Lead Systems Engineer – FAA

Job overview

The Lead Systems Engineer – FAA role is onsite in Washington, DC. The posting lists compensation of $185,000 per year. NIRA, Inc. is seeking a technical leader for ground-based air traffic management and airport operational systems. The engineer translates operational needs into measurable requirements, evaluates integrated hardware and software solutions, and leads engineering through verification and operational readiness. The role brings together system architecture, performance and resilience analysis, safety-critical engineering inputs, and stakeholder coordination to support operationally usable aviation systems.

What you'll do

• Develop or lead system requirements, interface control documents, architecture descriptions, technical trade studies, and requirements-to-verification traceability
• integrate real-time systems involving field equipment or sensors, communications networks, processing software, and operator interfaces
• evaluate system performance and dependencies
• assess latency, timing, bandwidth, data quality, redundancy, failure modes, degraded operation, and restoration
• coordinate safety, software assurance, cybersecurity, human factors, and maintainability inputs
• lead technical discussions with government stakeholders and suppliers and provide recommendations on performance, implementation, supportability, cost, and schedule.

What we're looking for

Skills & competencies

lead systems engineer

washington dc

nira

faa

air traffic management

airport operational systems

systems integration

safety-critical engineering

requirements and architecture

verification and readiness

government stakeholders

full-time

$185,000/year

Work arrangement

• Weekend coverage required

Why this role

Requires 10+ years of relevant engineering experience, including 5 years in aviation-related systems and 3 years in a technical-lead role; Public Trust background investigation required.

About the employer

NIRA, Inc. is hiring for this role. Industry: Engineering Services. Sector: 54.