Model-Based Systems Engineer

About Primordial Labs

We're building the next generation interface for commanding autonomous systems in the real world. Our core product, Anura, translates spoken or typed intent into structured actions across drones, sensors, and mission software—enabling faster, more intuitive control in high-stakes environments. We’re a distributed team of engineers, operators, and technologists focused on deploying reliable autonomy at the tactical edge.

The Mission

Anura doesn’t live alone. It runs on hardware, talks to the hardware around it, and plugs into our partners’ systems. We’re hiring a model-based systems engineer to capture how all of that fits together, and to build the model that will serve as the technical ground truth the entire company relies on.

You’ll model software-intensive systems: services, APIs, data flows, and deployments, plus the hardware and network interfaces at their edges. You’ll also map our architecture to the frameworks our partners and government programs use, and help shape how systems engineering works here.

What You'll Do

• Build the Ground Truth: Design and implement the system model the whole company relies on, and own its development and management end to end.

• Model the Software: Capture services, APIs, data flows, deployments, and internal software processes, plus the hardware and network interfaces at their edges.

• Work Inside Engineering: Partner closely with software engineers, which means understanding how software is designed, built, tested, and released.

• Map to Partner Frameworks: Connect our architecture to the reference architectures and frameworks our partners and government programs use.

• Write and Trace Requirements: Define requirements and trace them through to verification.

• Support Reviews and Proposals: Contribute model content to design reviews, proposals, and prime deliverables.

• Shape the Practice: Help define how systems engineering works here as the company grows.

Who You Are

• Software-Fluent: You’re a systems engineer who understands modern software well enough to model it accurately, from microservices to CI/CD.

• Owner of the Model: You treat the model as a living product, not a document that goes stale after the review.

• Translator: You write clearly, and you can explain technical architecture to non-engineers and user needs and desired behaviors to engineers.

• Practice Builder: You want to help shape how systems engineering works at a growing company, not just follow an existing process.

Required Qualifications

• Experience: 5+ years of systems engineering on software-intensive or networked systems, including 3+ years of hands-on MBSE, owning end-to-end model development and management.

• MBSE: Expertise modeling in SysML (preferably v2) or a comparable language, covering structure, behavior, and interfaces.

• Software Engineering: Strong understanding of software design, architecture, microservice and distributed systems, APIs, version control, CI/CD, and agile delivery, plus the ability to model internal software processes.

• Interfaces: Experience defining hardware/software interfaces, such as ICDs, protocols, data links, radios, sensors, or embedded hosts.

• Requirements: Requirements engineering and verification traceability, especially in defense applications.

• Frameworks: Familiarity with government reference architectures and frameworks.

• Defense Programs: Experience working with the military, defense primes or government programs.

• Communication: Clear writing, and the ability to explain technical architecture to non-engineers and user needs and desired behaviors to engineers.

• Clearance: Ability to obtain and maintain a US Security Clearance.

Your First 90 Days

By day 90, you’ve modeled a real part of our system, and teams outside engineering have used your work.

1. First 30 days: Learn the product, the software architecture, and the teams. Clearly articulate the product, how it works, how our users interact with it, and how it interacts with partner systems.

2. By 60 days: Model one subsystem’s software components and its hardware or partner interfaces, with its engineering owner. Trace its key requirements to verification.

3. By 90 days: Map part of our architecture to a customer or government reference architecture, or deliver model content for a proposal, design review, or prime deliverable.

Important Qualification Note: Due to the nature of our work and federal compliance requirements, this position strictly requires U.S. Citizenship and current residency within the United States. Please note that Permanent Residency (Green Card status) or visa sponsorship cannot satisfy these specific regulatory requirements.

Compensation

Compensation for this position includes a target base salary of $175,000 - $225,000 annually, with the specific figure determined by the candidate's experience level.

We’re committed to fair and equitable compensation and are happy to explain how we determine our salary ranges, just ask!

Our Benefits

• Beyond a Competitive Salary, we provide a significant equity stake, aligning your growth with ours.

• 100% Remote: This role is fully remote, open to residents across the US. We believe that talent knows no borders (well, except for the US in this case!).

• Comprehensive Health Coverage: We provide comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans so you and your family can stay healthy and worry free.

• Retirement Planning: Plan for tomorrow with our 401(k) package, complete with a generous 6% company match.

• Generous DTO: Our generous Discretionary Time off (DTO) policy is all about helping you take the breaks you deserve and live your healthiest, most fulfilling life.

• Elite Technology Package: Enjoy an elite technology package to make your work effortless and efficient.

Our Interview Process

Our interview process is designed to be thorough and respectful of your time. It typically includes:

1. Conversation with the People Team: Lets get to know one another first!

2. Screener Interview: A 30-minute discussion about relevant concepts and your past experience.

3. Technical Challenge: We provide an at your own pace challenge focused on real life situations. After completion, you'll present your solutions in a follow-up call. This allows us to understand your thought processes and technical approach.

4. Technical Collaboration & Team Q&A: Walk through a recent code sample with the engineering team, discuss your design choices, and ask us anything about our stack, culture, and day to day work.

We are committed to a low-stress interview experience—no trick questions or brain teasers!

Primordial Labs is an equal opportunity employer, committed to creating a welcoming and respectful environment for everyone. Discrimination and harassment have no place here. We firmly believe that a diverse team enriches our problem-solving capabilities, sparks greater creativity, and ultimately leads to a better product and a more vibrant company.

We understand that great talent comes from various paths and that passion and transferable skills are invaluable. At Primordial Labs, what truly matters is your ability to make an impact, your dedication to our mission, and your capacity to thrive in a fast-paced, collaborative atmosphere. We are dedicated to fostering an inclusive workplace where you can contribute your unique talents, expand your skills, and learn continuously. If you’re driven to make a real impact, we encourage you to apply, even if your experience doesn’t perfectly align with every qualification.

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