Director of Systems Engineering

About Epirus

Job Summary: We are looking for a Director of Systems Engineering will build and scale Epirus' Systems Engineering organization and establish the technical discipline that enables us to rapidly develop, integrate, and field complex HPM systems. This leader will develop a pipeline of Chief Engineers and technical leaders who own systems from concept through verification and deployment, while establishing architecture, requirements, integration, and verification practices that allow hardware, software, manufacturing, and test teams to execute as one. You won't inherit a mature Systems Engineering playbook—you'll help write it.

Reporting to the Vice President of Engineering, the Director will lead a multidisciplinary team spanning systems engineering, test engineering, and modeling and analysis; provide system-level technical direction and architectural governance; and empower Chief Engineers and senior technical leaders to own product and subsystem architectures.

Responsibilities:

• Lead and develop a multidisciplinary Systems Engineering organization, establishing a culture of technical excellence, accountability, innovation, and collaboration.
• Build and scale Systems Engineering processes, capabilities, and talent pipelines to support a growing product portfolio.
• Serve as the senior system-level technical authority, providing architectural leadership and driving cross-functional technical trade-offs across performance, cost, schedule, manufacturability, and mission requirements.
• Lead system architecture reviews, interface definition, technical trade studies, and risk management to identify and retire key technical and integration risks early.
• Provide technical leadership across system integration, verification & validation, modeling, analysis, and test, ensuring system performance is measurable and validated against requirements and mission objectives.
• Establish technical baselines, readiness criteria, documentation standards, and clear ownership across Systems Engineering, hardware, software, manufacturing, and test.
• Partner closely with Hardware, Software, Manufacturing, Technical Program Management, and Chief Engineers to align technical strategy, product goals, resources, dependencies, and execution milestones.
• Represent Systems Engineering in internal and external technical reviews and engage directly with customers and stakeholders to ensure solutions remain aligned with requirements, architecture, and mission objectives.
• Plan and prioritize Systems Engineering resources and activities to support program milestones and business objectives.
• Develop and scale Systems Engineering proposal and estimation capabilities, including technical scope, staffing, schedules, assumptions, risks, technical writing, and solution development.

Basic Qualifications:

• BS or MS in Systems Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical discipline.
• 12+ years of Systems Engineering or closely related experience.
• Demonstrated experience building, leading, or scaling a Systems Engineering organization.
• Experience with DoD programs.
• Active SECRET clearance or ability to obtain and maintain a SECRET clearance.

Preferred Skills and Experience:

Experience making high-quality technical decisions in fast-moving, ambiguous, cross-functional

environments.

• Experience with INCOSE standards, DoDAF, or comparable Systems Engineering frameworks.
• Experience leading integration, V&V, test planning, execution, and analysis for complex products.
• Experience scaling requirements, configuration, and lifecycle-management practices using modern
• Systems Engineering/PLM tools (e.g., Jama, Polarion, DOORS).
• Familiarity with MATLAB, Python, or similar engineering analysis.
• Experience maturing Systems Engineering organizations and processes, with a product and customer/market-fit mindset

ITAR REQUIREMENTS:

• To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.

As required by the Equal Pay Transparency Act, Epirus provides a reasonable range of minimum compensation for roles that may be hired. Actual compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, and specific office location.

For the state of California only, the range of starting pay for this role is:

$247,800—$276,500 USD