Job Description

This job is for a full-time research faculty position in the Force Protection Systems Branch in the Aerospace & Acoustics Technologies Division (AATD) with the Aerospace, Transportation, and Advanced Systems Laboratory (ATASL) at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI). The Force Protection Systems Branch (FPSB) focuses on the development, integration, and testing and evaluation of tactical military systems for the protection of personnel and critical infrastructure worldwide. FPSB personnel apply multi-disciplinary engineering expertise to sensors, platforms, and integrated systems, with a focus on small unmanned systems and asymmetric warfare. Program areas include small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), Counter UAS systems, persistent tactical ISR platforms and sensors, and command and control (C2) architectures. Within the Aerospace and Acoustics Technologies Division, FPSB focuses on opportunities for the transition of emerging technologies to address urgent requirements. Primary sponsors currently come from the US military acquisition community.

Job Duties

• Performs the research, planning, development, execution, data analysis engineering, reporting, and documentation of developmental and operational test events of aircraft, systems, and unique capabilities for DOD customers.
• Has a multi-disciplinary engineering approach to problem-solving and experience with complex integrated systems to include aircraft, avionics, unmanned autonomous systems, radar, and defensive systems.
• Develops the test & evaluation strategy, integrated test & evaluation master plan framework;
  • requirements verification and validation methods,
  • design of experiments,
  • test objectives,
  • methodology, and
  • evaluation criteria
• Uses knowledge of DoD test facilities and ranges to direct, and conduct test events (lab, facility, ground, flight) and support events as required by the customer.
• Responsible for the collection and instrumentation requirements of test data, review, and quick-look assessment of test data
• Performs data analysis engineering functions to ensure verification and validation of test plans and develop the reporting requirements for test projects.
• Serves as the engineering subject matter expert of all customer and program test and evaluation events, lead and support all test plan working groups, test and safety boards, and program and technical meetings.

Responsibilities include testing and evaluation of unmanned aircraft systems and related technologies; development and systems integration of innovative solutions for Force Protection applications focused on autonomous and unmanned systems; acquisition and analysis of engineering data; systems engineering for complex system-of-systems architectures addressing technical and non-technical metrics; analyzing sensor performance, involving both active and passive sensing modalities, and the physical phenomenology that determines the signatures of targets and backgrounds; writing technical reports, user manuals, and software; and supporting other engineering-related work as needed. In support of these technical requirements, intermittent domestic travel will be required to test ranges and other government and contractor facilities.

Travel Requirements

10% - 25% travel

Education & Length of Experience

Research Engineer/Scientist/Technologist I

• A Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science or a related field of study.

Research Engineer/Scientist/Technologist II

• A Masters degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science or a related field of study and three (3) years of relevant full-time experience after completion of that degree,
• A Masters degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science or a related field of study and five (5) years of relevant full-time experience after completion of a Bachelors degree, or
• A Doctoral degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science or a related field of study.

Required Minimum Qualifications

• 5 years of full-time relevant experience including:
  • Experience as an aerospace engineer (or similar technical role) working on a complex system or system-of-systems, with competence in requirements decomposition to subsystem specifications 
  • Experience with design, integration, and/or testing of at least one of the following sensor types: radar, electro-optical/infrared, acoustic, ESM/EA/EW, or similar, or design/integration/testing of military unmanned systems or tactical vehicles 
  • Experience as a project/task leader 
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills, on technical and operational topics
  • Proficiency in MS Excel, PowerPoint, and Word
• Consideration may be given to those holding a Bachelors degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science or a related field of study and 10+ years of experience including:
  • Experience as an aerospace engineer (or similar technical role) working on a complex system or system-of-systems, with competence in requirements decomposition to subsystem specifications 
  • Experience with design, integration, and/or testing of at least one of the following sensor types: radar, electro-optical/infrared, acoustic, ESM/EA/EW, or similar, or design/integration/testing of military unmanned systems or tactical vehicles 
  • Experience as a project/task leader 
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills, on technical and operational topics
  • Proficiency in MS Excel, PowerPoint, and Word

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science or a related field of study 
• Experience as a test engineer with test design, execution, and documentation in support of military requirements
• Experience with design, integration, and/or testing of unmanned systems
• Experience with data acquisition and test instrumentation in both lab and field environments
• Experience with electronic warfare systems and/or techniques, including electronic warfare support, electronic attack (EA), and/or electronic protection (EP)
• Experience with military RDT&E, developmental testing, and/or operational testing, ideally including experience working with organizations such as AFOTEC, ATEC, and MCOTEA
• Familiarity with tactical military operations and understanding of military requirements and the DoD acquisition process
• Experience with quality assurance, configuration management, and/or issue tracking and resolution for complex military systems, such as electronic warfare (EW) systems, including lab and field testing
• Experience with command and control architectures and military datalinks
• Prior service in the US military

U.S. Citizenship Requirements

Due to our research contracts with the US federal government, candidates for this position are required to be US Citizens.

Clearance Type Required

Secret Clearance

Diversity & Inclusion

Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) at Georgia Tech Research Institute aims to enhance the Institutes mission of solving the worlds most complex technical problems by creating a workforce with a shared appreciation for diversity, raising awareness around inclusiveness, and fostering a sense of belonging and appreciation for all members of our community.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Georgia Tech Research Institute is an Equal Opportunity Employer of individuals with disabilities and protected veterans and actively seeks diversity among its employees. Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law.