Role‐Based Structuring of Systems Engineering Teams

There is little documented information on how Systems Engineering (SE) teams are structured with respect to the various SE subdisciplines. This paper provides five possible role‐based structures to aid in filling this knowledge gap and in helping projects structure their own SE teams for success. The five structures range from a simple, single‐role structure to an advanced embedded SE with lead. The paper defines, illustrates, and presents key advantages and disadvantages for the structures. It also presents two real‐world examples to show the value of organizing or reorganizing SE teams to these structures. One focuses on large‐sized and complex waterfall project with a separate SE team restructuring for efficiency and growth opportunities and the other focuses on a medium‐sized and complex Agile project where the SE team restructures for better design definition and schedule efficiencies. Both show how a restructuring helped improve the overall quality of work, the integration with others in the project, and the overall understanding of the systems.