Systems Engineer - Interface Engineer

Systems Engineer – Interface Engineer

Systems Engineer – Interface Engineer Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado or Huntsville, Alabama (onsite with flexibility; occasional travel required) Security Clearance: Active Secret clearance required Employment Type: Full-Time, Direct Hire Salary Range: $120,000 – $163,000 (commensurate with experience) Relocation Bonus: Approximately $5,000 available

Overview Abel Personnel is hiring on behalf of our client for a Systems Engineer – Interface Engineer to support advanced Command and Control (C2BMC) system development for Department of Defense initiatives. This position focuses on the design, authorship, and management of Interface Control Documents (ICDs) and Interface Design Documents (IDDs), ensuring interoperability between multiple elements, including external sensors and other command and control systems. The successful candidate will play a critical role in documenting and modeling interface behavior, defining requirements in IBM DOORS, and ensuring compliance with DoD and program-specific standards.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the development and maintenance of ICDs and IDDs, defining new and existing interfaces between systems, sensors, and command and control components.
• Ensure all interface documentation complies with Department of Defense and program-specific standards.
• Participate in interface working group meetings with Missile Defense Agency (MDA) representatives and external element engineering teams.
• Develop behavioral and system diagrams (use case, sequence, and activity) to support requirement understanding and documentation.
• Capture and manage interface requirements in IBM DOORS, ensuring traceability and clarity for implementation teams.
• Support system integration and testing activities related to interface development and implementation.
• Collaborate with systems, software, and integration engineers to maintain alignment between interface designs and overall system architecture.
• Provide engineering input for spiral leadership and support program reviews to ensure timely completion of interface artifacts and assessments.
• Contribute to other systems engineering tasks such as requirements analysis, logical architecture modeling, and risk assessment as needed.

Required Qualifications

• Active Secret clearance (must be current and in good standing).
• Bachelor's degree in Mathematics, Science, Engineering, or Software Engineering; Master's degree preferred.
• Minimum 9 years of professional experience in Systems Engineering or a related discipline.
• Proven experience authoring Interface Control Documents (ICDs) and Interface Design Documents (IDDs) that are DID-compliant and meet DoD standards.
• Understanding of systems engineering processes, requirements analysis, and interface modeling.
• Experience with message definition and processing, including formats such as XML and VMF.
• Familiarity with network protocols and architectures, including TCP/IP, UDP, ISO OSI model, and physical/network topologies.
• Proficiency with behavioral modeling tools to create use case, sequence, and activity diagrams.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with experience preparing and presenting technical documentation.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience developing Missile Defense System (MDS) or other complex Command and Control (C2) interfaces.
• Hands-on experience with IBM Rational DOORS for requirements management.
• Familiarity with Risk Management Framework (RMF) cybersecurity processes.
• Experience working within Agile or iterative development environments.
• Prior exposure to systems integration and testing within defense programs.