Systems Engineer, SME at Integral
Picatinny Arsenal, NJ
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Aug 9, 2026
Picatinny Arsenal, NJ
Sep 24, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A defense contractor role supporting the full engineering lifecycle for several military NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical) sensor detection programs. Day-to-day work spans hardware/firmware integration, serial and Ethernet communication interfaces, legacy system obsolescence review, embedded controller programming, and system testing — requiring both low-level electronics hands-on skills and systems engineering process knowledge. Suited to an experienced engineer comfortable bridging hardware, firmware, and software in a cleared defense environment.
Senior level · 10+ years · Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV · Bachelor's required · Secret clearance · Full-time
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“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.
How this req sits in the market our data
Rare in this occupation — lead with these, and say what you built with them.
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $160,085 (middle half $128,934–$179,584).
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Aug 12, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (6)
The SOC classification is a judgment call: this role blends hardware/firmware embedded engineering with systems engineering lifecycle processes. 15-1299 (Computer Occupations, All Other) is used as the closest fit for a systems engineer whose primary work involves embedded hardware/software integration; 15-1211 (Computer Systems Analysts) is a plausible alternative given the systems-of-systems integration and test focus.
The serial interface skills (RS-232, RS-422, RS-485, Ethernet, USB) are listed together as a single required block; they are emitted as separate skills since each is a distinct, named interface standard. The alternatives fields reflect that the posting groups them as a family, but in practice each is a distinct requirement.
Laboratory test equipment (oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzers, logic analyzers, digital multimeters) appears in the responsibilities/subject-matter-expertise narrative rather than a formal requirements section, so these are marked preferred.
No compensation figures are stated in the posting.
The posting is headquartered in McLean, VA; no specific work site for this role is given, but the defense program context strongly implies an on-site or local requirement in the DC metro area.
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.
Read the full posting
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