Systems Design Engineer

One team. Global challenges. Infinite opportunities. At Viasat, we’re on a mission to deliver connections with the capacity to change the world. For more than 35 years, Viasat has helped shape how consumers, businesses, governments and militaries around the globe communicate. We’re looking for people who think big, act fearlessly, and create an inclusive environment that drives positive impact to join our team.

The Systems Design Engineer plays a key role in developing innovative, mission-driven solutions that address the evolving needs of U.S. Air Force customers. In this role, you will work closely with customers, business development teams, program leadership, and engineering organizations to understand operational requirements and translate them into integrated technical solutions that leverage Viasat's broad portfolio of communications, networking, cyber, space, ISR, and mission systems capabilities.

As a member of the solutions engineering team, you will support the design, analysis, and development of end-to-end system architectures, helping shape technical strategies for new opportunities and critical mission programs. You will collaborate across multidisciplinary teams to evaluate requirements, assess technical tradeoffs, develop solution concepts, and ensure proposed architectures align with customer objectives and operational needs.

The ideal candidate is a systems thinker with strong technical expertise, a passion for solving complex challenges, and the ability to communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders. This role offers the opportunity to work on cutting-edge defense and aerospace technologies while contributing to solutions that support some of the Air Force's most important missions.

Lead the Air Force Solutions Engineering organization supporting all five Viasat business areas.

Establish and drive enterprise-wide technical strategy aligned to Air Force operational concepts, modernization priorities, and emerging mission needs.

Develop integrated mission architectures that combine capabilities across communications, networking, cyber, ISR, space, platform integration, mission computing, and digital engineering.

Serve as the senior technical integrator for Air Force mission solutions across the Viasat portfolio.

Lead development of mission-level solution architectures for strategic opportunities, priority captures, and long-range growth initiatives.

Translate Air Force operational concepts, CONOPS, kill chains, and mission requirements into executable technical architectures and differentiated solution approaches.

Ensure solutions align with open systems architectures, MOSA/SOSA principles, digital engineering standards, and future Air Force interoperability requirements.

Drive technical roadmaps supporting Air Force initiatives involving resilient communications, tactical networking, PNT, airborne networking, space integration, autonomy, and distributed operations.

Serve as a senior technical interface with Air Force operational commands, acquisition organizations, laboratories, program offices, and mission partners.

Engage with senior government leaders, engineers, operators, and acquisition personnel to shape requirements and align Viasat capabilities to mission needs.

Represent Viasat in technical interchange meetings, industry forums, architecture discussions, operational working groups, and strategic planning sessions.

Provide mission-informed thought leadership regarding future Air Force operational architectures and decision-dominance concepts.

Coordinate technical strategy and solution alignment across all five Viasat business areas to ensure unified customer engagement and enterprise capability integration.

Identify opportunities for technology convergence, reusable architectures, and integrated mission offerings across the enterprise.

Facilitate collaboration between engineering, product management, business development, capture, and program execution teams.

Drive alignment between internal technology investments and Air Force mission priorities.

Support strategic captures through technical solution development, proposal strategy, architecture reviews, and customer shaping activities.

Lead technical discriminators, competitive…