Principal Systems Engineer- Avionics Design & Integration

Req Id: 227

Location:

AURORA, IL, US, 60504 CLARKSBURG, MD, US, 20871

Date: Feb 23, 2026

Thales Defense & Security, Inc. (TDSI) Headquartered in Clarksburg, MD, is a U.S. company that has been serving domestic and international defense Air, Land and Sea domains for 60+ years. With over 1000 employees, TDSI and its four subsidiaries (Advanced Acoustic Concepts, Digital Receiver Technologies, Tampa Microwave, and Trusted Cyber Technologies), supports U.S. Joint Services, special operations forces and multi-national partners with a variety of communication, visualization, signal intelligence/electronic warfare, and sensor/sonar capabilities. TDSI’s key technologies include tactical handheld radios, expeditionary satellite terminals, helmet-mounted displays, optics and target recognition capability, advanced radars, undersea sensing and missile systems. Lives depend on what we do!

Top Benefits (Subject to terms of applicable policies/plans)

• Competitive Salary
• Yearly Incentive Compensation Plan
• Medical insurance for self and eligible family members
• Generous 401(k) program- up to 7% company contribution and 100% immediate vesting
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Paid wellness, vacation, and holiday leave
• Paid maternity, paternity, and parental leave
• 9/80 Work Schedule (every other Friday off)
• Hybrid Working Environment

We currently have an opening in our Clarksburg, MD OR Aurora, IL office for a Principal Systems Engineer . This position reports to the Mechanical/ Systems Engineering Manager. The Principal Systems Engineer provides Technical Leadership on Helmet Mounted Display (HMD) design activities including bids, requirements decomposition and flow down, verification, testing and troubleshooting. The candidate will work as a member of a design team that includes Systems, Software, Electrical, Mechanical and Field Service. The candidate must be comfortable working directly with customers and potential customers, and will work with and support Business Development in the early phases of business capture. The candidate will need to possess extensive knowledge of head and helmet-mounted display systems.

Responsibilities

• Support Business Development with customer meetings, requirements elicitation, architecture development, and systems implementation.
• Provide subject matter expertise as a project design authority of Helmet Mounted Display (HMD) systems.
• Support product development teams with use case analysis, requirements capture and allocation, architectural analysis and design, unit level testing, integration, verification and validation efforts, and transition to manufacturing.
• Collaborate with our European divisions in the development of new products and product roadmaps capturing unique requirements for the U.S. market.
• Develop technical proposals and support cost estimations.
• Evaluate competing product and solution offerings.
• Represent Thales at relevant industry forums.
• Serve as a customer liaison, supporting design reviews and other technical interchanges.
• Support field installation, testing, evaluation, and troubleshooting of equipment.
• Provide technical consultation for solving design issues in HMD, Crash and Ejection safety analysis and tests.
• Provide technical consultation on emerging and adjacent markets.
• Provide technical counsel to engineering management.
• Travel up to 25% of the time.

Qualifications

The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• U.S. Citizenship required. - Applicants selected may be subject to a government security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information.
• Bachelor’s Degree in Aerospace Engineering, Systems Engineering or related discipline.
• 8+ years as a Systems Engineer in Aerospace (Military or Commercial) or related industry.
• Strong knowledge of Avionics products and related technology is required, Helmet Mounted Display (HMD) technology a large plus.
• Must have working knowledge of relevant industry standards (DO-254, DO-160, DO-178, MIL-STD-461 and MIL-STD-810).
• Experience integrating subsystems onto aircraft or helicopters.
• Experience working within AS9100D or similar process environments.
• Ability to take ownership of assigned work.
• Must have experience in troubleshooting and resolution of technical problems.
• Experience in requirements definition, bidding and execution.
• Must be capable of working independently or as part of a team on assigned tasks.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills. – Fluent in English
• Ability to comply with all Company guidelines, policies, procedures and embrace Company Core Values.

The annualized pay range for this role is $137,994- $176,326 (MD)/ $133,410- 170,469 (IL) USD along with a target incentive compensation plan (ICP) of 5% . The pay range provided is a good faith estimate representative of the experience level for the role described above. TDSI considers several factors when extending an offer, including but not limited to, the role, function and associated responsibilities, a candidate’s work experience, location, education/training, and key skills.

For specific questions about this job posting, candidates may contact talent acquisition at [email protected].

Thales Defense & Security, Inc. is committed to non-discrimination as applicable under federal, state and local laws. We are an E-Verify Employer.

If you need an accommodation or assistance in order to apply for a position with Thales, please call Human Resources at 202-961-1016.

Nearest Major Market: Aurora

Nearest Secondary Market: Chicago