Principal Components Systems Engineer Emphasis on Test

Blue Canyon Technologies • Boulder, CO

4d • $170,000 - $240,000 • Onsite

About The Position

Blue Canyon Technologies, RTX's small satellite manufacturer and mission services provider, is solving some of the toughest challenges in space. Our components and bus platforms have completed missions ranging from very-low Earth orbits to lunar and interplanetary journeys at a fraction of the cost of traditional space systems. We support premier defense, commercial and civil organizations including the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, NASA, MIT Lincoln Lab, the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Colorado and more. Join our innovative and dynamic company as we build, test and operate the small spacecraft of the future.

Position Purpose: The Principal Components Systems Engineer will own the day-to-day technical execution of our spacecraft component lines. This role is embedded in the Components team, supporting verification and validation, with a focus on writing requirements and test plans for new product development, product introduction and scaling to low and high rate manufacturing. This person will support all technical aspects of the product in active production with authority to lead technical development efforts and issue investigations and continuously enhance the technical maturity of the products and the corresponding factory
This role requires excellent communication and coordination skills, including consensus building and decisiveness. You take ownership naturally, especially when things are ambiguous or need attention, and you don’t wait for perfect requirements to start asking the right questions and moving issues forward. You communicate clearly, stay steady under pressure, and rely on sound engineering judgment. You are comfortable leading through influence by creating clarity, aligning the team, and helping others make sound, product-minded technical decisions. You care about products that can be built, tested, and delivered at scale, and you take pride in engineering decisions that enable smooth factory execution, reliable throughput, and broad mission impact.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Systems, Aerospace, Mechanical, or Electrical Engineering or a related technical discipline
• Minimum 15+ years of relevant experience
• Related technical experience may be considered in lieu of education
• Proven experience supporting space-qualified hardware through development, test, delivery and integration
• Demonstrated ownership of engineering documentation including configuration management, interface control documents, verification matrices, and qualification test plans
• Direct involvement in failure investigations and root cause analysis, with evidence of implemented corrective actions
• Strong systems engineering fundamentals: interface control, requirements decomposition, and verification planning
• Ability to lead and facilitate cross-functional technical reviews with mechanical, electrical, software, etc. counterparts
• Clear and effective communication skills suitable for technical and customer-facing contexts

Nice To Haves

• Experience with ADCS systems and related components like star trackers, reaction wheels, control moment gyroscopes, torque rods, and sun sensors.
• Hands-on support of on-orbit flight hardware or customer post-delivery troubleshooting
• Familiarity with sustaining engineering practices, including configuration management and performance trending
• Prior responsibility for customer-facing technical discussions, reviews, or briefings
• Demonstrated ability to surface and resolve cross-functional risks early in the development lifecycle
• Experience driving quality improvements across multiple flight programs or product lines
• Exposure to rapid prototyping, agile hardware development, or concurrent engineering environments
• Strong systems engineering and technical management skills and demonstrated ability to grow new business opportunities and execute demanding flight programs
• Ability to work rapidly with minimal supervision on projects involving both small and large engineering teams
• Previous experience and skills in project definition, simulation, implementation, lab integration and test

Responsibilities

• Contribute to test planning, qualification campaigns, and design validation testing; ensure test coverage aligns with system requirements
• Develop test methods and plans for new
• Develop and maintain high-quality documentation including ICDs, verification matrices, test plans, and user guides; ensure engineering artifacts are appropriately clear and well-structured
• Author and manage system requirements and verification techniques; allocate driving requirements (both cost and technical), support program trades and requirements negotiations.
• Develop verification plans for new/modified designs.
• Design ground test equipment and configure flight hardware.
• Perform requirements management, technical risk management, interface definition and control
• Identify and eliminate recurring quality issues; embed corrective actions into design and verification processes
• Work closely with Operations to identify production bottlenecks and opportunities to reduce lead time
• Identify and execute key trades
• Assist with program management and product
• Lead customer meetings and facilitate technical exchanges with customers, working closely with customers to help define their needs and provide competitive solutions
• Provide technical leadership across multiple product lines.
• Effectively work with and communicate with all levels of management and team member contributors on the product line
• Support onboarding and alignment of Jr. Engineers; model clear ownership and technical rigor in execution
• May require occasional travel
• Other responsibilities as assigned
• May include personnel management responsibilities

Benefits

• Employer sponsored health, dental, and vision benefits effective the first of the month following hire date
• Life insurance
• 401k (matching 4% with a minimum 5% contribution)
• Generous PTO (3 weeks of vacation + 3 floating holidays, 2 weeks of sick time, 7 paid holidays throughout the year) and parental leave

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Principal