Product Engineer

Position Title: Product Engineer
Requisition ID: 1782
Position Location: Fairfax, VA
Position Reports To: Principal Product Manager
Supervises Others: No

Trident has built a reputation as a trusted provider of aerospace and defense electronics & processing systems including digital RF & Optical command and control solutions and atmospheric & airborne sensors. Our three operating units: Space Electronic Systems (SES), Integrated C4ISR Systems (ICS) and Optical Precision Systems (OPS), develop within the agile framework which enables us to produce proven, purpose-built systems that solve our customers' mission critical challenges across space, air, land, and sea.

Trident's Integrated C4ISR Systems (ICS) specializes in products and services which improve the safety and survivability of our armed forces. We develop solutions for a wide range of demanding missions and environments, including tactical communications systems for multi-national interoperability, autonomous predictive maintenance and logistics solutions, and scalable, responsive, all-domain surveillance systems. Trident's integrated systems support the protection of the National Capital Region and various military installations both domestic and abroad. We can deliver innovative, high-performance solutions that meet our customers' evolving requirements by integrating our specialized knowledge in electronic systems with appropriately scaled development methodologies.

Position Summary

The Product Engineer serves as a technical execution and integration lead within Trident's ICS Business Unit, responsible for translating product and engineering leadership guidance into coordinated, actionable work across lab-based development efforts.

This role bridges systems engineering, product management, and hands-on development by ensuring that engineering activities remain aligned, synchronized, and progress efficiently across multiple product lines, primarily within Predictive Maintenance & Logistics (PM&L) and Multi-Domain Communications (MDC) portfolios. The Product Engineer operates as a direct extension of business unit and product leadership, driving day-to-day technical execution, integration planning, and design alignment within the lab environment.

The position emphasizes rapid iteration and practical implementation through the development of clear integration concepts, lightweight design artifacts, and continuous coordination across electrical, mechanical, and software engineering teams. The role requires strong situational awareness of ongoing work, the ability to reduce ambiguity, and the ability to translate high level direction into discrete tasking to realize business unit priorities.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Drive translation of high-level product and engineering guidance into actionable technical direction for relevant lab and engineering personnel
• Coordinate day-to-day lab activities to ensure alignment across hardware, software, and integration efforts
• Maintain awareness of ongoing development work and proactively identify gaps, conflicts, and integration risks
• Develop and communicate initial design concepts including cable assemblies, pinouts, enclosure layouts, and system interconnects using standard tools (e.g., Excel, PowerPoint, Visio)
• Provide clear, structured guidance to engineers to enable efficient execution of detailed designs and implementations
• Ensure system-level integration across subsystems remains cohesive and aligned with overall architecture intent
• Support rapid prototyping and iterative development cycles by clarifying requirements and reducing execution ambiguity
• Collaborate with engineering managers to align technical priorities with available resources and ongoing work
• Track progress of key development activities and elevate risks or blockers to leadership as needed
• Document integration approaches, design concepts, and technical decisions in formats usable by engineering teams
• Participate in design discussions, technical interchange meetings, and internal reviews to ensure alignment across efforts
• Support system bring-up, integration validation, and lab-based testing activities
• Assist with preparation for demonstrations or field activities as required

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering or related technical field, or equivalent practical experience
• 6+ years of related experience OR 4+ years with a Master's degree (10+ years in lieu of a bachelor's degree)
• Experience in systems engineering, product development, or technical integration roles
• Experience working in lab-based development and integration environments
• Demonstrated ability to translate high-level technical direction into actionable engineering guidance
• Experience developing conceptual or integration-level designs (e.g., cable definitions, layouts, system diagrams)
• Proficiency with standard Microsoft tools (Excel, PowerPoint, Visio, etc.)
• Strong understanding of multidisciplinary systems (hardware, embedded systems, communications, and integration)
• Ability to operate independently, prioritize work, and maintain situational awareness across multiple efforts
• Strong communication skills across engineering and leadership teams

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working across multiple product lines or technical domains
• Familiarity with C4ISR systems, tactical communications, and/or vehicle-based platforms
• Experience supporting rapid prototyping or iterative hardware/software development environments
• Exposure to system integration, test, and verification processes
• Experience working in DoD or defense-related programs
• Familiarity with basic mechanical or electrical design concepts sufficient to communicate integration intent
• Experience supporting internal lab builds, system bring-up, or integration events

Benefits

Hired applicants may be eligible for benefits including but not limited to:

• Health benefits
  • Medical
  • Dental
  • Vision
  • Basic life with AD&D
  • Short term disability
  • Long term disability
  • Ancillary (Voluntary life with AD&D, accident, critical illness, hospital, and pet)
  • Spending accounts (HSA, FSA, and DCFSA)
• Paid time off
• Holidays
• 401(k) (including automatic company contribution)
• Tuition reimbursement
• Leaves (Parental, pregnancy, and military)
• Potential annual bonus

Trident Systems reserves the right to change or assign other duties to this position.

Trident Systems is an affirmative action and equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. To request reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, please contact recruiting@tridsys.com.

Pay Transparency: The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor's legal duty to furnish information. 41 CFR 60-1.35(c)