Systems Engineer Associate Manager-Level 4
Lockheed Martin · Louisville, CO
$109,200–$192,510from the description
Jul 1, 2026
Louisville, CO
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
An associate manager role leading a multidisciplinary hardware development team building embedded systems, SoCs, and FPGA-based solutions for aerospace programs including the F-35, F-16, and Skunk Works projects. Day-to-day work spans architectural decisions, requirements through verification, FPGA simulation and analysis, and Agile delivery cycles. Suits an experienced systems engineer with embedded hardware/software background who is comfortable managing and mentoring engineers.
Senior level · 3+ years · National · Bachelor's required · Secret clearance · Full-time
Advertised as Mid, but the requirements read as Senior.
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
Why we read it this way (10)
The job title is 'Systems Engineer Associate Manager', which signals a people-management role with direct reports; 11-3021 (Computer and Information Systems Managers) is the primary SOC. However, the role retains heavy hands-on technical scope (FPGA simulation, architecture design, embedded systems), so 15-1299 is noted as a plausible runner-up.
Location is not specified beyond 'a designated Lockheed Martin facility' within the Aeronautics business unit. The salary range references California, Colorado, Maryland, Washington, and other states, suggesting multiple possible sites (e.g., Fort Worth TX, Palmdale CA). No CBSA could be pinned down.
The advertised title 'Associate Manager' maps to Mid on the advertised seniority scale, but the actual scope — leading a multidisciplinary team on F-35/F-16/Skunk Works programs with 3+ years of requirements management and technical leadership — supports a Senior classification.
The compensation range ($109,200–$192,510/year) is explicitly stated for specific states only; the posting notes the range may differ for other locations.
'Team leadership or Technical leadership experience' is listed as a Basic Qualification but is a soft/role-level requirement rather than a named technology; it is included as a skill given its explicit gate status in the requirements section.
'Requirements management' (3+ years) and 'test design, traceability, & verification' and 'system decomposition (DoDAF, MBSE or similar)' are all hard gates from the Basic Qualifications section. DoDAF and MBSE are treated as interchangeable alternatives for the system decomposition requirement.
FPGA, embedded systems, AMD/Xilinx toolsets, GitLab/Jira/Confluence, and CI/CD all appear under Desired Skills and are marked preferred.
The clearance requirement is a hard gate: candidates must be willing and able to obtain a DoD Secret clearance, and US citizenship is required.
Ignored 3 non-technology phrase(s) as skills (responsibilities/concepts, not named tools): team leadership, requirements management, test design and verification.
Requires a Secret clearance — the cleared population is a small fraction of this occupation, so the real candidate pool is materially smaller than the estimate below, which does not model clearance.
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