Systems Engineer
Autonomous systems fail at the seams. Systems engineers are the people whose job is to make sure the seams hold from concept through CDR through delivery.
Courses for this role
Foundations
Systems thinking, requirements engineering, and the INCOSE body of knowledge that defense programs run on.
The reference. Every systems engineer in defense has read it.
The default lifecycle for defense and aerospace programs.
Build the stack
Modeling tools, ICDs, and the trade-study discipline that fills your week.
Model-based systems engineering is now standard at most primes.
DODAF 2.0 (and its newer UAF replacement) defines the architecture views — OV, SV, DIV — every DoD program is required to deliver. Knowing which view answers which review question is the senior SE move.
How subsystem teams promise not to break each other.
Defense decisions get made on AoAs, not on opinions.
The MBSE tool most defense primes have standardized on.
Industry-standard requirements management systems.
Field experience
Verification & validation, program reviews, and the customer-facing side of systems work.
The bridge between requirements and acceptance.
Recognized industry certification for defense SEs.