Senior Systems Engineer
Kraken Kinetics · Pinehurst
ABOUT KRAKEN KINETICS
Kraken Kinetics designs and manufactures advanced kinetic solutions that enable modern warfighting capabilities for the United States Armed Forces and its allies. We specialize in mission-tailored warheads and firing systems for unmanned and autonomous weapon platforms, delivering production-ready solutions at speed to address urgent national security challenges.
Our team brings decades of specialized Department of War experience across the full lifecycle of kinetic system development—from concept and design through testing, manufacturing, and operational deployment. Built on a foundation of work that helped lead the DoW into the era of kinetic drones, Kraken Kinetics combines commercial agility with deep technical expertise to deliver DEFINITIVE LETHALITY™ when it matters most.
Position Summary
Kraken Kinetics is seeking an experienced Senior Systems Engineer to support the development and maturation of advanced defense products within a small, fast-moving engineering organization.
This is a hands-on execution role. The Senior Systems Engineer will work directly across mechanical, electrical, firmware, test, manufacturing, and program functions to translate customer and operational needs into clear system requirements, interfaces, verification strategies, and technical baselines. The role will remain closely involved in day-to-day engineering execution and product development rather than operating primarily in a strategic or advisory capacity.
In addition to direct systems engineering work, this position will provide technical mentorship to less-experienced systems engineering personnel and help strengthen Kraken’s systems engineering practices as the organization grows. This includes establishing practical requirements structures, traceability approaches, review practices, verification methods, and technical documentation that improve engineering clarity without adding unnecessary process burden.
A key near-term responsibility will be helping implement and mature Jama Connect as Kraken’s requirements management platform. The Senior Systems Engineer will help establish effective project structures, requirements hierarchies, traceability relationships, review workflows, verification linkages, templates, and basic administration practices that support ongoing engineering execution.
Roles & Responsibilities
Develop, capture, decompose, allocate, and maintain system-level requirements derived from customer needs, operational use cases, internal product objectives, statements of work, applicable standards, and engineering constraints.
Work with mechanical, electrical, firmware, test, manufacturing, and program personnel to ensure requirements are clear, testable, technically appropriate, and actionable.
Develop and maintain requirements traceability, verification matrices, interface control documentation, system architecture artifacts, and related technical baselines.
Support system architecture development, interface definition, trade studies, technical risk assessment, and system-level engineering decisions.
Identify requirement gaps, conflicts, assumptions, dependencies, and technical risks early and work with stakeholders to drive resolution.
Coordinate with test and verification personnel to define verification methods, acceptance criteria, test coverage, and traceability between requirements and objective evidence.
Support design reviews, test readiness reviews, production readiness reviews, failure investigations, and other technical reviews.
Support development of compliance matrices, verification evidence, customer-facing technical documentation, and other controlled engineering artifacts.
Help maintain alignment between requirements, system architecture, detailed engineering development, verification, and configuration-controlled product baselines.
Provide technical mentorship to less-experienced systems engineering personnel, including guidance on requirements development, traceability, interface definition, verification planning, and system-level problem solving.
Help mature practical systems engineering processes, templates, review practices, and documentation standards appropriate for Kraken’s size, products, and stage of growth.
Support the implementation and ongoing maturation of Jama Connect as Kraken’s requirements management platform.
Develop and maintain Jama Connect project structures, requirements hierarchies, traceability relationships, verification linkages, review workflows, baselines, and reusable templates.
Support basic Jama Connect configuration and administration, including project organization, permissions, relationship rules, and governance practices as needed.
Help establish consistent engineering practices for using Jama Connect across product development efforts.
Provide guidance and training to engineering personnel on effective requirements development and use of the requirements management environment.
Required Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in Systems Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Computer Engineering, or another relevant technical discipline.
5+ years of relevant engineering experience, including meaningful hands-on experience performing systems engineering activities on complex products or systems.
Demonstrated experience developing, decomposing, allocating, and managing technical requirements.
Working knowledge of requirements traceability, interface management, verification planning, technical baselines, and engineering review processes.
Experience working across multiple engineering disciplines, including some combination of mechanical, electrical, firmware/software, test, manufacturing, and program functions.
Experience applying systems engineering practices in a defense, aerospace, high-reliability, safety-critical, or similarly structured engineering environment.
Ability to translate ambiguous customer, operational, or technical needs into clear engineering requirements and actionable technical work.
Strong technical communication skills, including the ability to work effectively with engineers, program personnel, leadership, customers, and external technical stakeholders.
Ability to independently execute systems engineering work while also coordinating effectively across a multidisciplinary engineering team.
Ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced development environment with evolving priorities, incomplete information, and multiple concurrent technical efforts.
Strong organizational skills and attention to technical detail.
Preferred Qualifications
Direct experience supporting defense programs, military systems, unmanned systems, autonomous systems, weapons systems, safe-and-arm systems, or other mission-critical products.
Experience with MIL-STDs, military qualification processes, safety-critical system development, environmental qualification, or compliance-driven engineering.
Hands-on experience using Jama Connect for requirements management.
Experience implementing, configuring, administering, or significantly expanding Jama Connect within an engineering organization.
Experience with other formal requirements management platforms such as IBM DOORS, DOORS Next, Polarion, or similar systems.
Experience establishing requirements hierarchies, traceability models, verification relationships, baselines, review workflows, and reusable templates within a requirements management platform.
Experience developing interface control documents, verification plans, compliance matrices, system architecture documentation, and customer-facing technical packages.
Experience supporting test planning, system integration, qualification testing, failure analysis, production transition, or technical customer reviews.
Experience mentoring junior engineers or helping develop systems engineering capability within a team.
Experience working in a small or rapidly growing engineering organization.
Familiarity with configuration management, engineering change control, PLM, and product lifecycle processes.
Active or prior U.S. security clearance.
Benefits included:
Generous PTO policy
Comprehensive medical coverage (80% company-paid for employee + dependents).
Vision & dental (100% company-paid)
Short and long-term disability coverage (100% company-paid)
Generous 401(k) retirement plan
Company-paid life insurance
Great teammates and well stocked snacks
LIFE IN MOORE COUNTY, NC (PINEHURST AREA)
Kraken Kinetics is based in Moore County, North Carolina, home to Pinehurst, a nationally recognized destination offering an exceptional quality of life.
Employees benefit from a low cost of living, minimal congestion, and a strong sense of community, with easy access to larger metropolitan areas, including Raleigh-Durham.
Whether you're looking to accelerate your career or put down long-term roots, the Pinehurst area offers a compelling alternative to traditional tech and defense hubs.
We are committed to supporting relocation for the right candidates.
Watch what it’s like to live here:
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EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
Kraken Kinetics is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees and welcome applicants of all backgrounds.
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