Principal Engineer; Systems Engineer

Company Overview

General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems (OTS) is a global leader in the design, engineering and production of munitions, energetics, weapons, armaments, and missile subsystems around the world. OTS empowers the U.S. military and its allies with an extensive range of overarching product segments applied across all levels of strategic and tactical operations, providing a cutting-edge advantage to our warfighters. Our Ethos of Honesty, Trust, Transparency, and Alignment, are the guiding principles that form the foundation of everything we do.

Integrity is paramount, innovation fuels our passion, customer satisfaction is at the core of our mission, and collaboration is key to our success - fostering a culture of teamwork and mutual respect among employees, partners, and stakeholders. Whether you're just starting out on your career journey or are an experienced professional, we offer a robust total rewards package that goes above and beyond with compensation;

healthcare, wellness, retirement, and work/life benefits that include career development and recognition programs. If who we are and what we do resonates with you, we invite you to join our high-performance team!

We are seeking a Principal Systems Engineer to support U.S. production transition, platform integration, and development of Active Protection System (APS) technologies. This role focuses on APS launcher and countermeasure integration onto current and future U.S. military platforms. Under technical oversight of an Engineering Fellow, responsibilities include converting foreign-partner technical data into a domestic baseline, leading system integration, resolving interface issues, supporting qualification, and enabling future upgrades.

Candidates must collaborate across disciplines and engage with hardware during tests. A hybrid work schedule is available with on-site presence in Colchester. Regular domestic and periodic international travel to suppliers and military facilities is required.

• Requires specialized depth and/or breadth of expertise in own job discipline or field
• Uses advanced techniques, theories, and processes to complete work
• Leads others to solve complex problems
• Works independently, with guidance in only the most complex situations
• May lead functional teams or projects
• Consistent exercise of discretion & judgment

• Applies standard engineering techniques to design, analyze, test, maintain, repair, or improve products, components, or assemblies.
• Analyzes, develops and evaluates systems.
• Improves and maintains current systems or creates brand new projects.
• Designs and drafts blueprints, visits systems in the field and manages projects.
• Applies engineering techniques and analyses within the scope of the assignment.

Supports product lifecycle activities, including requirements development, verification, integration, qualification, configuration management, field support, and upgrades. Assesses technical changes, resolves production issues with cross-functional teams, participates in technical reviews and customer engagements, contributes to safety and logistics documentation, and manages risks and technical issues with efficiency.

• Required education and experience: Associate's Degree and 8-10 years' experience
• Discipline/Major: Engineering degree required
• Critical professional related technical skills; computer skills: Proficient in Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint)

• Preferred education and experience: Master’s degree in Engineering, Systems Engineering, or another closely related technical field.
• Knowledge, skills & abilities:Strong technical judgment. Systems thinking. Analytical and critical-thinking skills. Structured problem solving. Technical leadership. Clear oral and written communication. Ability to work independently in ambiguous technical environments. Ability to collaborate effectively across organizational, cultural, and disciplinary boundaries.
• Key
  
  Qualifications:
  
  
  • Ability to obtain a DoD Secret Security Clearance is required; an existing clearance is strongly preferred.
  • Working knowledge of formal systems engineering methods, requirements management, interface definition, verification planning, and configuration management.
  • Experience developing or integrating complex systems in the Aerospace or Defense industry.
  • Experience working directly with customers, suppliers, platform integrators, or Government…