Chief Engineer

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Job Title

Location

US (Primary)

Category

Job Type

Full-Time

$150,000

$185,000

Education

Master's Degree

Security Clearance Required

None

We are seeking a Chief Engineer / Lead Systems Engineer to provide technical leadership for the NOAA/NESDIS Systems Engineering Services (SES) contract. This contract supports NOAA’s mission to acquire, process, and distribute global environmental data from satellites and other sources, serving as the backbone for weather forecasting, and disaster response and planning, protecting the nation’s security, environment, economy, and quality of life.

The SES Chief Engineer is responsible for the technical execution, quality, and consistency of systems engineering activities that span three discrete NESDIS offices, operating under the direction of the Program Manager. This role ensures disciplined systems engineering practices (requirements, architecture, interfaces, verification/validation, risk management, and configuration control) while enabling timely delivery in a multi-stakeholder government environment supporting mission operations, enterprise modernization, and cloud transition efforts.

Technical leadership across all Work Assignments

• Serve as the contract’s primary engineering and technical lead, ensuring alignment, consistency, and engineering rigor across all tasks.
• Establish and enforce technical standards for engineering artifacts, reviews, and decision-quality recommendations.
• Partner with the Program Manager on technical prioritization, risk posture, and issue escalation; provide technical inputs for status, monthly reporting, and customer engagements.
• Lead requirements development and management, including decomposition, traceability, change control, and validation of stakeholder needs.
• Develop/oversee system and solution architectures, operational threads, and interface definitions; own key ICDs and integration approaches.
• Define and oversee verification/validation strategies, readiness criteria, and technical review support (SRR/PDR/CDR/TRR/ORR as applicable).

Mission operations and ground systems engineering

• Provide technical leadership for mission operations sustainment activities, including engineering assessments, anomaly investigations, and reliability improvements across ground systems, networks, and antenna services.
• Ensure configuration discipline, operational handover readiness, and continuity of operations across supported systems.

Cloud transition and enterprise modernization support

• Provide technical leadership for mission onboarding and transition activities supporting NESDIS modernization and enterprise cloud computing initiatives, including engineering governance and integration across stakeholders.

Communication and stakeholder leadership

• Lead technical working groups with government, contractors, and vendors; drive decisions to closure and document assumptions/tradeoffs.
• Produce and/or oversee technical reports, executive briefings, review packages, and customer-ready artifacts supporting decision-making.

STC is a science, sensors, and systems company founded in 1979. We continually expand our Earth and Space Sciences support capabilities to NASA, NOAA, DoD, and other Federal and State agencies. Our staff support many of the operational missions that monitor the heartbeat of our planet through a growing number of Earth Observing System of Systems platforms and direct field research.

We also research and investigate leading-edge observing technologies and assist in their integration into operations.

STC offers competitive benefits to include health, dental, vision, FSA, life, disability, 401K (matching), tuition reimbursement, bonus/incentive programs and various other plans.

• Paid Time Off Starting at 80 hrs/yr, 11 Federal holidays, and 56 hrs/yr Sick Leave
• 401K with up to 4% employer matching contribution
• Flexible spending account
• Health savings account

• Master's degree in engineering or closely related field, or a Bachelor's with significant NOAA or NASA experience.
• 20+ years of progressively responsible experience leading systems engineering for complex operational systems (mission ops/ground systems, enterprise IT/data systems, or similar).
• Demonstrated experience with:
  • Requirements management and traceability
  • Architecture development and interface management (ICDs)
  • Verification/validation planning and execution
  • Configuration control and operational readiness support
  • Risk management
• Proven ability to lead in a matrixed, multi-stakeholder environment (government + contractor + vendors).
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; able to produce decision-quality engineering artifacts and brief senior leaders.
• Must be able to obtain and maintain required government suitability/public trust (and/or clearance as required by the program).

• Experience supporting NOAA/NESDIS, NASA, DoD, or other federal aerospace…