Principal Systems Engineer / Systems Architect – Modular Weapons GRA

Title:

Principal Systems Engineer / Systems Architect – Modular Weapons GRA

Belong. Connect. Grow. with KBR!

KBR’s National Security Solutions team provides high-end engineering and advanced technology solutions to our customers in the intelligence and national security communities. In this position, your work will have a profound impact on the country’s most critical role – protecting our national security.

Why Join Us?

•   Innovative Projects: KBR’s work is at the forefront of engineering, logistics, operations, science, program management, mission IT and cybersecurity solutions.

•   Collaborative Environment: Be part of a dynamic team that thrives on collaboration and innovation, fostering a supportive and intellectually stimulating workplace.

•   Impactful Work: Your contributions will help transform the existing weapon architecture into a practical Government-owned framework that expands the industrial base, increases competition, accelerates technology innovation, lowers integration and weapon-system costs, and enables production to scale more rapidly.

KBR is seeking a highly experienced Principal Systems Engineer and Modular Systems Architect to support a U.S. Government organization responsible for advancing the Weapons Government Reference Architecture (GRA) and Weapons Open Systems Architecture (WOSA) for conventional weapon systems. The purpose of this effort is not simply to produce a more complete architecture model. It is to extend the current architecture into an actionable Government-owned framework that enables a broader and more competitive industrial base, creates viable entry points for nontraditional and component-level suppliers, accelerates insertion of new technologies, reduces dependence on closed or vertically integrated solutions, lowers redesign and integration costs, and supports scalable production across a family of weapon systems.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the principal systems engineer and architect for evolving the Weapons GRA and WOSA into an implementable framework that supports industrial-base expansion, supplier competition, technology insertion, affordability, production scalability, and Government control of critical technical interfaces and data.
• Communicate detailed architecture, interface, SysML, and MBSE concepts with Government and industry engineers while translating the technical approach, tradeoffs, risks, and value into clear, decision-relevant terms for senior leaders and non-specialist stakeholders.
• Architect and lead the Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) effort needed to define the physical parameters, interfaces, constraints, attributes, and model-based severable data packages that make those outcomes possible.
• Lead the effort to augment and refine the existing Weapons GRA framework so it can be applied across current and future Air Force conventional weapon programs to reduce unnecessary program-unique design, increase reuse, and create repeatable pathways for integrating qualified subsystem solutions.
• Extend established WOSA domains to include parameters, constraints, interface characteristics, form-factor considerations, environmental conditions, and other attributes necessary to govern physical modularity.
• Define the structure, content, technical requirements, configuration controls, intellectual-property boundaries, and acceptance criteria for model-based severable data packages that allow subsystem solutions to be competed, developed, evaluated, integrated, and replaced with less dependence on a single weapon integrator.
• Develop architecture viewpoints, system models, interface definitions, requirements relationships, reusable model libraries, and reference patterns that provide suppliers with clear technical entry points while protecting system-level integration integrity.
• Apply SysML and MBSE methods to maintain traceability among mission needs, requirements, logical architecture, physical architecture, interfaces, verification methods, and production considerations.
• Evaluate how modular physical interfaces and severable data packages can support rapid insertion and competition of seekers, propulsion systems, payloads, mission electronics, guidance components, datalinks, power systems, and other domain solutions from traditional and nontraditional suppliers.
• Identify architecture decisions and interface standards that reduce redesign, non-recurring engineering, integration time, qualification burden, supplier lock-in, production disruption, and total weapon-system cost.
• Define architecture and data-package approaches that allow the Government to compete domain solutions independently where appropriate, without compromising weapon-level safety, performance, cybersecurity, airworthiness, or integration responsibility.
• Identify where common interfaces and reusable architecture products can create sufficient demand across programs to attract new suppliers, justify private investment, and improve the business case for innovative technologies and expanded manufacturing capacity.
• Evaluate the tradeoffs between standardization and mission-specific optimization to ensure modularity improves competition, affordability, and production flexibility without imposing unnecessary performance penalties or constraining future design innovation.
• Define proof-of-concept efforts that demonstrate whether model-based severable data packages and physically modular domain solutions can reduce integration time and cost, enable supplier substitution, and support production scaling without unacceptable performance or qualification risk.
• Assess architectures and models for completeness, consistency, interoperability, configuration integrity, usability, extensibility, affordability implications, supplier accessibility, and alignment with Government open-systems and industrial-base objectives.
• Coordinate with Government program offices, technical authorities, digital engineering teams, test organizations, acquisition stakeholders, and industry partners.
• Lead or support architecture reviews, model reviews, interface working groups, design reviews, and technical interchange meetings.
• Deliver incremental architecture releases and demonstrate how each release improves technical clarity, supplier accessibility, modularity, competition, integration speed, affordability, or production scalability.
• Deliver a final release package at the conclusion of the period of performance, including documentation, examples, and a reference implementation to support future Government modeling efforts applying the delivered architecture.

