About Forterra

At Forterra, we are unleashing autonomy at scale to transform the battlefield. Our mission is to build the foundational platforms that enable an intelligent ecosystem to coordinate, adapt, and execute with speed and precision even in the uncertainty and disruption of modern conflict. In an era marked by rapid technological change and evolving threats, we design for flexibility, survivability, and operational dominance.

Forterra delivers weapons, sensors, and battlefield effects through integrated autonomous networks reaching operational areas faster, safer, and without placing human lives at risk. Our systems operate with distributed control, dynamic routing, and real-time responsiveness, enabling sustained advantage across complex mission environments.

About the role

Forterra is seeking an experienced Systems Engineer to join our team and drive efforts in the development of autonomous systems. The candidate will utilize sound engineering practices to support technical planning, system definition, system integration and verification and validation activities. 

We're looking for an experienced hardware-focused systems engineer that can bring together cross-functional teams necessary to build and deploy highly performant automotive compute and sensor suites. Excellent communication skills and ability to work with multiple stakeholders in a fast-paced environment is critical to success in this role.

What you'll do

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams on the development of concepts of operation, use cases, system architectures and system requirements. 

• Ensure traceability of requirements across architectures, analyses and verification plans throughout the project lifecycle. 

• Lead the development of system architectures and ICDs. 

• Support programs with preparation and coordination of activities for technical gate reviews (ex. PDR, CDR, SRR etc.) for various systems of interest. 

• Participate in system-level trade studies and analyses. 

• Collect metrics and communicate with program stakeholders and management in a timely manner, identifying both technical and programmatic risks.  

• Deliver presentations to internal and external stakeholders to effectively communicate proposed concepts, solutions, and analysis results. 

• Participate and support with verification and validation activities of automotive hardware products.

Minimum Qualifications

• Education and Experience Level: 

• • Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Embedded Systems Engineering, Robotics or related area with 4+ years of experience 
  • Master’s Degree in related area with 3+ years of experience  

• Systems engineering skills and qualifications through education or experience including requirements definition/allocation/traceability, interface definition, verification and validation. 

• The ability to understand, define and develop system specifications, architectures, interfaces. 

• Hands-on experience with verification and validation activities.
• Knowledge and experience of product development through traditional waterfall and agile practices.

• Familiarity with embedded systems, compute modules, and sensors, preferably in the automotive space. 

• Experience with developing safety critical systems through the product lifecycle. 

• Experience with Requirement Management Tools (such as Jama, Doors). 

• Familiarity with Hardware Development principles and ability to collaborate with HW engineering experts. 
  
  

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience developing architectures in an MBSE environment (BDD, IBD, State Machines, Sequence, Activities, Parametric, etc), preferably in Cameo/MagicDraw. 

• Experience with electrical and environmental standards for regulated industries, including automotive, military, aerospace, or medical, such as MIL-STD-1275, MIL-STD-461, MIL-STD-464, MIL-STD-810.
• Familiarity with safety standards for regulated industries, such as ISO-26262 and MIL-STD-882E. 

• Familiarity with Cybersecurity principles and ability to collaborate with cybersecurity experts. 

• Familiarity with Machinery Standards (ISO 12100, ISO 13849, ISO 3691). 

US Salary Range
 $130,000 - $145,000

Location

On-Site in Clarksburg, MD

The salary range for this role is an estimate and is based on a wide variety of compensation factors. The salary offered to candidates will vary based on a variety of factors including (but not limited to) relevant work experience, education, specialized training, critical expertise, training, and more. Equity in Forterra is included in most of our full-time, high-demand roles and is therefore considered part of Forterra’s overall compensation package. In addition to base salary and equity, Forterra offers competitive benefits for full-time employees including:

• Premium Healthcare Benefits: Three plan options, including an HSA-eligible plan, with Forterra covering 80% of the plan premium for you and your dependents.  
• Basic Life/AD&D, short and long-term disability insurance plans 100% covered by Forterra, plus the option to purchase additional life insurance for you and your dependents.
• Extremely generous company holiday calendar including a winter break in December.
• Competitive paid time off (PTO) offering 20 days accrued per year.
• A minimum of 7 weeks fully paid parental leave for birth/adoption. 
• A $9k annual tuition reimbursement or professional development stipend.
• Fully stocked beverage refrigerators with all the Celsius your little heart desires. 
• 401(k) retirement savings plan, including traditional, Roth 401(k), and after-tax deferral with company match up to 4%.

Your recruiter will be able to share more information about our salary and benefits offering during the hiring process.

CLEARANCE ELIGIBILITY - This position may require eligibility to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance. For more information about U.S. Security Clearances: click here.   

Forterra is an equal-opportunity employer, providing and promoting equal employment opportunity in all personnel practices. Forterrans are unique, talented individuals who are united through a shared passion to deliver autonomous systems that enable national resilience and a robust supply chain.  

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any factor, including veteran and disability status, and criminal history, in accordance with applicable local, state, and federal laws.

Forterra is also committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. Please let your recruiter know if you need an accommodation at any point during the interview process.

To see Forterra’s candidate data privacy policy, please visit Forterra Legal | Job Applicant Privacy Notice.