Chief EO​/IR Engineer; D

ARKA Group L.P. is an advanced technologies company serving the U.S. military, intelligence community, and commercial space industry delivering next-generation solutions to support the national security space domain. ARKA has a 60-year legacy reaching back to the very beginning of our country's space endeavors. We're a legacy of mission excellence built on ground-breaking technologies. Join the ARKA mission and discover your next career opportunity now!

The application window will close in 60 days for this position.

As the Chief EO/IR Engineer, you will be involved in all phases of system development, from pre-proposal activities through final design, manufacturing, assembly, integration, verification, and delivery, providing technical direction and leadership to integrated product teams of varying sizes.

There are no direct reports to this position; however, you will be responsible for the oversight and direction of project-specific teams of engineers executing design development of EO/IR systems. Specific responsibilities will include:

• Evaluation and shaping of customer requirements, assisting business development in defining the opportunity spaces in which future contracts lie.
• Development of the top-level system architecture of mission solutions, including optical and electronic design requirements, on-board processing requirements, platform interfaces, and CONOPS.
• Defining, executing, and overseeing system design trades.
• Interfacing with customers throughout the product life cycle as the lead technical representative of the product development team.
• Leading program teams, including other engineering disciplines and interfacing with program management, to develop optical system design concepts and decompose and flow down system requirements to lower-level assemblies and components.
• Preparing and presenting of material for formal design reviews and customer meetings.
• Defining and leading internal IR&D projects.

• Bachelor's degree with 12 years of relevant work experience OR 10 years of relevant work experience with Master's degree.
• Decomposition of complex systems into logical building blocks and the ability to develop the requisite error budgets and requirements traceability.
• Evaluation and definition of the optical, mechanical, electrical, and environmental inputs into an EO/IR system and their influence on overall requirements compliance.
• Program planning including scope definition, resourcing, and budgeting.
• Proficient technical writing skills including proposal content, requirements specifications, verification matrices, verification plans, and verification reports.
• CONOPS development.
• Technical leadership of cross-functional/discipline teams.

• Experience in architecting and/or developing imaging system solutions for spaceborne missions.
• Knowledge of EO industry technical capabilities (e.g., focal planes, electronics) for space systems, supporting architecting of EO payloads.
• Familiarity with mission level performance requirements including: NIIRS (image quality), Modulation Transfer Function (MTF), Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR), Minimum Detectable Target and/or geolocation.
• Familiarity with mission level phenomenology including Solar illuminated signal and thermal emission of objects and background/clutter and appropriate selection of spectral bands.

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Your actual level and base salary will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: job-related knowledge and skills, education, and experience.

The location preference for this position is onsite at our facility in Danbury, CT
. However, we would give consideration to work locations in Valley Forge, PA. or Aurora, CO
. Danbury, CT is located in beautiful Fairfield County, Danbury offers a diverse economy, wonderful parks, cultural attractions, an impressive mix of private and public educational institutions and a vibrant arts scene. Our facility is nestled among a remarkable selection of communities to call home all with varying price points to fit many different budgets. We're close to New York City, Boston, and…