Principal Systems Engineer

Principal Systems Engineer At MITRE, your passion fuels work that impacts our nation and improves lives. This is where your skills strengthen national security, cybersecurity, health, transportation, and citizen services. We're a nonprofit engineering, applied research, and advanced technology organization working in the public interest. With objectivity and integrity at our core, we lead federally funded research and development centers for U.S. government agencies – collaborating with industry and academia to deliver integrated, high-impact solutions that advance our nation's health, security, and prosperity. Our people tackle the toughest technical challenges, supported by competitive benefits, meaningful career development, and a culture of innovation, collaboration, and technical excellence. Choose MITRE for a career with purpose — and help shape the future. The Architecture Analysis Department researches, develops, and applies advanced technologies in the following Systems Engineering areas: Model-Based System Architecting Architecture Analysis Digital Engineering Transformation Architecture Analysis enables digital transformation by linking stakeholder needs, operational concepts, and engineering data into an integrated digital thread. The department applies model-based system architecting to define and evolve system structures, interfaces, behaviors, and dependencies for complex systems. The department also delivers architecture analysis through trade studies and assessments of performance, risk, and system interactions to support sound design and investment decisions. Roles & Responsibilities: The Architecture Analysis Department is seeking a Principal Systems Engineer to support government sponsors in architecting, analyzing, and advancing complex mission and enterprise systems across evolving national security environments. The selected candidate will lead the application of Model-Based System Architecting (MBSA), Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE), Architecture Analysis, and Digital Engineering methods to develop, evaluate, and evolve system architectures that enable informed engineering, acquisition, and investment decisions. Working collaboratively across technical, operational, acquisition, and programmatic stakeholders, the candidate will translate mission needs into integrated architectural solutions, engineering analyses, digital engineering artifacts, and actionable recommendations that improve mission outcomes and enable digital transformation through an authoritative digital thread. Apply systems engineering, model-based system architecting, and architecture analysis principles across the system lifecycle, including mission analysis, concept development, architecture definition, requirements development, integration planning, verification, validation, deployment planning, and technical transition. Lead the development and evolution of operational, functional, logical, physical, and enterprise architectures that capture stakeholder needs, mission objectives, system behaviors, interfaces, dependencies, and implementation considerations for complex systems and systems-of-systems. Apply MBSE, MBSA, and Digital Engineering methods to develop and maintain authoritative digital engineering artifacts that establish traceability across stakeholder needs, operational concepts, system architectures, requirements, interfaces, constraints, analyses, and verification activities within an integrated digital thread. Conduct architecture analyses, trade studies, mission engineering assessments, and capability gap analyses to evaluate alternative architectures, emerging technologies, operational concepts, and system designs using both qualitative and quantitative techniques. Develop and apply analytical methods, models, simulations, and metrics to assess system performance, interoperability, resiliency, robustness, maintainability, affordability, technical risk, and mission effectiveness. Lead stakeholder engagements, technical workshops, architecture reviews, and engineering working groups to elicit, analyze, document, and validate mission, operational, functional, interface, security, and performance requirements while ensuring alignment across sponsor organizations. Support requirements management, interface management, architecture governance, and configuration management activities to ensure consistency and traceability across engineering products and digital artifacts. Advise government sponsors and program managers on architecture strategies, digital engineering transformation, technology insertion opportunities, system modernization approaches, technical roadmaps, and engineering decisions that improve mission outcomes and reduce program risk. Support acquisition planning and execution by contributing technical expertise to Statements of Work (SOWs), Statements of Objectives (SOOs), Performance Work Statements (PWSs), architecture requirements, evaluation criteria, technical evaluation plans, source selections, and vendor assessments. Collaborate across multidisciplinary teams to develop and communicate technical products including architecture descriptions, engineering analyses, decision briefings, trade study results, digital engineering artifacts, technical