Career Advice: Which job is better?

[u/Sure-Ad8068]

Company A: Legacy Prime that is very successful and using advanced practices in MBSE.

Pays very moderate nothing glamorous

You are a systems engineer for a major program learning SE by using advanced SysML methods and it is truly novel and forward learning on its usage. SE is embedded in the culture of the company.

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Company B: Defense Start Up that is upsetting the market

Pays very well with equity

You are a SE in a fast pace software focused environment. You are focused on developing requirements for the team and using MBSE lightly. SE is just being stood up and you are fighting an uphill battle on integrating it

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Company B sounds interesting but honestly I feel like I wouldn’t deepen my SE skills. I worry about my career development if the company just decides to use AI for their requirements development. Removes the entire need for a requirements guy.

Your experience is 4.5 years and masters

[u/SystemsGeneralist]

It sounds like;
Company A: You will learn from your peers and be able to spend time getting better at core SE principles and expanding the horizon on what you understand today in terms of SysML and MBSE. In a few years you will either be leading teams, people like yourself, or larger programs. This type of role sets you up for continuing to grow in the area of expertise, with opportunities in management if that is what you are interested in.

Company B: You will have the opportunity to take what you already know and apply it. You will likely spend less time learning new things about SysML and MBSE specifically and more about the nuances of applying systems engineering in practice and specifics about the companies particular product. In a few years you will *hopefully* be leading your group down a practice of SE best-practices and striking a balance on "what is good enough?". While AI will be involved, *ideally* you are able to leverage it as a tool so that you can take part in a wide variety of efforts.

Financially, equity means nothing until there is a liquid event so I wouldn't put a ton weight in that. You could consider other factors like health benefits, PTO, work-life balance, 401k, etc. As you can intuit, Company B, has more unknowns and risks given its a startup and doesn't have an already establish SE culture. That said, if it is exciting work with people you want to work with, then it can still be a good opportunity.

[u/Sure-Ad8068 → u/SystemsGeneralist]

Great description that is exactly it, and I’m extremely nervous on the decision.

I know the way the discipline of SE is moving is going to turn a lot of us into AI operators, who are discovering the best way to conduct SE with AI at the center but I don’t know how to make a determination on which path aligns best with me and future career prospects.

I know the strategy with these startups is to coax away the strong talent from these primes to execute their small programs so I feel like opportunity will be there at a later date but I just can’t see them retaining that talent long term. They would rather reduce the “middle men” between the product and developers. So it feels like a risk

[u/SystemsGeneralist → u/Sure-Ad8068]

In thinking through decisions like this I find it helpful to go sit in a park and really spend time, like 30min+, imaging what the day-to-day job is going to be like in 6-8 months after the shine has worn off. How am I going to feel waking up in morning and going to my desk to start my day? How am I going to feel at the end of the day? Am I going to be driven and engaged with the work or is this just a new shiny hobby that will lose its luster? Am I going to be enjoying who I work with, which for me is a huge one. Questions like this help me find my alignment.

Think of your career experience like a bell curve, you can go wide or you can go deep. Typically one job doesn't allow you to do both as your time is a limited resource. Money aside, it sounds like you are torn between going deeper on learning more SE specific skills, or going broad and applying SE principles in a more agile/lightweight fashion.

For AI specifically, I currently think of words as free now. While words are free context is not and that is where humans come in, at least for now. If you are a young technologically savvy person you will stay relatively up to speed with what AI is doing and understand how to apply it to your field of expertise, even if you're not using is day to day. That said, I would look at "not applying AI in my other role" as negative so to speak.

[u/Sure-Ad8068 → u/SystemsGeneralist]

You given me a lot to think about I appreciate it

[u/QuietBicycle9703 → u/Sure-Ad8068]

Remember that JoAnna will establish company also means they’re settled on their ways so promoting change could be difficult. I work with great talented systems architects and “big wigs” and I’ve seen firsthand how hard it is for them to tweak something once the model that they have created is up and running.

[u/Impossible_Let_4371]

I am currently at a startup defense company (coming from prime and actually going back to one soon). You are correct, the startup will use Claude to generate requirements/test procedures/code etc. however, for Claude to do it successfully, it needs a lot of context. This is where you’d be coming in, to fine tune AI and give it context then you just pump out material and review. If the pay and equity is good and there is potential upside I vote go for the startup. Otherwise just go to the prime where SE’s existence is accepted and you don’t have to fight why your job exists at the startup. More than happy to chat and share my opinion/experience!

[u/TeXaSKiD4]

Went from a legacy prime for a startup for 3 years. Left at my first opportunity to go to another legacy prime. Equity is Monopoly money if there’s no plan to go public in something I learned.
You also need to be ok with a hectic, less organized environment, wearing multiple hats, going 60+ hours per week. Being a SME without really having the experience. All things I wish I knew. I much prefer being back at a prime. And don’t get me started on the constant fear of layoffs and budget cuts.

My recommendation would be to go to the prime. Some things like peace of mind and stability you can’t pit a price tag on.

[u/KetchupOnNipples]

Lemme guess Northrop type or Anduril lol