Basic Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, Human Sciences Design or Systems Engineering, a related specialized area or field is required (or equivalent experience) plus a minimum of 5 years of relevant experience; or Master's degree plus a minimum of 3 years of relevant experience. Agile experience preferred.

Department of Defense Secret security clearance is required within a reasonable period of time. Applicants selected will be subject to a U.S. Government security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information. Due to the nature of work performed within our facilities, U.S. citizenship is required.

Responsibilities for this Position

General Dynamics Mission Systems has an immediate opening for a Human Systems Integration Engineer at our Pittsburgh location. GDMS Human Systems Integration Engineers are members of Engineering Design and Development teams, focused on user interfaces, interactions and experiences for complex systems. HSI Engineers & Designers at GDMS - Pittsburgh utilize a diverse set of disciplines ranging from visual, graphic, and interface design to design systems, human factors, and decision engineeringwith every designer contributing different areas of specific concentration. We are embedded with the engineering teams to participate in guiding a product from conceptual design through production including research, ideation, concept development, user testing and interaction, wire-framing, high-fidelity mock-ups, and product guidance when collaborating with our development teams. This position provides an opportunity to further advance the cutting-edge technology that supports some of our nation's core defense/intelligence services and systems.

An important aspect of the HSI Engineer/Design team's work involves communication with end users and other stakeholders, then mapping out findings and assessments with systems and software engineers to incorporate into the finalized design. Capturing and communicating the human element of user work-flow and decision-making to a highly technical audience is the most valuable skill-set you can bring to our project team.

We make software that interactively visualizes data and enables massive collaboration. We make software that supports our men and women in the military, that smooths the way of emergency responders here at home, that offers insight to researchers and data analysts. We're a passionate, close-knit group of inter-disciplinary thinkers and doers that craft truly one-of-a-kind software used all over the world, and we do it from our cozy-casual office here in Pittsburgh.

YOUR STRENGTHS - What You Will Bring To Viz:

• Sensitivity to the end user's needs and passionate advocacy for them.
• Ability to brainstorm on the fly at the white-board and to incorporate feedback from all key stakeholders, welcoming ideas from every discipline -- You involve the team in your thinking early and often, or better yet, you do much of your thinking collaboratively.
• Compelling story-telling about your work -- You are comfortable communicating results and recommendations in appropriate mediums, such as storyboards, videos, or Power-Point. You can clearly convey your ideas, and you stay involved and iterate as development progresses.
• Enthusiasm and excitement for the challenge of making great tools for users.
• Identification of what you don't yet understand and self-motivation to work passionately to gain that understanding in service of your user -- You're able to learn quickly in a new context and immerse yourself in a challenge. When you see a problem, you roll up your sleeves and start fixing it, whether or not it's in your traditional wheelhouse.
• Prioritize and focus on things that have the most impact on the end user -- You have a scientific,
• fact-based approach; you filter out noise in order to target high-impact decisions. You're a systems thinker who can manage both local and global priorities.
• Writing and organization -- You are a writer and an organized thinker. You can manage difficult discussions with tact and diplomacy.

YOUR WORK MATTERS - You Will:

• Dig into complex problems to map them out then consider solution ideas, sketch them out and present them as ideas, for consideration and refinement; as final designs.
• Engage with stakeholders to elicit and balance needs and wants from end users, then document your findings for the team.
• Write compelling user stories and persona's designed to drive the design and help the engineers on your team understand the user's perspective.
• Articulate then act upon research goals that also include providing actionable recommendations to the team and negotiating the production impact against the useability gains.
• Create situations where you learn from and teach those around you with regularity and, by doing so, you'll improve your own process as well as that of the teams you work on.
• Use design tools like Adobe Creative Cloud, Azure, Visio, even Power-Point to capture your ideas and communicate them successfully.
• Create finalized design artifacts to the level needed by the team. Sometimes this requires a polished visual design document; sometimes a simple conversation and white-board sketch.
• Document and communicate how systems/software work and contribute to demonstrations, training, presentations.

EXPECTATIONS FOR YOUR GROWTH @ VIZ:

• You'll both learn from and teach those around you with regularity. You'll look for ways to continuously improve your own process as well as that of the teams you work on.
• You'll be familiar with or participate in human factors and usability research: Defining studies, creating methods, refining methods; conducting studies; analyzing data; writing reports with recommendations.
• You'll be able to rapidly identify and articulate potential usability issuesand decide what to test and at what level to test (for example: heuristic, informal or formal).
• You'll be comfortable using either existing research or creating new research methods to answer novel questions. You will identify what metrics you need and know how to gather and analyze them. You'll also know when they can be misleading and how to make decisions without them.
• In addition to Senior Designers or Lead Designers, our Engineers and Designers have advanced to roles as Product Managers, Project Managers, DPMEs (Deputy Program Manager - Engineering) and Researchers.

POSITION REQUIREMENTS:

• Must be able to travel 15% of the time.
• Due to the nature of work performed within our facilities, U.S. citizenship is required.
• Must be capable of obtaining a Security Clearance.
• Portfolio of design artifacts representing your skill-set

As you consider this unique position @ GDMS - Pittsburgh consider the following testimonial from someone on our team

"I used to work for a company that made collaborative software for online shopping and, before that, for a company that facilitated convention bookings". So, I'll always gravitate towards creating/improving user experiences. Butshopping and conventions don't compare to what I'm working on right now at GDMS: How do people and systems work together to do Command and Control in Space? And, I'm making a very real contribution to our nation's national defense!

Every day is different and gets my brain engaged on so many dimensions. I love that in the morning, I might be researching the role of a Collection Manager using an Air Force/Space Force Joint Publication and in the afternoon, white-boarding out how data gets from the collection point to be processed (one of the technologies my project team is working on). Then, tomorrow, I will work with Systems Engineers or System Architects to ask about some details of how long it'll take with network limitations because the users have told me that response time is their most critical constraint.

I sit back in meetings and marvel how lucky I am to work with the smartest people on the planet!! They don't treat me like I'm 'just a designer'limiting my role or my input. I'm in their JIRA backlog, in their meetings and reading their documents. I dig in on the technical details while they dig in on the human details and, we just keep each other and, our projecton track." -- Conceptual Designer, GD-MS.

Company Overview

General Dynamics Mission Systems (GDMS) engineers a diverse portfolio of high technology solutions, products and services that enable customers to successfully execute missions across all domains of operation. With a global team of 12,000+ top professionals, we partner with the best in industry to expand the bounds of innovation in the defense and scientific arenas. Given the nature of our work and who we are, we value trust, honesty, alignment and transparency. We offer highly competitive benefits and pride ourselves in being a great place to work with a shared sense of purpose. You will also enjoy a flexible work environment where contributions are recognized and rewarded. If who we are and what we do resonates with you, we invite you to join our high performance team!

General Dynamics is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer that is committed to hiring a diverse and talented workforce. EOE/Disability/Veteran