R&D Systems Engineer

KBR is seeking an innovative R&D Systems Engineer to join our team, providing critical technical services to the U.S. Government (USG). This role supports a dedicated USG Program Office focused on pioneering the next generation of national security space systems. You will provide Systems Engineering & Technical Advisory (SETA) support, concentrating on the research and development of revolutionary ground systems that command, control, and process data from advanced satellite constellations.

As an R&D Systems Engineer, you will bridge the gap between legacy ground capabilities and emerging technologies. In addition to guiding the full lifecycle of cutting-edge satellite edge-computing, processing and ground systems, you will actively scout industry trends and curate collaborative partnerships with external tech groups, contractors, and internal research teams to introduce disruptive automation and data orchestration capabilities to the mission.

As a key member of our team, you will be responsible for the full lifecycle of cutting-edge satellite edge-computing and ground systems, with an emphasis on automation, processing, and orchestration. Your duties will include:

• →Technical Analysis: Conduct in-depth technical analysis and review of ground system concepts, architectures, and emerging technologies.
• →Review & Processing: Review and contribute to design, modeling, and analysis for orchestration, task scheduling, and high-throughput data processing.
• →Evaluation & Optimization: Evaluate and optimize data processing workflows, from initial satellite downlink and data ingestion to final dissemination. Assess the integration of machine learning and AI technologies to enhance data exploitation and automate ground system functions.  Implement quantization methods (GGUF, AWQ, EXL2) to enable high-performance model execution on local hardware and resource constraint environments.
• →Lifecycle Support: Provide technical and programmatic expertise throughout the entire project lifecycle. This includes concept development, system definition, acquisition planning, design, development, integration and test (I&T), and transition to mission operations. Identify bottlenecks needed to make systems meet requirements
• →Cost & Trade Analysis: Perform analysis of alternatives to optimize system performance, cost, and schedule for next-generation system designs including the development of pipelines using frameworks such as llama.cpp, vLL, and/or Ollama.
• →Innovation & Collaboration: Actively participate in an enterprise-wide R&D environment, contributing to and leveraging shared knowledge to advance organizational capabilities in satellite ground systems.
• →Technology Scouting & Curation: Actively scout, vet, and curate state-of-the-art technologies and research organizations. Formulate recommendations for bringing in academic, commercial, or specialized contractor groups to design and scale operational capabilities.

• Location: On-Site (Chantilly, VA area)
• Travel Requirements: Minimal (0-20%)
• Working Hours: Standard

• Clearance: Active TS/SCI with Polygraph.
• Education & Experience:
  • Bachelor’s degree with 5+ years of relevant experience,
  • Master’s degree with 3+ years of relevant experience, or
  • PhD with 0+ years of relevant experience.
• Domain Expertise: Demonstrated expertise in satellite ground system architecture, operations, and inference pipelines.
• Technical Proficiency: Proficient with Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint), Python, PyTorch/TensorFlow, and multi-modal LLMs.
• Analytical Skills: Strong critical thinking, problem-solving, and analytical capabilities.
• Communication: Excellent interpersonal and communication skills for preparing written reports, leading group discussions, and delivering oral presentations to senior government stakeholders.

• Ground Systems Engineering: In-depth knowledge of systems engineering and integration as applied to satellite ground networks, command and control systems, and data processing pipelines.
• Communications & Data: Experience with space-to-ground communications links, data routing, and processing of overhead sensor data (e.g., SIGINT, GEOINT).
• Automation & AI/ML: Familiarity with Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning technologies, quantization, hardware and system performance monitoring, and/or data analysis.
• Vendor & Acquisition Support: Experience evaluating third-party vendor offerings, contributing to requests for proposals (RFPs), or managing technical interfaces with external contractors.