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Principal SIGINT Ground Systems Engineer (Intelligence Center) with Security Clearance

MITRE CorporationChantilly, VA🇺🇸United StatesPosted Oct 3, 2026

Why This Role Stands Out

As a Principal SIGINT Ground Systems Engineer at MITRE, you'll leverage your expertise to tackle critical national security challenges, driving innovation within the esteemed National Space Program. This on-site leadership role offers a competitive salary of $162,400 - $203,000 and exceptional opportunities for professional development and career advancement within a mission-driven, not-for-profit organization committed to public interest. If you're a seasoned engineer seeking to make a significant impact and grow your career in a collaborative, technically excellent environment, this is an exceptional opportunity to explore.

Quick Overview

Salary
$162.4k - $203k/yr
Seniority
Leader
Employment type
Internship/Student
Work mode
On Site
Location
Chantilly, VA, United States
Posted
3 days ago

Job Description

At MITRE, your passion fuels work that impacts our nation and improves lives. This is where your skills strengthen national security, cybersecurity, health, transportation, and citizen services. We're a nonprofit engineering, applied research, and advanced technology organization working in the public interest. With objectivity and integrity at our core, we lead federally funded research and development centers for U.S. government agencies - collaborating with industry and academia to deliver integrated, high-impact solutions that advance our nation's health, security, and prosperity.

Our people tackle the toughest technical challenges, supported by competitive benefits, meaningful career development, and a culture of innovation, collaboration, and technical excellence. Choose MITRE for a career with purpose - and help shape the future. MITRE's National Space Program brings together leading technical talent and deep mission expertise to help shape the future of space operations.

We partner with organizations across the space enterprise to design, deliver, and advance next-generation capabilities that strengthen national security and support critical civil and defense missions. Through systems engineering, advanced analytics, and mission-focused research, our teams solve complex challenges, reduce risk, and accelerate innovation across the full space life cycle. Joining the National Space Program means contributing to work of national and global importance.

Our people help strengthen the digital and physical foundations that enable resilient, effective, and trusted space operations. Together, we are advancing mission assurance and empowering operators with the confidence and capabilities needed to succeed in an increasingly dynamic space environment.

Roles & Responsibilities: The MITRE National Space Program is looking for a Principal SIGINT Ground Systems Engineer who wants to drive innovative solutions, thought leadership, and evidence-based recommendations so the Intelligence Community (IC) can deliver the benefits and services to our Mission Partners. The role requires the ability to work across technical, operational, acquisition, and programmatic stakeholders to translate mission needs into executable system concepts, architectures, requirements, roadmaps, integration plans, acquisition artifacts, and engineering recommendations. The selected candidate will be expected to:

  • Apply systems engineering principles across the system development lifecycle, including mission analysis, concept development, system design, architecture definition, requirements development, integration, verification, validation, deployment planning, technical transition, and sustainment for SIGINT ground and mission systems.
  • Lead or support system design and architecture activities by translating sponsor mission needs, operational constraints, capability gaps and SIGINT mission requirements into system concepts, functional designs, technical approaches, and implementation options
  • Develop, assess, and refine system architectures for complex mission systems, including operational views, functional architectures, logical and physical architectures, interfaces, data flows, dependencies, integration points, and data architecture needed to support SIGINT collection, processing, exploitation, dissemination, and analysis.

Basic Qualifications

  • Typically requires a minimum of 10 years of related experience with a bachelor's degree; or 8 years and a master's degree; or a PhD with 5 years' experience; or equivalent combination of related education and work experience
  • Typically requires a degree in physics, applied mathematics, aerospace, software development for engineering/physical systems, mechanical engineering, or related discipline and work experience with a strong technical background
  • Experience applying systems engineering to SIGINT ground systems, including mission processing, exploitation workflows, interface definition, integration, and operational transition.
  • Experience with data architecture, including the design, assessment, or implementation of data models, data flows, data integration strategies, and data management approaches for complex mission or intelligence systems.
  • Must have an active Top Secret/SCI/Polygraph U.S Government issued Security Clearance. Per the U.S. Government's eligibility requirements, you must be a U.S Citizen to be considered for a security clearance.
  • This position has an on-site requirement of 5 days a week on-site.

Preferred Qualifications

  • Experience performing signals intelligence analysis, operations, mission engineering, or technical support for SIGINT mission systems.
  • Experience developing or assessing signal processing pipelines, exploitation workflows, or mission processing capabilities for intelligence systems. This requisition requires the candidate to have a minimum of the following clearance(s):
Top Secret/SCI/Polygraph This requisition requires the hired candidate to have or obtain, within one year from the date of hire, the following clearance(s):
Top Secret/SCI/Polygraph Salary compensation range and midpoint:
$162,400 - $203,000 - $243,600 Annual Work Location Type:
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