Senior Sensor Systems Engineer

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 Inertial Sensor Integration & Test Group at Draper is seeking a senior engineer with broad technical skills to work in a multidisciplinary environment to conceptualize, develop, analyze, and assess robust GN&C (Guidance, Navigation and Control) sensors and systems for a wide variety of applications, including defense systems. Program roles will usually be Systems Engineer and/or Integration and Test Engineer. Tasking will include participating in the development of high‑fidelity sensor models, test development and planning, conducting analysis on systems and sensor packages, and evaluating sensor performance integrated into high‑level assemblies and systems.

Demonstrated experience integrating and testing complex hardware systems is required.

A successful candidate will have:

• Experience evaluating high‑precision inertial sensor technology (e.g., gyroscopes and accelerometers), including understanding the device physics, associated errors models, analysis techniques, etc.
• Experience in verification and validation planning and execution, including design of test or design of experiment methodologies; previous experience developing test programs and plans, and systems engineering documents.
• Demonstrated experience in completing system design technical baseline activities i.e. SRR, PDR, CDR, etc.
• Strong ability to lead small to medium‑sized teams, collaborate, and present to stakeholders across internal and external functional boundaries.
• Ability to effectively apply data analysis methods and data analytics tools to extract important information for utility.
• The ability to work in a team and succeed with a process‑oriented setting is critical, as is the ability to thoroughly document and communicate one's work to a technical audience.

• Able to take ownership of assignments and guide others as needed; successfully lead tasks while tracking priorities, scope, cost and schedule.
• Derive plans, approaches, procedures for solving complex I&T problems across a program lifecycle, capturing all assumptions and adapting appropriately to changes in requirements with limited direction.
• Independently contributes high quality content for technical reports and presentations which shows an understanding of their task and an awareness of the intended audience. Demonstrates both confidence and success when presenting technical information during meetings with internal and external stakeholders.
• Identify program/system‑level technical risks and develop and execute mitigation strategies.
• Actively mentor less experienced engineers and provide thoughtful, constructive feedback.
• Performs 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 5-7 years in Systems Engineering or relevant role.

• Experience working with (interfacing with, command‑and‑control of) motion simulators / positioning systems (e.g., rate tables and indexing heads)
• Experience with environmental test (vibration, shock, pressure,…