Work Environment

•   Location: On-site, Eglin AFB, FL

•   Travel Requirements: Low

•   Working Hours: Standard work schedule; core hours 0900–1500

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in Systems Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field.
• 15+ years of progressively responsible experience in systems engineering, system architecture, digital engineering, MBSE, open systems architecture, weapon-system development, or closely related defense or aerospace domains.
• Extensive hands-on experience applying MBSE principles and methodologies to complex DoW/DoD aerospace, missile, munition, or weapon systems.
• Experience developing model-based severable data packages, modular technical data packages, interface-control models, reusable architecture libraries, or reference implementations.
• Expert practical proficiency using SysML to develop, manage, analyze, and communicate system architectures, requirements relationships, interfaces, and model-based technical baselines.
• Experience with both SysML v1 and SysML v2.
• Experience translating physical constraints, mechanical and electrical interfaces, environmental conditions, form and fit considerations, modularity parameters, and verification needs into rigorous system models that can support competitive acquisition and subsystem integration.
• Strong understanding of requirements development, functional decomposition, logical and physical architecture, interface management, configuration management, verification planning, and technical baseline control.
• Ability to independently lead complex architecture and MBSE efforts, connect technical architecture choices to acquisition and industrial-base outcomes, and develop executable recommendations for Government decision-makers.
• Exceptional ability to communicate complex engineering concepts to senior leaders while also conducting detailed technical discussions with Government and industry engineers.
• Active Secret clearance

Desired

• 20+ years of systems engineering, weapon-system architecture, MBSE, modular open systems, digital engineering, or advanced aerospace and defense engineering experience.
• Advanced degree in a relevant engineering discipline.
• Direct experience with Weapons GRA, WOSA, or other DoW/DoD weapon-system reference architectures.
• Demonstrated experience developing or applying Government Reference Architectures, open systems architectures, modular open systems approaches, or comparable architecture frameworks to improve competition, supplier access, technology insertion, affordability, or production flexibility
• Experience connecting architecture decisions to industrial-base expansion, supplier interchangeability, second-source qualification, technology insertion, reduced non-recurring engineering, lower integration cost, production scalability, upgradeability, and rapid capability integration.
• Prior support to a Government program office, System Program Office, chief engineer, digital engineering organization, defense prime, or weapon-system integrator.
• INCOSE CSEP or ESEP certification.
• OMG OCSMP certification at the Model Builder level or higher.
• DAWIA Engineering certification at the Practitioner or Advanced level, or comparable Program Management certification.
• Active Top Secret clearance or TS/SCI eligibility a plus.

Ready to Make a Difference?

If you’re excited about making a significant impact in the field of advanced weapon systems and working on projects that matter, we encourage you to apply and join our team at KBR. Let's shape the future together.

KBR Benefits

KBR offers competitive benefits and supports career advancement through professional training and development.

Belong, Connect and Grow at KBR

At KBR, we are passionate about our people and our Zero Harm culture.  These inform all that we do and are at the heart of our commitment to, and ongoing journey toward being a People First company.  That commitment is central to our team of team’s philosophy and fosters an environment where everyone can Belong, Connect and Grow. We Deliver – Together. 

KBR is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, veteran status, genetic information, union status and/or beliefs, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.