Ground System Concept Engineer/Senior Ground System Concept Engineer
About The Position
The Aerospace Corporation’s Vehicle and Ground Concepts Department (VGCD), within the Enterprise Effects Division, develops preliminary and conceptual designs for space vehicles and ground systems and conducts trade and architecture analysis, modeling, process development, and tool development. The position contributes to innovative spacecraft and ground-segment solutions for U.S. Space Force, Intelligence Community, NASA, NOAA, and commercial and international customers. The engineer leads and participates in ground-system architecture, concept, and preliminary design studies. The role works with multidisciplinary technical teams to frame problems, identify gaps, assess trade spaces, explore concepts, define capabilities, interfaces, and requirements, and evaluate designs. It also includes communicating results, mentoring early-career colleagues, and developing tools and models for ground-system concept design and analysis. The position is based at the Aerospace campus in Chantilly, Virginia, and requires in-person work at least four days per week. Domestic and international travel of approximately 5–10% is expected. An active U.S. government Top Secret/SCI clearance is required; U.S. citizenship is required to obtain the clearance.
Requirements
- Bachelor of Science degree in engineering, science, or a related technical field.
- For Engineering Specialist: typically at least 6 years of engineering experience in the space, intelligence, and/or defense domains.
- For Senior Engineering Specialist: typically at least 12 years of substantive experience in the space, intelligence, and/or defense domains.
- Proficiency in system architecting, systems engineering, concept design, and/or model-based systems engineering.
- Demonstrated experience in ground-system development, mission control, or mission processing for space systems.
- Excellent oral and written communication skills, including presenting methods and results in briefings, formal reports, and informal communications.
- Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to collaborate effectively across teams and organizations within Aerospace.
- Exceptional time-management skills and ability to balance concurrent projects and schedule commitments.
- Available and willing to travel domestically and internationally approximately 5–10%.
- Active Top Secret/SCI security clearance issued by the U.S. government; U.S. citizenship is required to obtain the clearance.
- For Senior Engineering Specialist: demonstrated success organizing and leading cross-functional, cross-organizational teams to execute studies and assessments and generate quality products.
- For Senior Engineering Specialist: experience developing and presenting strategic decision-making and strategic communications artifacts for senior-level management, and technical design artifacts for engineering-level reviews.
- For Senior Engineering Specialist: demonstrated ability to collaborate with external partners from customer organizations, acquisition program offices, and contractors.
Nice To Haves
- Advanced degree in engineering, mathematics, science, or a related technical discipline.
- Demonstrated experience with concurrent engineering tools, processes, and methodologies.
- Experience working closely with key Aerospace customer agencies in the Intelligence Community, including strong domain knowledge and professional networks.
- Demonstrated experience with commercial cloud offerings.
- Demonstrated experience with antennas, hardware, or other equipment related to ground entry points.
- Demonstrated experience with software, software process approaches such as waterfall or agile, and software standards.
- Experience with the Satellite Control Network (SCN) or Intelligence Community ground control networks.
- Experience with telemetry, tracking, and command (TT&C) or tactical command and control (C2).
- Hands-on experience with system or enterprise modeling in SysML, UAF, or UPDM.
- Proficiency in simulation tools or programming languages, including one or more of MATLAB, Python, Simulink, STK, C++, or SolidWorks.
Responsibilities
- Lead and participate in ground-system architecture, concept, and preliminary design studies with multidisciplinary engineering teams.
- Support problem framing, gap analysis, trade-space assessment, and concept exploration.
- Coordinate expertise across disciplines and domains to enable concurrent engineering approaches to complex problems.
- Define system capabilities, system-of-systems interfaces, and requirements for space, ground, and intersegment architectures based on user needs and perspectives.
- Evaluate ground-system design and architecture concepts and participate in design reviews.
- Communicate task status, methods, results, and recommendations through briefings and formal technical reports.
- Mentor early-career department members.
- Develop tools and models supporting ground-system concept design and analysis.
Benefits
- Comprehensive health care and wellness plans.
- Paid holidays, sick time, and vacation.
- Standard and alternate work schedules, including telework options.
- 401(k) plan with company-paid contributions of 8%, 10%, or 12% of eligible compensation based on years of service, plus matching contributions; employees are immediately eligible and vested upon hire.
- Flexible spending accounts.
- Variable pay program for exceptional contributions.
- Relocation assistance.
- Professional growth and development programs.
- Education assistance programs.
- Inclusive work environment built on teamwork, flexibility, and respect.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Mid Level
