Missile Defense Systems Engineer

About the role

You will join a defense technology company building the layered defenses that intercept threats before they reach their targets, where timelines are measured in minutes and mistakes are not recoverable. The missile defense team works the full engagement sequence: detect, track, discriminate, assign weapons, intercept, and assess the kill. Your analyses decide whether the architecture closes the raid sizes and timelines the mission demands, and your simulation results guide investments in sensors, interceptors, and battle management. You will also run the Monte Carlo raid analyses that size the interceptor inventory, proving the architecture holds against the threat timelines the mission requires.

What you will achieve

• Build end-to-end engagement simulations that predict intercept probability across raid sizes, informing architecture trades on sensor and interceptor counts.
• Develop discrimination algorithms that separate lethal objects from decoys and debris with accuracy that holds up in Monte Carlo trials.
• Deliver battle management logic for weapon-target assignment that maximizes defended area under realistic timeline and inventory constraints.
• Validate sensor fusion and handover performance between long-range surveillance and fire control sensors within required track accuracy.
• Produce architecture assessments with quantified coverage, cost, and timeline that guide program investment decisions.
• Validate a layered defense concept in simulation, showing how multiple interceptor types cooperate across the full engagement timeline.

What you will bring

Must-haves

• You bring 2 to 5 years of experience in missile defense, interceptor systems, or air and missile defense analysis.
• You understand the engagement sequence: detection, tracking, discrimination, assignment, intercept, and kill assessment.
• You have built trajectory or engagement simulations in MATLAB, Python, or dedicated tools.
• You grasp discrimination fundamentals: what sensors actually measure and how features separate threats from non-threats.
• You can analyze battle management tradeoffs involving timelines, inventories, and defended footprints.
• You present complex architecture analyses so decision makers grasp the tradeoffs and the recommendation.
• You have modeled threat trajectories including maneuvering reentry vehicles or advanced countermeasure behaviors.

Nice-to-haves

• You have worked kill assessment or post-intercept evaluation methods.
• You bring experience with directed or kinetic interceptor subsystem design.
• You have supported live intercept test planning or data analysis.
• You hold an active security clearance or can obtain one.
• You bring experience with sensor resource management, cueing, or track handover between sensor types.