and translate mission needs into technically sound, innovative, and ethically responsible solutions. APL offers a mission-driven, research-oriented environment with strong support for innovation, professional growth, and impact on national and global challenges.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end system realization for complex defense and aerospace missions, from concept through integration and test.
• Architect resilient system solutions that tolerate failures, cyber threats, and contested operating environments.
• Apply MBSE, modeling, and tradespace analysis to optimize architectures for performance, resilience, and cost.
• Perform reliability, availability, maintainability, and mission assurance analyses to harden critical systems.
• Design fault management, redundancy, and graceful degradation strategies for mission-critical functions.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams and sponsors to translate mission needs into technical requirements and architectures.
• Guide verification and validation strategies, including resilience-focused test planning and execution.
• Mentor junior engineers and contribute technical leadership to proposals and IRAD/research efforts.
• Document and present technical approaches, results, and recommendations to internal and external stakeholders.
• Promote ethical, mission-driven engineering aligned with APL’s national security and space exploration objectives.

• Systems engineering (Do
• D or aerospace)
• Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) / Sys
• MLSystem architecture and design for resilience
• Reliability, availability, and maintainability (RAM) analysis
• Cyber-physical and mission resilience engineering
• Fault management, redundancy, and graceful degradation design
• Requirements development, allocation, and verification
• Simulation, modeling, and tradespace analysis
• Integration, test, and validation of complex systems
• Risk management and mission assurance