Systems Design Engineer

About us:

One team. Global challenges. Infinite opportunities. At Viasat, we’re on a mission to deliver connections with the capacity to change the world. For more than 35 years, Viasat has helped shape how consumers, businesses, governments and militaries around the globe communicate. We’re looking for people who think big, act fearlessly, and create an inclusive environment that drives positive impact to join our team.

What you’ll do:

Position Summary

The Director, Air Force Solutions Engineering serves as the senior technical and strategic leader responsible for aligning Viasat’s capabilities to United States Air Force operational, mission, and modernization priorities across all five Viasat business areas. This role leads a distributed team of Air Force-focused Solutions Architects and technical strategists responsible for shaping integrated mission solutions, supporting strategic captures, driving customer engagement, and enabling cross-business collaboration to deliver differentiated operational outcomes for the Air Force customer.

Operating at the highest levels of technical influence and enterprise integration, this position works across business units, engineering organizations, business development teams, program leadership, and executive stakeholders to define and mature mission architectures spanning communications, networking, cyber, ISR, space, airborne platforms, mission systems, and digital integration.

Consistent with the Viasat Professional Job Category Level 6 framework, this role independently leads projects and programs that impact the success and future concepts of the business; exercises independent judgment in coordinating methods and techniques; and contributes as a top thought leader and subject matter expert guiding others in resolving complex issues.

The day-to-day:

Key Responsibilities

Enterprise Air Force Solutions Leadership

Lead the Air Force Solutions Engineering organization supporting all five Viasat business areas.

Establish and drive enterprise-wide technical strategy aligned to Air Force operational concepts, modernization priorities, and emerging mission needs.

Develop integrated mission architectures that combine capabilities across communications, networking, cyber, ISR, space, platform integration, mission computing, and digital engineering.

Serve as the senior technical integrator for Air Force mission solutions across the Viasat portfolio.

Solutions Architecture & Technical Strategy

Lead development of mission-level solution architectures for strategic opportunities, priority captures, and long-range growth initiatives.

Translate Air Force operational concepts, CONOPS, kill chains, and mission requirements into executable technical architectures and differentiated solution approaches.

Ensure solutions align with open systems architectures, MOSA/SOSA principles, digital engineering standards, and future Air Force interoperability requirements.

Drive technical roadmaps supporting Air Force initiatives involving resilient communications, tactical networking, PNT, airborne networking, space integration, autonomy, and distributed operations.

Customer Engagement & Mission Advocacy

Serve as a senior technical interface with Air Force operational commands, acquisition organizations, laboratories, program offices, and mission partners.

Engage with senior government leaders, engineers, operators, and acquisition personnel to shape requirements and align Viasat capabilities to mission needs.

Represent Viasat in technical interchange meetings, industry forums, architecture discussions, operational working groups, and strategic planning sessions.

Provide mission-informed thought leadership regarding future Air Force operational architectures and decision-dominance concepts.

Cross-Business Integration

Coordinate technical strategy and solution alignment across all five Viasat business areas to ensure unified customer engagement and enterprise capability integration.

Identify opportunities for technology convergence, reusable architectures, and integrated mission offerings across the enterprise.

Facilitate collaboration between engineering, product management, business development, capture, and program execution teams.

Drive alignment between internal technology investments and Air Force mission priorities.

Capture & Growth Support

Support strategic captures through technical solution development, proposal strategy, architecture…