Senior Hardware I&T Engineer — Systems Lead

Overview

Draper is an independent, nonprofit research and development company headquartered in Cambridge, MA. The 2,000+ employees of Draper tackle important national challenges with a promise of delivering successful and usable solutions. From military defense and space exploration to biomedical engineering, lives often depend on the solutions we provide. Our multidisciplinary teams of engineers and scientists work in a collaborative environment that inspires the cross‑fertilization of ideas necessary for true innovation.

For more information about Draper, visit

The Aiding Technologies Integration & Test Group at Draper is seeking a Principal Integration & Test Engineer with broad technical skills and a wealth of industry experience to lead/advise teams in a multidisciplinary environment to conceptualize, build, and test advanced electro‑mechanical and electro‑optical systems for a wide range of applications including GN&C (Guidance, Navigation and Control) systems, defense, space, and other related areas.

The emphasis of this role will be advising and leading the development of hardware systems.

Tasking will include leading and advising programs and business areas on the best practices for the development of test plans and procedures, supporting the design and development process (DFT), analysis and evaluation of sensors (custom and COTS) and sensor performance, and the design, manufacture, and implementation of all required supporting test equipment, fixturing, and test scripts. Those qualified for this role will be able to effectively apply their deep technical understanding and extensive experience in this area to grow and shape testing and development methodologies, advise on business capture opportunities, and influence core system designs to help ensure program success.

Program roles will typically be a Principal Integration and Test Engineer and/or Principal Systems Engineer.

• Manage and control priorities, scope, schedule, and cost to baselines by proactively monitoring program/task performance across larger activities.
• Independently derive system-level I&T requirements based on mission requirements and define plans, approaches, and detailed test procedures to solve complex I&T problems.
• Help customers understand and adequately mitigate and resolve I&T risks and issues.
• Be a subject matter expert (SME) able to develop and implement I&T approaches through a program lifecycle.
• Identify program/system-level I&T technical risks and develop and execute mitigation strategies.
• Develop, document, and teach best practices to less experienced engineers. Demonstrate strong organization, planning, and time management skills to achieve program goals.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

• Curiosity-driven approach to solving complex, industry and customer-driven problems as part of a multi-disciplinary team.
• Collaborate and communicate effectively and openly with multi-disciplinary program team members, program leadership, and non-technical personnel.
• Be a team player able to work in a fast-paced environment with the ability to balance multiple competing tasks and demands.

Requires a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Systems Engineering, Applied Physics, or related field.

Requires 7‑10 years in Systems Engineering or a relevant role.

• Demonstrated expertise with verification and validation planning and execution for industry applications, including design of test or design of experiment methodologies.
• Expert ability to derive test plans, approaches, and procedures for solving highly complex I&T problems across a program lifecycle, capturing all assumptions, and anticipating changes in requirements and program direction while implementing industry best practices and advising leadership and business areas on effective test strategy.
• Extensive demonstrated experience leading the development of large-scale test programs and plans, and systems engineering documents for complex electro‑mechanical and/or electro‑optical systems.
• Proven ability to design…