Chief Scientist - Fort Worth, Texas

Davidson has distinguished itself in the aerospace and missile defense industry with an outstanding reputation for excellence. Specifically, we're recognized for hiring noted experts, experienced engineers and scientists dedicated to designing and delivering advanced, intelligent technology solutions in defense of our Nation.

Davidson is seeking a Chief Scientist in Ft. Worth, Texas.

Job Responsibilities:

• Act as the chief technical authority for all advanced multi-domain mission systems, defining and evolving system architectures that satisfy stakeholder needs, align with technical roadmaps, and meet stringent performance, safety, and reliability standards.
• Lead the development of Open Mission Systems (OMS)/Universal Command and Control Interface (UCI) System-of-Systems architectures, ensuring compliance with industry standards (SOSA, FACE, MOD, etc.) and enabling plug-and-play interoperability across domains.

• Embedded Mission Computing & High-Performance Processing

  • Guide the design, integration, and validation of embedded mission computing solutions, including 3U VPX/OpenVPX-based systems, conduction-cooled architectures, and high-performance processing fabrics (GPUs, FPGAs, many-core processors).
  • Oversee hardware/software co-design efforts to optimize SWaP-C (Size, Weight, Power, and Cost) while maximizing throughput, deterministic latency, and ruggedness for airborne, space, ground, and naval platforms.

• Advanced Data Fusion, Sensing & Collaborative Targeting

  • Champion the development of advanced data fusion algorithms, collaborative passive sensor targeting, and distributed tracking solutions that create a joint force common operational picture (COP)

Job Requirements:

• Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, or a closely related STEM discipline (Master's degree with 15+ years of relevant experience may be considered).
• Minimum 12 years of progressive experience in defense/aerospace systems engineering, with a strong focus on mission systems, embedded computing, open architectures, and sensor/data fusion technologies.
• Demonstrated track record of technical leadership on major defense programs (Air Force, Army, Navy, MDA, DARPA, or equivalent international customers).
• Deep knowledge of Open Mission Systems (OMS), Universal Command and Control Interface (UCI), Sensor Open Systems Architecture (SOSA), FACE™, MOD, and related open-architecture standards.
• Proven expertise in 3U VPX/OpenVPX, VITA standards, conduction-cooled embedded systems, high-performance computing (HPC) in constrained environments, and heterogeneous processing (CPU/GPU/FPGA/ASIC).
• Strong background in advanced data fusion, multi-sensor integration, collaborative targeting, distributed tracking, and joint all-domain command and control (JADC2) concepts.
• Hands-on experience with modeling & simulation tools (MATLAB/Simulink, ANSYS, Systems Tool Kit (STK), Python-based simulations) and digital engineering frameworks (MBSE, SysML, Cameo, etc.).
• Familiarity with AI/ML algorithms for defense applications (target recognition, anomaly detection, predictive maintenance, decision support) and awareness of emerging paradigms (quantum ML, neuromorphic computing).
• Understanding of system safety, reliability, security (cybersecurity, TEMPEST, DO-254/DO-178C as applicable), and certification processes for avionics and mission-critical systems.

Clearance Requirements:

• Active DoD Security Clearance at the Secret level or above.