Systems Engineer

Title: Systems Engineer
Company: Heven AeroTech
Location: Bingen, Washington
FLSA: Exempt

About Our Company:
At Heven AeroTech (Heven), we don’t just believe in the power of people—we build our success on it. As a recognized leader in hydrogen-powered drones, we’ve earned recognition for creating a workplace where innovation thrives, collaboration is second nature, and every employee feels valued. Our culture is anchored in trust and a shared commitment to excellence.

We believe great teams are built on individuals who are humble, hungry, and smart—those who put team success first, take initiative to continuously improve, and demonstrate strong interpersonal awareness. At Heven, your voice matters, your ideas are heard, and your contributions make a tangible impact as you grow through hands-on experience and collaboration across the team.

Role Summary:
The Systems Engineer will support the analysis, requirements definition, and design verification of our unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) platforms. This role applies core systems engineering processes — system architecture, modeling and trade studies, requirements development, and verification and validation — to help mature Heven West's UAS products from concept through fielded operation.

The Systems Engineer will work cross-functionally with Product, Business Development, and engineering discipline leads (mechanical, electrical, software, propulsion, avionics) to translate system-level needs into well-defined, testable requirements and verified designs. This is a hands-on, individual-contributor role suited to an engineer with 4–10 years of aerospace or UAS experience who is comfortable operating in a fast-moving, developing systems engineering environment and helping stand up the processes and tools the function will rely on as the product line matures.

Essential Responsibilities:

• Define system-level use cases, requirements, interfaces, and architecture for Heven UAS products, systems, and subsystems, including Concepts of Operations (CONOPs), Interface Control Documents (ICDs), interconnect diagrams, and block diagrams.
• Perform system modeling and simulation to evaluate performance and design trade-offs, using tools such as Autopilot logs, MATLAB, and other data analysis methods.
• Conduct design studies, trade studies (e.g., JETX trade studies), market surveys, and competitive analysis in support of product development, contract proposals, and business strategy.
• Author and execute Design of Experiments; lead data collection and analysis; and support Root Cause and Corrective Action (RCCA) investigations for air vehicle and flight test findings.
• Design with reliability, manufacturability, modularity, adaptability, and reduced logistics burden as core system-level objectives.
• Collect, organize, and interpret available end-user and operational data to inform design decisions and product roadmap discussions as this data becomes accessible.
• Lead scoped system integration efforts — for example, motors, propellers, servos, and related subsystems — collaborating across engineering disciplines to ensure subsystem readiness and alignment with platform requirements.
• Support integration of avionics, payloads, propulsion, communications, and ground control systems as platform maturity and program needs evolve.
• Develop, perform, and document system verification and validation activities, including flight test planning and reporting, to confirm designs meet operational and functional requirements.
• Partner with Business Development and Product teams to understand customer and operational needs, and translate them into system-level performance, functional, and regulatory requirements.
• Coordinate with engineering functions to interpret user-experience and mission needs and define traceable, testable lower-level requirements, including top-down and bottom-up traceability.
• Contribute to establishing and maintaining requirements management tools and processes for Heven West as the function's supporting infrastructure is put in place.
• Support project planning and milestone execution, including coordination on program schedules and task tracking (e.g., Jira).
• Contribute and lead trade studies and architecture decisions that optimize system performance and reliability, participating in structured design reviews as program processes are formalized.
• Mentor peers and junior engineers on systems engineering best practices and tools.
• Participate in technical reviews (e.g., SRR, PDR, CDR) and serve as a technical point of contact for internal stakeholders and, as applicable, customers and partners.
• Support Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), hazard analysis, and risk assessments at the system and, where scoped, component level to identify cross-disciplinary failure effects.
• Contribute to ensuring product designs align with relevant airworthiness, cybersecurity, and regulatory standards (e.g., MOSA, applicable MIL-STDs, and other airworthiness/certification frameworks) as they apply to the program.
• Professional working proficiency in English (spoken and written) is required to perform the responsibilities of this role.
• This position is not eligible for visa sponsorship. Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States without employer sponsorship, now or in the future.
• If this role requires access to information controlled under U.S. export control laws (ITAR/EAR), applicants must also qualify as a "U.S. person" under 22 CFR §120.62 (U.S. citizen, U.S. national, lawful permanent resident, or protected individual such as an asylee or refugee).

Qualifications & Experience:

Required:

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related technical field.
• 4–10 years of systems engineering experience, ideally within UAS, aerospace, or defense programs.
• Demonstrated experience defining system architecture, interfaces, and requirements (e.g., CONOPs, ICDs, block diagrams).
• Working knowledge of system modeling, trade study methodology, and engineering data analysis (e.g., MATLAB or similar tools).
• Experience developing and executing verification and validation plans, including test planning, execution, and reporting.
• Familiarity with FMEA, hazard analysis, or system-level risk assessment methods.
• Strong cross-functional communication skills and the ability to work effectively with mechanical, electrical, software, and program teams.
• Comfort operating with evolving processes and ambiguity typical of a maturing product line.
• Professional working proficiency in English (spoken and written) is required to perform the responsibilities of this role.
• This position is not eligible for visa sponsorship. Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States without employer sponsorship, now or in the future.
• If this role requires access to information controlled under U.S. export control laws (ITAR/EAR), applicants must also qualify as a "U.S. person" under 22 CFR §120.62 (U.S. citizen, U.S. national, lawful permanent resident, or protected individual such as an asylee or refugee).

Preferred:

• Experience with flight test planning and execution on fixed-wing, rotary-wing, or multirotor UAS platforms.
• Exposure to requirements management tools (e.g., DOORS, Jama, or similar).
• Familiarity with airworthiness, cybersecurity, or open-systems standards relevant to UAS (e.g., MOSA, MIL-STD-882, MIL-STD-3072).
• Experience supporting or leading technical reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR).
• Prior experience mentoring junior engineers or supporting systems engineering process development within a growing organization.

Physical Requirements:

• Regularly required to sit, stand, walk, bend, stoop, kneel, crouch, and reach while working in office, laboratory, production, and UAS test environments.
• Frequently uses hands and fingers to operate computers, test equipment, instrumentation, tools, and UAS hardware with precision.
• Must be able to work for extended periods at a computer performing systems engineering analysis, requirements development, modeling, data analysis, documentation, and technical reviews.
• Must have sufficient vision to read engineering drawings, schematics, technical documentation, computer displays, instrumentation, and test data.
• Must have sufficient hearing to communicate effectively in an active laboratory, production, and flight-test environment and to recognize audible alarms, warnings, and equipment cues.
• May be required to lift, carry, push, or pull up to 50 lbs occasionally and 25 lbs regularly, with assistance or lifting equipment available for heavier loads.
• Must be able to work safely around operating UAS, propulsion systems, batteries, electronics, test equipment, and other laboratory and flight-test hardware while following applicable PPE and safety requirements.
• May be required to work outdoors and in varying environmental conditions during UAS testing, integration, field demonstrations, and flight-test activities.
• Must be able to travel periodically to customer, test, demonstration, and field locations to support system integration, testing, and technical activities.

Benefits Overview:
Heven AeroTech offers a competitive benefits package designed to support the health, financial security, and overall well-being of our employees and their families. Benefits include medical, dental, and vision coverage, retirement plans, paid time off/sick, and additional protections such as critical illness, hospital indemnity, accident coverage, and short- and long-term disability.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement:
Heven AeroTech is an Equal Opportunity Employer and considers all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.