Senior Missile Defense Architect/Technical Element Lead
Summary
Technical lead and architect supporting the Missile Defense Agency: leads contract activities within MDA's Chief Architect organization, conducts architecture analyses, trade studies, and assessments of integrating new sensors, weapons, and non-kinetic effects into the Missile Defense System, and produces briefings and recommendations for MDA leadership.
nou Systems, Inc. (nSI) is now officially a 100% ESOP company! We value teamwork and collaboration, and this transition allows us to take that commitment to a new level. nSI empowers our customers by supplying products, services, and expertise with powerful, data driven insights that transform defense systems and improve capabilities.
We are pleased to announce the opening of a Senior Missile Defense Architect / Technical Element Lead, who will join our Engineering Services Division in Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and become part of our rapidly growing technology company operating in missile defense, test and evaluation, mission engineering, cybersecurity, test range modernization, biotechnology, and space control markets. You will be part of an exceptional team supporting the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) mission to develop and deploy a layered Missile Defense System (MDS) to defend the United States, its deployed forces, allies, and friends from missile attacks in all phases of flight.
In this role, you’ll help shape the future MDS architecture. You’ll assess emerging technologies from across the Department of War (DoW/DoD) and other government agencies, define how nontraditional sensors, weapons, and non-kinetic effects integrate into the system, and turn that work into recommendations that inform MDA leadership decisions. You’ll also lead our contract activities within MDA’s Chief Architect organization, serving as a key point of contact for customer leadership.
Responsibilities:
Program Leadership and Customer Engagement
- Lead teams and tasks, applying rigorous engineering judgment to complex technical problems.
- Oversee contract activities within MDA’s Chief Architect organization and coordinate across all team members, including subcontractors, to ensure consistent contract messaging and high-quality deliverables.
- Coordinate closely with the Contract Technical Lead (CTL) and provide timely feedback on all required deliverables, including the Monthly Status Report (MSR).
- Maintain close relationships with customer leadership, understand their needs, flow down those needs to our team, and anticipate and resolve technical and programmatic issues.
Architecture and Analysis
- Provide a system-level perspective on integrating new and non-traditional sensors and weapons into the MDS.
- Lead and conduct architecture analyses, assessments of alternatives, and comparative trade studies.
- Prepare assessments, recommendations, papers, briefings, and reports.
- Identify technologies across the DoW that could strengthen the missile defense and defeat mission and provide the technical and programmatic expertise needed to integrate them.
- Formulate and recommend strategies for achieving the desired Missile Defense System architecture in a Capability Development Roadmap.
- Investigate Other Government Agency (OGA) programs and technologies that complement the MDA mission and identify opportunities for research collaboration or capability integration.
Basic Qualifications:
- Active Top Secret clearance with SCI and SAP eligibility.
- Master’s degree in a STEM field (or bachelor’s degree in a STEM field with 20+ years of experience).
- 12+ years working on a missile defense-related or other complex, large DoW program/project.
- Experience conducting or overseeing architecture assessments of alternatives.
- Experience as a project lead, managing cost, schedule, and technical performance on DoW or similarly complex programs.
- Strong customer engagement and communication skills.
- Experience producing or contributing to executive-level briefings and reports.
You must be a U.S. citizen to be eligible for this position.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Active TS/SCI clearance with SAP eligibility.
- Knowledge of one or more MDS elements, such as infrared (IR) or radio frequency (RF) sensor systems, interceptors, space systems, communications, missile tracking systems, or Battle Management, Command, Control, and Communications (BMC3).
- Expertise in critical technology areas relevant to current or future missile defense elements. Examples include directed energy, hypersonics, integrated sensing, cyber, electronic warfare and other non-kinetic effects, advanced computing, Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning, space technology, microelectronics, integrated network systems-of-systems, and advanced materials.
- Experience conducting complex analytical studies and developing or adapting analysis tools, including reusable, well-documented MATLAB or Python utilities.
- Experience assessing advanced concepts and technologies and evaluating threat intelligence as it relates to new technology.
- Experience working with OGA defense programs.
- Experience defining test program objectives and conducting mission planning.
nou (pronounced ‘new’) Systems:
Since its founding in 2012, nou Systems has built a reputation for excellence in innovative engineering, prototype development, and technical and professional services in multiple markets, including missile defense, cybersecurity, test range modernization, and space control. Our diverse and highly skilled team delivers state-of-the-art products from concepts and prototypes to fully developed and integrated solutions.
We offer significant advancement and personal career development opportunities within our dynamic high-tech company. Our culture is firmly established in treating our employees like family.
Benefits of working at nSI
nou Systems, Inc. offers a comprehensive, total rewards package that includes competitive compensation and diverse benefits that reflect our company culture of service, excellence, and a supportive work environment. Benefits may vary based on status, but most of our positions include the following:
- Competitive Wages*
- Medical, Rx, Dental & Vision Insurance
- Medical plan with Health Savings Account eligibility
- Company-funded Life, Short-Term & Long-Term Disability Insurance
- Personal Time Off, Vacation, and Paid Holidays
- 401(k) Retirement Plan
- Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)
- Flexible Spending Accounts
- Norton LifeLock
- Tuition Reimbursement
- Personal Development, Technical Learning Opportunities, & Lunch-n-Learns
- Corporate Sponsored Events & Community Outreach
*Final compensation for this position is determined by a variety of factors, such as a candidate’s relevant work experience, skills, certifications, and geographic location.
nSI is an Equal Opportunity Employer
Employment opportunities at nSI are based upon a candidate’s qualifications and capabilities to perform the essential functions of a particular job and are free from discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, protected veteran status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law. For our complete EEO/AA and Pay Transparency statement, please visit . U.S. citizenship is required for most positions.
