Mission Manager / Systems Engineer II

Lodestar•Los Angeles, CA

22h•$115,000 - $174,000•Onsite

About The Position

As a Mission Manager / Systems Engineer II at Lodestar, you will own the success of a defense space mission from concept through flight and on-orbit operations. You will be the primary point of accountability between Lodestar’s engineering teams, spacecraft and payload partners, and government customers, ensuring the system being built meets mission needs. The role calls for an engineering foundation and the ability to understand, challenge, and guide technical analyses and decisions, rather than personally building every model or owning a single subsystem. You will define and manage mission requirements, interfaces, schedules, risks, readiness, and verification. You will work with engineering teams and external stakeholders to establish achievable performance targets, oversee interface agreements and test plans, and serve as the primary technical contact for customers and partners. The position is based in Los Angeles, with onsite work in El Segundo, California, travel of up to 20% to customer, partner, and test sites, and periods of intensified effort around key mission milestones.

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.
Experience owning requirements and Interface Control Documents with external partners or customers.
Technical depth sufficient to follow engineering analysis, ask relevant questions, and influence design decisions.
Proven ability to manage schedules, risks, and deliverables on complex technical programs.
Clear written and verbal communication skills and ability to represent the company to customers and partners.
Must be able and willing to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance if not already cleared.
Ability 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 ITAR eligibility 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 clearance.
Degree in Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical, or Systems Engineering, or Physics.
End-to-end government contract execution experience, including CDRL tracking, milestone acceptance, and invoicing through Wide Area Workflow (WAWF).
Experience managing cost, schedule, and performance against a contract baseline, including an integrated master schedule, risk register, and funding status.
Comfort working 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.
Comfort building system-level diagrams and checking performance using first-order calculations in Python, MATLAB, or a spreadsheet.

Responsibilities

Own mission execution end to end, including requirements, interfaces, schedule, risk, readiness, and on-orbit operations.
Lead definition of core spacecraft bus and payload requirements, including performance at range, pointing and tracking, end-to-end timelines, and latency.
Commission, review, and challenge first-order analyses and models with engineering teams, and determine when requirements should change.
Own and negotiate Interface Control Documents between payload operating modes and the host spacecraft’s guidance, navigation, and control system.
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 concepts of operations, requirements, and statements of work.