roadmaps, and executive-level recommendations. Contribute to the advancement of department capabilities by researching, developing, and applying innovative approaches in model-based system architecting, architecture analysis, Digital Engineering, mission engineering, data analytics, artificial intelligence, and related technologies. Serve as a technical leader and mentor by providing guidance, feedback, and knowledge sharing to junior engineers while helping shape technical approaches, department capabilities, and sponsor solutions across multiple projects. Basic Qualifications: Typically requires a minimum of 8 years of related experience with a Bachelor's degree; or 6 years and a Master's degree; or a PhD with 3 years' experience; or equivalent combination of related education and work experience. Advanced ability to apply systems engineering practices to complex technical, operational, or mission-focused systems Experience with system design, system architecture modeling, requirements development, interface analysis, integration planning, verification and validation, and technical documentation Advanced experience with both MBSE and traditional systems engineering approaches, including requirements analysis, functional decomposition, interface control, trade studies, risk analysis, technical reviews, and engineering decision support Ability to develop or review architecture products, requirements specifications, trade studies, technical plans, acquisition artifacts, and engineering recommendations Ability to work directly with government sponsors, program managers, technical teams, acquisition stakeholders, and mission users Strong analytical, verbal, and written communication skills, including the ability to define ambiguous problems, structure technical options, and brief technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences Ability to lead and work collaboratively with others to solve challenging technical problems across organizational and technical boundaries. Must have an active Top Secret U.S Government issued Security Clearance and must be eligible to obtain and maintain a Top Secret/SCI U.S Government issued Security Clearance. Per the U.S. Government's eligibility requirements, you must be a U.S Citizen to be considered for a security clearance. This position has an on-site requirement of 4 days a week on-site Preferred Qualifications: Advanced experience applying Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE), Model-Based System Architecting (MBSA), and Digital Engineering methods using SysML and modeling tools such as Cameo, MagicDraw, Rhapsody, Sparx EA, or similar platforms. Have developed and maintained SysML models and architecture artifacts, including block definition diagrams, internal block diagrams, activity diagrams, sequence diagrams, state machine diagrams, requirements diagrams, parametric models, and allocation relationships. Experience developing, evaluating, or applying system, enterprise, and mission architectures using architecture frameworks and methodologies (e.g., DoDAF, UAF, TOGAF, or similar), including operational, functional, logical, physical, interface, and data architecture views. Experience performing architecture analyses, trade studies, mission thread analyses, capability assessments, or technology evaluations to assess system performance, interoperability, resilience, technical risk, affordability, and mission effectiveness. Experience establishing and maintaining digital engineering environments and digital threads that integrate stakeholder needs, operational concepts, architectures, requirements, analyses, verification artifacts, and engineering data across the system lifecycle. Experience supporting requirements management, architecture governance, interface management, and architecture change management to ensure consistency, traceability, and technical integrity across complex engineering efforts. Experience advising federal government sponsors on architecture strategies, Digital Engineering transformation, system modernization, technology roadmaps, acquisition planning, or engineering approaches that support mission capability development. Experience applying architecture analysis and systems engineering to software-intensive systems, cloud-native architectures, data-centric systems, artificial intelligence and machine learning, cybersecurity, digital ecosystems, or command-and-control systems. Experience leading technical teams, facilitating architecture workshops, conducting architecture reviews, and collaborating across multidisciplinary organizations to develop engineering recommendations and inform technical and investment decisions. Experience researching, developing, prototyping, or transitioning innovative architecture analysis methods, model-based architecting techniques, Digital Engineering capabilities, or emerging technologies that improve mission outcomes and engineering decision-making. This requisition requires the candidate to have a minimum of the following clearance(s): Top Secret This requisition requires the hired candidate to have or obtain, within one year from the date of hire, the following clearance(s): Top Secret/SCI Salary compensation range and midpoint: $162,400 - $203,000 - $243,600 Annual Work Location Type: Onsite MITRE