Senior/SME Seeker Engineer – Long-Range Weapons

Title:

Senior/SME Seeker Engineer – Long-Range Weapons

Belong. Connect. Grow. with KBR!

KBR’s National Security Solutions team provides high-end engineering and advanced technology solutions to our customers in the intelligence and national security communities. In this position, your work will have a profound impact on the country’s most critical role – protecting our national security.

Why Join Us?

• Innovative Projects: KBR’s work is at the forefront of engineering, logistics, operations, science, program management, mission IT and cybersecurity solutions.
• Collaborative Environment: Be part of a dynamic team that thrives on collaboration and innovation, fostering a supportive and intellectually stimulating workplace.
• Impactful Work: Your contributions will be pivotal in developing and fielding advanced long-range weapon capabilities that ensure national security and strengthen the future joint force.

Position Summary:

KBR is seeking a highly experienced Senior to SME-level Seeker Engineering professional to support a U.S. Government program office developing and fielding advanced long-range weapon systems. This position will provide expert technical and programmatic support across seeker architecture, design, integration, performance assessment, risk reduction, test, and transition to production. The ideal candidate possesses deep, hands-on expertise with both radar and electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) seeker technologies and has supported air-to-air and air-to-ground missile or precision-guided weapon programs through development, integration, test, and fielding.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as a senior technical advisor to the Government program office on seeker technologies, architectures, performance, integration, and technical risk for long-range air-to-air and air-to-ground weapon systems.
• Evaluate contractor seeker concepts, designs, development plans, technical baselines, performance claims, risk-reduction activities, and maturation strategies.
• Assess active and passive radar seeker technologies, including radio-frequency front ends, antennas and arrays, transmit/receive modules, signal processing, waveform design, target detection, tracking, discrimination, and electronic-protection features.
• Assess EO/IR seeker technologies, including imaging infrared sensors, focal plane arrays, optics, cryogenic and uncooled detector approaches, image processing, automatic target recognition, scene-based navigation, and target tracking.
• Evaluate single-mode, dual-mode, and multimode seeker architectures and the allocation of functions among radar, EO/IR, onboard processing, navigation, datalinks, and weapon-level guidance and control.
• Assess seeker performance across representative air-to-air and air-to-ground missions, target sets, engagement geometries, environmental conditions, backgrounds, countermeasures, clutter, obscurants, and contested electromagnetic environments.
• Support Government evaluation of seeker requirements, specifications, interface definitions, verification methods, technical performance measures, and requirements traceability.
• Evaluate seeker integration with the weapon guidance, navigation and control system, mission computer, inertial navigation system, datalink, power and thermal systems, airframe, radome or optical window, and fire-control or launch-platform interfaces.
• Assess contractor modeling, simulation, hardware-in-the-loop, digital engineering, laboratory, captive-carry, flight-test, and live-fire test approaches used to verify seeker performance.
• Analyze seeker test data, anomalies, failure investigations, root-cause assessments, corrective actions, and technical trade studies; identify implications for performance, cost, schedule, and fielding risk.
• Support technical reviews, design reviews, test readiness reviews, program reviews, source selections, proposal evaluations, and other acquisition activities requiring independent seeker expertise.
• Research comparable radar, EO/IR, and multimode seeker approaches across the Department of War, allied programs, industry, and the broader technology base to identify applicable technologies, lessons learned, and risk-reduction opportunities.
• Evaluate opportunities to improve seeker affordability, modularity, commonality, open architecture, processing capability, software reusability, producibility, upgradeability, and resilience to evolving threats.
• Assess technology maturity, integration readiness, supplier dependencies, critical components, obsolescence, exportability, cybersecurity, software assurance, and transition-to-production risks associated with seeker solutions.
• Develop independent technical assessments, risk summaries, decision papers, briefing materials, test recommendations, and courses of action for Government stakeholders.
• Advise Government leaders on the seeker-related implications of acquisition strategies, contractor proposals, schedule assumptions, technical trades, test results, and fielding decisions.

Work Environment

• Location: On-site, Eglin AFB, FL
• Travel Requirements: Low to moderate, approximately 25%
• Working Hours: Standard work schedule; core hours 0900–1500

Qualifications

Required

• Active DoD Top Secret clearance required with SCI eligibility.
• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Physics, Optical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related technical field.
• 15+ years of relevant experience in radar, EO/IR, seeker, sensor, guidance, missile, precision-guided munition, or closely related defense system development; candidates may be considered at the Senior or SME level based on experience and technical depth.
• Demonstrated technical experience with both radar and EO/IR seeker technologies, including design, development, integration, performance analysis, test, or technical oversight.
• Experience supporting air-to-air or air-to-ground missiles, long-range weapons, precision-guided munitions, or comparable advanced weapon-system programs.
• Strong understanding of seeker phenomenology, target detection, classification and tracking, signal and image processing, guidance and fire-control interfaces, environmental effects, countermeasures, and weapon-system integration.
• Experience evaluating seeker requirements, architectures, contractor designs, modeling and simulation results, test plans, test data, anomalies, and technical risks.
• Experience with multimode seeker integration, sensor fusion, automatic target recognition, artificial intelligence or machine learning applications, or collaborative weapon concepts.
• Experience assessing seeker performance against representative threats and operational conditions, including electronic warfare, countermeasures, low-observable targets, adverse weather, cluttered backgrounds, maritime environments, and denied or degraded operating conditions.
• Experience planning, executing, or evaluating seeker test programs, including laboratory, modeling and simulation, hardware-in-the-loop, captive-carry, flight-test, and live-fire activities.
• Ability to independently assess complex seeker and sensor issues, identify key risks and uncertainties, and develop and communicate actionable recommendations to Government engineering, acquisition, test, operational, and senior leadership stakeholders.
• Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced Government program office supporting time-sensitive acquisition, development, integration, and fielding decisions.

Desired

• Advanced degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Physics, Optical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related discipline.
• 25+ years of seeker, sensor, missile, or precision-weapon experience, including recognized subject-matter expertise in radar, EO/IR, or multimode seeker systems.
• Experience evaluating contractor proposals, technical baselines, statements of work, specifications, test strategies, cost and schedule assumptions, or source-selection materials in support of Government acquisition decisions.
• Prior experience supporting a Government program office, System Program Office, acquisition organization, developmental test organization, operational test organization, defense prime, or seeker supplier.

Ready to Make a Difference?

If you’re excited about making a significant impact in the field of advanced weapon systems and working on projects that matter, we encourage you to apply and join our team at KBR. Let's shape the future together.

KBR Benefits

KBR offers a selection of competitive lifestyle benefits which could include 401K plan with company match, medical, dental, vision, life insurance, AD&D, flexible spending account, disability, paid time off, or flexible work schedule. We support career advancement through professional training and development.

Belong, Connect and Grow at KBR

At KBR, we are passionate about our people and our Zero Harm culture.  These inform all that we do and are at the heart of our commitment to, and ongoing journey toward being a People First company.  That commitment is central to our team of team’s philosophy and fosters an environment where everyone can Belong, Connect and Grow. We Deliver – Together. 

KBR is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, veteran status, genetic information, union status and/or beliefs, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.