Mission Manager / Systems Engineer II

Lodestar•Los Angeles, CA

1d•Onsite

About The Position

Lodestar is hiring a Mission Manager / Systems Engineer II to own the success of defence space missions from concept through flight and on-orbit operations. The role is the primary point of accountability across Lodestar engineering teams, spacecraft and payload partners, and government customers, ensuring mission outcomes align with customer needs. The successful candidate will apply an engineering foundation to understand, challenge, and shape technical analyses and decisions, while steering the mission as a whole rather than owning a single subsystem. The position leads mission requirements, interfaces, schedule, risk, readiness, and verification. It involves defining spacecraft bus and payload requirements, reviewing and challenging early mission analyses, negotiating interface documentation with partners, and coordinating customer scenarios, design reviews, testing, and mission deliverables. The role also supports proposals and new mission concepts. The position is based in Los Angeles, with onsite work in El Segundo, California, and travel of up to 20% to customer, partner, and test sites.

Requirements

At least 2 years of experience in mission management, program management, or systems engineering in space, aerospace, or defense.
Bachelor's degree in a technical field or equivalent technical experience; Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical, or Systems Engineering, or Physics is strongly preferred.
Experience owning requirements and Interface Control Documents with external partners or customers.
Technical depth sufficient to follow engineering analysis, ask informed questions, and influence design decisions.
Demonstrated ability to manage schedules, risks, and deliverables on complex technical programs.
Clear written and verbal communication skills and ability to represent Lodestar to customers and partners.
Must be eligible and willing to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance if not already holding an active Secret or Top Secret clearance.
Able to work onsite in El Segundo, California, travel up to 20% to customer, partner, and test sites, and sprint to key mission milestones.
Must meet applicable ITAR requirements: be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain required U.S. Department of State authorizations.

Nice To Haves

Active Secret or Top Secret security clearance.
End-to-end government contract execution experience, including CDRL tracking, milestone acceptance, and the WAWF invoicing cycle, ensuring milestone packages meet acceptance criteria before submission.
Experience managing cost, schedule, and performance against a contract baseline, maintaining the integrated master schedule, risk register, and funding status, and flagging variances and funding limitations.
Comfort operating in a fast-paced startup with high ownership and evolving requirements.
Experience with spacecraft integration, test, and launch campaigns.
Hands-on engineering background in spacecraft systems, GNC, payloads, or mission analysis.
Experience with precision pointing, acquisition and tracking systems, or other high-performance payloads.
Experience with rendezvous and proximity operations or space domain awareness missions.
Ability to build system-level diagrams and sanity-check performance using first-order calculations in Python, MATLAB, or a spreadsheet.

Responsibilities

Own the mission end to end, including requirements, interfaces, schedule, risk, readiness, and on-orbit operations.
Lead definition of core mission requirements across the spacecraft bus and payload, including performance at range, pointing and tracking, timelines, and latency.
Commission, review, and challenge models used to assess mission requirements, and determine when requirements need to change.
Own Interface Control Documents between payload operating modes and the host spacecraft's guidance, navigation, and control system, negotiating them with partner engineering teams.
Work with government stakeholders and end users to define evaluation and wargaming scenarios and ensure they are reflected in requirements and test plans.
Serve as the primary technical contact for customers and partners; lead technical interchange meetings and design reviews, and manage deliverables, milestones, and risks.
Track verification with autonomy, simulation, and test teams through simulation and hardware-in-the-loop testing.
Support proposals and new mission concepts with CONOPS, requirements, and statements of work.