Senior Principal Systems Engineer – Weapons Fuzing

Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana / Remote ConsideredWork Arrangement: Onsite, Hybrid/Flex, or Remote for highly qualified candidatesTravel: Approximately 25%+ to Fort Wayne for remote candidatesIndustry: Aerospace / DefenseSecurity Clearance: Active DoD Secret requiredEmployment Type: Full-Time

Northwest Talent Solutions (NWTS) is conducting a highly targeted search for a Senior Principal Systems Engineer – Weapons Fuzing to help build and advance a next-generation weapons fuzing capability within a major defense technology organization.

This is not a traditional systems engineering position.

We're looking for an accomplished engineer who has actually designed, developed, qualified and fielded fuze systems and can bring that expertise to next-generation autonomous ground munitions, precision-guided weapons and related defense programs.

You'll serve as a senior technical authority while helping develop the next generation of fuze engineers.

What You'll Do:

You'll provide hands-on technical leadership across the fuze development lifecycle, including:

• Architecting and developing Electronic Safe Arm Fuze/Device (ESAF/ESAD) systems
• Designing Safe & Arm (S&A) mechanisms
• Developing environmental sensing for release, setback, spin and all-up-round environments
• Leading environmental qualification and testing of fuze systems
• Designing firing chains, including CDU/EFI technologies
• Supporting self-destruct and self-neutralization solutions designed to reduce unexploded ordnance
• Decomposing system requirements across ESD, S&A, firing circuitry and software
• Developing Built-in Test (BIT) capabilities for S&A, battery and sensor health
• Conducting or overseeing failure analysis, root-cause investigation and technical risk resolution
• Supporting fuze safety certification and review activities
• Mentoring engineers and helping establish a sustainable technical capability within the organization

What You Must Bring:

Because of the specialized nature of this work, several qualifications are essential:

• Active Department of Defense Secret clearance at the time of hire
• U.S. citizenship
• Significant hands-on fuze systems experience
• Environmental sensing design experience
• Environmental testing/qualification experience for fuze systems
• Safe & Arm mechanism design
• Firing chain design, including CDU/EFI
• Fuze system-level requirements decomposition
• Self-destruct/self-neutralization design experience
• Built-in Test (BIT) design experience
• Experience developing high-reliability electronics for safety- or mission-critical systems

Candidates should also bring familiarity with applicable standards and qualification environments such as MIL-STD-1316 or MIL-STD-1911, MIL-STD-331 and MIL-STD-810.

A bachelor's degree in Systems Engineering or a related engineering, science or mathematics discipline with 10+ years of relevant experience is expected. A master's degree with 8+ years of relevant experience may also qualify.

Experience That Will Set You Apart:

This team is particularly interested in engineers who have one or more of these harder-to-find capabilities:

• Personally presented before AFSRB or other fuze/explosives safety review boards
• Developed fielded fuzes for multiple military services
• Designed proximity or active-sensing fuze systems using RF, laser, acoustic or related technologies
• Integrated fuzing technology with autonomous UAS/UGV platforms
• Developed systems using MOSA/open-architecture principles
• Built physics-based simulations or digital twins for fuze applications
• Worked within organizations such as Picatinny Arsenal, NSWC, AFRL or comparable DoD laboratories
• Established relationships within the Army, Navy, Air Force or broader DoD fuze engineering community

Why This Opportunity?

You'll have the opportunity to become a foundational technical leader within an expanding weapons fuzing capability rather than simply joining an established program.

The work supports next-generation national security technologies, with access to sophisticated engineering programs and multidisciplinary teams.

The organization also offers significant flexibility for the right expert. The position may be performed onsite or in a hybrid arrangement in Fort Wayne, and fully remote/telework may be considered for candidates with particularly strong weapons-fuzing expertise. Remote employees should expect approximately 25% travel to Fort Wayne, with occasional additional travel around major program events.

Additional offerings include comprehensive benefits, retirement matching, paid time off, parental leave, professional development opportunities and the potential for a 9/80 schedule with every other Friday off.

Why Work With Northwest Talent Solutions?

NWTS brings 20+ years of executive and specialized talent search experience, combining high-touch recruiting with AI-enabled talent intelligence and market mapping.

For a search this specialized, we understand that keywords aren't enough.

Our team focuses on what you've actually designed, qualified, fielded and delivered. We aim to make the process efficient, confidential and technically relevant from the first conversation.

If you are a cleared fuze engineering expert ready to have significant influence over the development of a next-generation capability, we want to hear from you.

Apply confidentially through Northwest Talent Solutions.