Principal Test Engineer

Job ID: 2614996

Location: San Diego, CA, US

Date Posted: 2026-07-27

Category: Engineering and Sciences

Subcategory: Test Engineer

Schedule: Full-Time

Shift: Day Job

Travel: Yes - 10% of the time

Minimum Clearance Required: None

Clearance Level Must Be Able to Obtain: Secret

Potential for Remote Work: ORA_HYBRID

Description

SAIC is seeking a Principal Test Engineer to support Medium Displacement Unmanned Surface Vessel (MDUSV) and related Test and Evaluation activities in San Diego, CA. Must be local to area. Must be able to travel up to 15%.

The Medium Displacement Unmanned Surface Vessel (MDUSV) program involves deployment of autonomous unmanned surface vessels (USV's) to demonstrate an enhanced warfighting capability to disrupt adversary activity in a given maritime region. This program seeks to advance unmanned autonomous USV war fighting capabilities while participating in high-visibility operations such as RIMPAC and Integrated Battle Problems. The MDUSV program is a multi-year effort managed by NIWC-PAC with PMS-406 as the Program Office and Unmanned Surface Vessel Development Squadron-1 (USVDIV1).

In this role, the candidate will be working with the Government IPT Lead and other support staff in the development and execution of directed Test and Evaluation events of Autonomous Systems and unmanned automation on developmental surface vessels. Support will also include supporting technology upgrades, In-Service Engineering to existing platforms, test/planning support to satisfy Program Office and Fleet demand signals.

JOB DUTIES:

• Skillset and knowledge coordinating personnel and finances for million-dollar programs.
• Skillset and knowledge to lead autonomy development and associated integration to support unmanned operations.
• Skillset and knowledge for leading or/and overseeing autonomous test, evaluation, demonstration, data collection, and reporting
• Communication skills to support NIWC program leadership briefings and reporting requirements.
• Conducting or executing of tests following established procedures
• Ship riding as part of testing

Qualifications

REQUIREMENTS:

• Bachelors degree in an engineering field and nine (9) years or more related experience.
• 5 years experience working with or on Unmanned Surface Vessels (USV)
• 5 years experience coordinating and supporting at-sea test events
• 5 years experience with vessel autonomy systems and operations
• Must be able to obtain a Secret Clearance after start
• Organizational, time-management, and communication skills.

Target salary range: $120,001 - $160,000. The estimate displayed represents the typical salary range for this position based on experience and other factors.


SAIC is a premier technology integrator providing full life cycle services and solutions in the technical, engineering, intelligence, and enterprise information technology markets. SAIC is Redefining Ingenuity through its deep customer and domain knowledge to enable the delivery of systems engineering and integration offerings for large, complex projects. SAIC's approximately 15,000 employees are driven by integrity and mission focus to serve customers in the U.S. federal government. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, SAIC has annual revenues of approximately $4.5 billion. For more information, visit saic.com. For information on the benefits SAIC offers, see .