Senior Principal Systems Engineer - Lead Systems Engineer

Salary: $132,400 - 251,600 per year Requirements:

• We require experience leading and serving as systems architect for programs valued at $30–50 million, including multiple projects spanning the full NSA cryptography certification lifecycle.
• We require experience serving as a Product Owner in an Agile environment.
• We require experience with Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) concepts and tools.
• We require experience capturing customer requirements, developing design concepts, and deriving and tracing system- and subsystem-level requirements.
• We require experience with peer review processes, configuration management, and change management.
• We require familiarity with bidding and project/task estimation tools.
• We require an active, transferable U.S. Secret security clearance before the start date; an active clearance is required on day one. U.S. citizenship is required for security clearance eligibility.
• We typically require a STEM degree and at least 10 years of relevant experience, or an advanced degree in a related field and at least 7 years of experience.
• We prefer exceptionally strong communication skills and experience presenting technical data to program management.

• We need you to lead and mentor a Systems Engineering Scrum Team through design, development, integration, and test efforts.
• We need you to communicate with management at multiple levels, team members, software, firmware, and hardware leads, and customers.
• We need you to work with multiple hardware and software Scrum Teams to address dependencies and technical challenges.
• We need you to collaborate with systems product owners and system leads to set priorities and help manage budget and schedule at a strategic level.
• We need you to meet regularly with the project team to identify and remove blockers and provide technical guidance to individual contributors.
• We need you to support critical path analysis and work closely with program leadership to manage tasks and workflow.
• We need you to monitor and assess project issues, escalate them when needed, and develop resolutions that support productivity, quality, and customer satisfaction goals.
• We need you to support proposals and bids and use estimation tools.

• Architect
• Cryptography
• Firmware
• Hardware
• Support
• Product Owner
• Security
• Embedded
• Flow

More:

We are Collins Aerospace, an RTX company and a leader in advanced aerospace and defense solutions. Our Secure Subsystems Engineering team is seeking a Senior Principal Systems Engineer and Lead Systems Engineer to help mature cryptographic capabilities and architect crypto systems. The role provides technical leadership within Scrum Teams, guiding work backlogs and collaborating with Product Management to deliver solutions. Our team works on systems and cybersecurity engineering for next-generation secure mission computing, cryptography, and cross-domain technologies, advancing products from low technology readiness through accreditation and factory production. This is a primarily onsite, U.S.-based role in Morrisville, North Carolina, with relocation assistance available and sign-on bonus eligibility. The stated salary range is $132,400–$251,600; offers may reflect factors such as experience, location, education, and skills. We offer medical, dental, and vision coverage; vacation; retirement savings and employer contributions; tuition reimbursement; student loan repayment; insurance and disability coverage; family and wellness programs; counseling and care services; and other benefits. Eligible hires may also receive incentive compensation, subject to applicable terms. The role is employee-referral eligible. We may ask candidates to attend certain interview steps in person.

last updated 42 week of 2026