Senior Spacecraft Systems Engineer - Optical Comms Verified today

About the role

The Senior Spacecraft Systems Engineer - Optical Comms leads systems engineering activities to define, develop, integrate, verify, and support complex aerospace systems throughout the product lifecycle. You will translate mission objectives, customer requirements, and system architecture into technical solutions that enable successful system integration and mission execution.

You will work within a multidisciplinary engineering environment, collaborating with software, hardware, mechanical, electrical, manufacturing, integration and test, mission operations, and program management teams to ensure systems meet technical, operational, cost, and schedule objectives. You will provide technical leadership from concept development through design, integration, verification, launch, and operational support.

What you will do

• Analyze customer, mission, and system-level requirements and decompose them into clear, verifiable system and subsystem requirements.
• Establish clear definitions for all hardware and software interfaces between optical communication payloads and the space vehicle.
• Research commercially available optical communication payloads and conduct source selection.
• Serve as primary technical contact with vendors through the full program lifecycle.
• Ensure requirements maintain end-to-end traceability to customer requirements, system architecture, and Concept of Operations (CONOPS).
• Define and manage hardware, software, electrical, mechanical, and data interfaces between system elements.
• Collaborate with cross-functional engineering teams to refine requirements for completeness, feasibility, technical accuracy, and manufacturability.
• Support requirements management, configuration management, baseline control, and engineering change activities.
• Identify technical risks, requirement gaps, ambiguities, and design issues early in the development lifecycle.
• Support system architecture development, technical trade studies, and engineering analyses to evaluate design alternatives and optimize system performance.
• Develop system verification and validation strategies, including verification methods (test, analysis, demonstration, and inspection), acceptance criteria, and verification levels aligned with program requirements.
• Define verification configurations, including hardware, software, firmware, and test environments required to support verification activities.
• Develop and maintain verification documentation, verification cross-reference matrices (VCRM), requirements traceability matrices, and verification evidence packages.
• Partner with Integration and Test teams to plan, coordinate, and support system integration and verification activities.
• Evaluate test results, resolve technical discrepancies, and support corrective actions to ensure compliance with system requirements.
• Support technical planning, Program Increment (PI) planning, staffing assessments, and engineering execution activities.
• Prioritize systems engineering activities to meet technical, cost, schedule, and program milestones.
• Participate in technical reviews, design reviews, customer meetings, and engineering milestone activities.
• Mentor junior engineers on systems engineering best practices, requirements development, traceability, verification, and technical documentation.
• Drive continuous improvement of engineering processes, systems engineering rigor, and technical documentation.

Required qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Systems Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Physics, or related technical discipline with typically 5-8 years of relevant experience; Master's degree in a related technical discipline with typically 3-6 years of relevant experience; or PhD in a related technical discipline with typically 0-3 years of relevant experience.
• Strong knowledge of systems engineering principles and the systems development lifecycle.
• Experience developing, managing, and verifying system and subsystem requirements.
• Knowledge of systems architecture, interface management, systems integration, and configuration management.
• Understanding of verification, validation, and systems integration processes.
• Ability to interpret customer requirements, Concept of Operations (CONOPS), and technical specifications to develop engineering solutions.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Visio).
• Experience with Requirements Management tools (Jama, IBM DOORS, or similar).
• Experience with Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) tools (CATIA Magic/Cameo, MagicDraw, or similar).
• Experience with systems modeling and simulation tools.
• Experience with collaboration platforms (Confluence, SharePoint, or similar).
• Experience with configuration management and version control tools (Git, GitLab, Bitbucket, or similar).
• Experience with issue tracking tools (Jira or similar).
• Strong analytical, troubleshooting, and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Effective written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Ability to collaborate effectively within multidisciplinary engineering teams.

Preferred experience

• Familiarity with spacecraft mission planning, launch support, and on-orbit operations.
• Experience supporting spacecraft system integration, mission readiness, and operational activities.
• Experience supporting aerospace, defense, or other highly regulated engineering programs.

US citizenship requirement

To conform with United States Government Space Technology Export Regulations, applicants must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, conditional resident, asylee or refugee (protected individuals as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)), or eligible to obtain required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Compensation and benefits

CesiumAstro considers several factors when extending an offer, including the role and associated responsibilities, work experience, education/training, and key skills. Full-time employment offers include company stock options and a generous benefits package including health, dental, vision, HSA, FSA, life, disability and retirement plans.