Manager of Systems Design- DRT

Req Id: 395

Location:

GERMANTOWN, MD, US, 20876

Date: May 26, 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 1,000 employees, TDSI and its four subsidiaries (Advanced Acoustic Concepts, Digital Receiver Technology, 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 are seeking to fill a Systems Engineering Manager position located in our Germantown, MD Campus focused on our DRT (Digital Receiver Technologies) line of Electronic Warfare/ SIGINT software-defined radio technologies. This role is responsible for providing technical and organizational leadership and is well suited for a motivated and experienced engineering manager or design/ systems engineer with technical leadership experience. The ideal candidate possesses a strong technical understanding and systems design of hardware and software for SIGINT/EW equipment coupled with a strong understanding and experience in the organizational development of people and processes.

Responsibilities

• Provides technical and managerial leadership for the DRT Systems Engineering department.
• Proactively interfaces with engineering project leads, program management leads and engineering management in resolving issues, coordinating department staffing resources, equipment and facilities and managing department activities.
• Works with department staff to develop and achieve strategic business plan objectives.
• Provide subject matter expertise of DRT systems and products.
• Provide subject matter expertise of hardware and software systems (both integrated and modular designs) of high complexity and high-density which utilize RF transceivers, filters, microprocessors, DSPs, memory systems, FPGAs, user interfaces, antennas and high efficiency low noise power supplies capable of supporting advanced algorithms used in state-of-the-art SIGINT and EW products.
• Support product development teams with use case analysis, requirements capture and allocation, trade studies, architectural design, development and analysis, system implementation, unit level testing, automated testing, integration, verification and validation efforts and transition to manufacturing.
• Support Business Development with technical support for business capture, including customer meetings, RFI responses and white paper generation, requirements elicitation and proposal support.
• Develop technical proposals and support cost estimations.
• Evaluate competing products and solution offerings.
• Represent Thales/DRT at relevant industry forums.
• Develops, maintains and enforces Thales/DRT development processes and tools.
• Support design reviews and other technical interchanges.
• Support integration, installation, testing, evaluation, and troubleshooting of equipment during development phase and customer lab and field trials.
• Support government certification testing of equipment.
  
  

Supervisory Responsibilities

This position carries out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with the organization's operating policies and applicable laws. Responsibilities can include interviewing, hiring, training and developing employees; creating effective staff plans - assigning and directing work in a matrix organization; performance appraisals, rewarding and management of employee discipline when required; and addressing complaints and resolving conflicts. Active mentoring and development of staff is a critical element of the supervisory responsibilities to create a highly performing cohesive team.

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.
• BSCE, BSCS, BSEE, BSME, BSSE or equivalent.
• 8 years as a Design/ Systems Engineer, coupled with technical leadership experience.
• Must have strong presentation and writing skills. Fluent in English.
• Experience with system level design, development, and testing of tactical, secure, state-of-the-art military SIGINT/EW or communications systems.
• Experience with requirements elicitation, decomposition, traceability, and lifecycle management.
• Experience with vehicular/transportable rack mount modular systems or man portable/handheld integrated tactical communications or SIGINT/EW systems design.
• Knowledge of RF design, Digital design, Software design, and Information Security.
• Experience working in a laboratory environment with RF and Digital test equipment.
• Ability to comply with all Company guidelines, policies, procedures and embrace Company Core Values.
  
  

The annualized pay range for this role is $156,600- $200,100 USD along with a target incentive compensation plan (ICP) of 10%. 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 careers@thalesdsi.com.

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 Defense & Security, Inc., please call Human Resources at 202-961-1016.

Nearest Major Market: Washington DC