Senior Manufacturing Systems Engineer

General Dynamics is a leading company in high technology solutions and services. They are seeking a Senior Manufacturing Systems Engineer to lead the architecture and development of custom manufacturing execution systems, working closely with operations to create scalable, AI-native solutions.

Responsibilities:

• Lead the architecture of a custom MES and the broader manufacturing systems landscape, designed to scale from one site to all operations sites
• Apply manufacturing systems standards and patterns (ISA-95, equipment/work hierarchy, genealogy, traceability) to a modern, modular, cloud-native build
• Make the build-versus-buy and technology-stack decisions that set the foundation for every system that follows
• Bring outside-in perspective: translate how leading manufacturers run their operations into what good looks like here
• Define the scope, schedule, and expectations for the work you lead, operating with limited direction on ambiguous, undefined problems
• Serve as a technical lead, providing work direction and mentorship to other engineers as the team grows
• Design, develop, test, and deploy full-stack web applications for manufacturing execution, data integration, and operational intelligence
• Build AI-native applications with intelligence embedded from the architecture up
• Develop APIs, data pipelines, and integration layers that connect business systems into a unified data architecture
• Write clean, scalable code with a focus on enterprise-scale deployment across all operations sites
• Deploy in weeks, not months, using modern development tools including AI coding assistants
• Embed directly with operations users at GDMS sites to understand workflows and define requirements firsthand
• Own problems end to end: architecture, requirements, design, development, deployment, and support
• Translate complex manufacturing processes into working software through rapid prototyping and iterative delivery
• Build for the user, not the specification. The operator's experience matters more than the feature list
• Design data models that capture, normalize, and flow manufacturing data into a central data warehouse
• Build integrations between enterprise systems (ERP, PLM, CMMS, MRO) and shop-floor equipment using industrial protocols (OPC-UA, MQTT) where applicable
• Eliminate shadow data by building systems that capture critical manufacturing data digitally at the point of work
• Embed AI/ML capabilities into applications: predictive quality, anomaly detection, natural language data access, autonomous decision support
• Leverage large language models and AI coding agents as core tools in the development workflow
• Evaluate emerging manufacturing technologies (IoT, robotics, digital twins, computer vision) for integration into the team's roadmap
• Partner with Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Quality, Facilities, EH&S, Government Property, and all Operations personnel across multiple sites
• Work closely with IT infrastructure teams on cloud deployment, security compliance, and DevSecOps practices
• Communicate technical concepts clearly to non-technical stakeholders

Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in Software Engineering, or related Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics field, plus a minimum of 8 years of relevant experience; or Master's degree, plus 6 years relevant experience