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Staff Mission Lead Systems Engineer Verified today

Muon Space · San Jose, CA · Space Systems · first seen 2026-08-08
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About the Role

Muon seeks a Staff Mission Lead Systems Engineer to join the Mission Execution team. You will partner with the Mission Architecture team during early mission formulation and study phases, shaping technical concepts, driving architecture trades, and developing requirements baselines for prospective missions. When a mission you helped formulate is selected for implementation, you will become the Mission Lead Systems Engineer, owning end-to-end technical success from concept through on-orbit operations.

You will have a full-lifecycle view of mission design, spanning initial formulation with the Business Development team, execution with space vehicle hardware and software teams, and on-orbit validation with the Operations team. You will be the primary technical interface with customers and cross-functional team leads to develop requirements and ICDs, perform system modeling, develop test plans with AI&T teams, and identify and reduce risk across the program with Program Managers.

Success in this role requires the ability to right-size analysis and processes for differing levels of system maturity and risk, flexibility to work with changing demands and schedules, and effective communication of technical content to a diverse audience.

Responsibilities

  • Partner with the Mission Architecture team during study efforts to develop mission concepts, run architecture trade studies, and shape technical baselines for prospective missions and proposal responses.
  • Develop and maintain mission-level system models, including architecture, requirements, interfaces, and behavior models, carrying these artifacts forward from study phase into implementation as the authoritative technical baseline.
  • Serve as the ultimate technical authority for your designated mission, leading conceptualization, design, and development. Drive critical cross-functional technical trades and decisions to ensure mission success.
  • Lead the tailoring and implementation of the Muon mission design process for your designated mission, ensuring alignment with program needs while contributing to process refinement across all missions.
  • Own the translation of customer objectives and stakeholder needs into clear, verifiable, and actionable technical requirements for your designated mission.
  • Serve as the primary technical point of contact for your designated mission, interfacing with customers, partners, and internal stakeholders on all technical matters.
  • Manage requirements traceability, verification, and validation.
  • Define mission CONOPS and manage subsystem budgets (power, data, mass, pointing/stability).
  • Identify and mitigate internal and external mission risks, communicating impacts effectively.
  • Assess and coordinate design changes across disciplines throughout the program lifecycle.
  • Lead design, test readiness, and flight readiness reviews.
  • Monitor on-orbit spacecraft and data pipelines to ensure mission success and that customer requirements are met.
  • Foster deep collaboration with and provide technical direction to systems, hardware, software, data, ground segment, and operations teams for your designated mission, and support these interactions across other missions.
  • Serve as Mission Lead Systems Engineer for one mission while contributing general systems engineering expertise and support to other Muon missions, potentially deputizing for other Mission Lead Systems Engineers as needed.
  • Contribute to the continuous improvement of engineering processes, tools, and methodologies to enhance efficiency and effectiveness in mission development and operations.

Required Qualifications

  • B.S. or higher degree in an engineering field and 10+ years of experience in complex system, mission architecture, and/or spacecraft design, with a focus on high-rigor development for government and/or demanding commercial customers.
  • Demonstrated experience as a technical lead (e.g., Chief Engineer, Lead Systems Engineer) on at least one complex system design for USG, DoD, IC customers, and/or commercial customers.
  • Experience with major space programs for USG, DoD, IC customers, and/or commercial customers.
  • Experience with USG/IC acquisition programs, standards for space systems development, and mission assurance standards.
  • A strong understanding of USG/IC contracts and their artifacts.
  • Experience supporting proposal development (e.g., RFI/RFP responses) for government contracts.
  • Extensive experience in system modeling, systems analysis, and running simulations.
  • Proven history of system integration and delivery of complex systems.
  • Experience in formal requirements management for a multi-disciplinary project.
  • Demonstrated project management skills and ability to collaborate with other engineering disciplines.
  • Excellent communication, presentation, and coordination skills.
  • Ability to rapidly change roles and responsibilities while working in a fast-paced, rewarding work environment.
  • Active TS/SCI security clearance.

Nice-to-Have Skills

  • Direct engineering experience with RF systems (RF payload/instrument design, link budget analysis, spectrum and regulatory considerations, mission-level RF architecture trades).
  • Experience with Cameo Systems Modeler or an equivalent SysML MBSE tool to capture mission architecture, requirements, interfaces, and behavior, and using those models to drive design decisions across a multi-disciplinary team.
  • Software skills in Python or Julia.
  • Familiarity with software engineering tools and processes (version control, code review).
  • Knowledge of industry standards for electrical and/or software quality practices.
  • Remote sensing instrument experience across multiple modalities (optical, multispectral, RF) and their associated data pipelines.

Compensation and Work Arrangement

Salary range: $236,000-$259,000 plus a competitive equity grant and comprehensive benefits package. Final compensation will be based on skills, qualifications, experience, and geographic location as assessed during the interview process.

This position is hybrid and requires working on-site in the San Jose, CA office three days per week.

Full-time employees receive medical, dental, and vision insurance; 401k retirement plan; short and long term disability and life insurance; three weeks paid vacation for new employees; 12 paid holidays; unlimited sick time; and paid parental leave.

ITAR/Export Control Requirements

This position requires access to export controlled information. Applicant must either be a U.S. person (U.S. citizen, national, lawful permanent resident, refugee, or asylee), be eligible to access export controlled information without required export authorization, or be eligible and reasonably likely to obtain required export authorization from the applicable U.S. government agency. The Company may decline to pursue any export licensing process for legitimate business reasons.