Subsystems Integrator

Subsystems Integrator a.k.a The Systems Engineer

Marine Science Subsystems Integrator

Core Competency

• Create Direction, Alignment and Commitment
• Critical thinking and problem solving
• Excels at decision-making
• Primary Leadership and Planning (leader of leaders)
• Leads Conflict resolution
• High Degree of Adaptability
• Stress Tolerant
• Engages in contract negotiation

Technical Assessment responsibilities

Establish event-driven technical planning Identify appropriate measures and metrics Identify performance measures to assess program health and technical progress Conduct analyses to determine risk and to develop risk mitigation strategies Conduct assessments of technical maturity, process health and stability, and risk to communicate progress to stakeholders and authorities at key decision points Propose changes in the technical approach to address risk mitigation activities Advise the PM regarding the technical readiness of the program to proceed to the next phase of effort Obtain independent subject matter experts as appropriate for reviews and audits

Primary Roles and Responsibilities

Requirements Management

Requirements are the foundation of the program and requirements management process helps ensure delivery of capability that meets intended mission performance objectives. Performance objectives are identified in operational terms at the system level during implementation of the Requirements Definition and Requirements Analysis processes.

The Subsystems Integrator these responsibilities:

• maintain a current and approved set of requirements
• thoughtful analysis and management of requirements insuring for system sustainability
• synchronization with the program’s Configuration Management process to mitigate unintended or unanticipated consequences due to change
• rigorous documentation of changes to the system performance specification

Process Responsibilities

The PM should keep leadership and all stakeholders informed of cost, schedule, and performance impacts associated with requirement changes and requirements growth.

Through the Requirements Management process, the Systems Engineer tracks requirements changes and maintains traceability of end-user needs to the system performance specification and, ultimately, the delivered capability.

As the system design evolves to lower levels of detail, the Systems Engineer traces the high-level requirements down to the system elements through the lowest level of the design.

The Systems Engineer also establishes and maintains a Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM) that captures all requirements in the system performance specification, their decomposition/ derivation and allocation history, and rationale for all entries and changes.

Risk Management

The Systems Engineer is responsible for prioritizing identified technical risks and developing mitigation actions. The Program Manager reviews and approves the risk priorities and mitigation plans and ensures that required resources are available to implement the mitigation plans.

Activity Intent Is to Answer the Question

Risk Identification

What can go wrong? What is the future root cause?

Risk Analysis

How big is the risk? What is the probability of occurrence? What is the consequence of occurrence? Risk Mitigation

What is the program approach (cost, schedule, and technical) for addressing this potential root cause or unfavorable consequence?

How can the planned risk mitigation be implemented? How do we ensure that successful risk mitigation occurs?

Risk Monitoring

How are risk management plans going?

Configuration Management

Configuration management is the means by which the results of the systems engineering effort are documented and tracked as changes occur.

The Configuration Management process allows technical insight into all levels of the system design and is the principal methodology for establishing and maintaining consistency of a system’s functional, performance, and physical attributes with its requirements, design, and operational information throughout the system's life cycle.

Configuration Management consists of five interrelated functions that, when collectively applied, allow the program to maintain consistency between product configuration information and the product throughout its life cycle.

The following are the five Configuration Management functions:

Configuration Management Planning and Management is a formal document and plan to guide the Configuration Management program that includes items such as:

Personnel Responsibilities and Resources Training requirements Administrative meeting guidelines including a definition of procedures and tools Baselining processes Configuration control and Configuration status accounting Naming conventions Audits and Reviews Configuration Identification Configuration Change Management Configuration Status Accounting Configuration Verification and Audit

Interface Management

The Interface Management process helps ensure that developers document all internal and external interface requirements and requirements changes in accordance with the program’s Configuration Management Plan.

Developers also should communicate interface information to their counterparts responsible for affected systems and system elements, and should plan for coherent testing to verify expected performance and ultimately operational performance. Interface management is an iterative process. As knowledge of the system and system elements increases during design activities, verifiable lower-level requirements and interfaces are defined and refined.

Developers should assess impacts of the originally defined capabilities and interfaces, performance parameter thresholds and objectives, and the overall system when defining and modifying interfaces.

important that the nature of the interfaces be carefully documented to ensure proper function and interoperability.

Integration Plan

The PM and SE are responsible for planning, managing, and executing the Integration process.

Programs that develop an integration plan are more successful.

This plan defines the stages of integration, during which system elements are successively integrated to form higher level elements, and eventually the finished product.

The integration plan should include a description of the required teams, test standards, testing methods, and integration schedule.