Satellite Communications/Ground Systems Integration & Test Engineer

Peraton•Greenbelt, MD

4d•$80,000 - $128,000•Onsite

About The Position

Peraton is seeking a Satellite Communications / Ground Systems Integration & Test Engineer to support the Space Exploration Networks Services and Evolution (SENSE) contract on-site at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Peraton operates, maintains, sustains, and provides systems engineering for NASA’s worldwide satellite communication networks. The engineer will help ensure space-ground communications are reliable and meet mission requirements. The role supports NASA’s Space Relay fleet of Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS), which provides geostationary relay communications for low Earth orbiting satellites and other customer platforms. Working with Special Projects and Missions U.S. Government customers, the engineer will serve as a mission lead across the mission life cycle—from initial compatibility discussions through interface design, implementation, and testing, and into scheduling and operational service. The role involves close coordination with customers, spacecraft engineering personnel, NASA RF engineers, and ground terminal engineers.

Requirements

Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Physics, Math, or another related technical field and at least 5 years of related technical experience; or a master's degree and at least 3 years of experience.
Systems integration experience and working knowledge of satellite ground terminal architectures and associated operations.
Experience with requirements analysis and management, test planning, and test procedure development.
Experience designing, developing, integrating, and testing ground communication systems and subsystems.
Experience developing and presenting Key Decision Point (KDP) presentations, such as System Requirements and Design Reviews.
Active TS/SCI clearance with a Polygraph.
U.S. citizenship and proof of citizenship.
Ability to maintain access to the government worksite.

Nice To Haves

Strong written and oral communication skills for presenting material to teams and customers.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office, including complex macro-driven Excel spreadsheets.
Basic IT system administration experience, such as simple web pages and SharePoint.
COMSEC experience, such as annual key changes.

Responsibilities

Apprise potential new Space Relay customers of system capabilities, and research and respond to technical and operational inquiries to assess whether the system can support them.
Participate in requirements, design, test, and operations readiness reviews, providing guidance to ensure designs and operational concepts align with Space Relay support policies and constraints.
Develop and maintain high-level requirements and documentation defining service requirements, mission support parameters, interface design concepts, and initial operations concepts.
Work with customers to develop realistic operations profiles for network loading and characterization models.
Prepare technical specifications for ground terminal engineers to use in estimating costs for adding customers to the Space Relay ground terminal infrastructure.
Develop and maintain interface control documentation defining interfaces between customer facilities and Space Relay ground terminals.
Serve as a liaison between customer spacecraft engineering personnel and NASA Radio Frequency engineers.
Contribute to and monitor integration and test plans; contribute to test plans and write briefing messages for engineering tests as customer designs progress.
Support customer transitions to operations by leading development of operations procedures and facilitating schedule and control system capabilities.
Participate in engineering review boards to review and disposition discrepancy reports found during testing and operations support.
Maintain service accounting records for assigned missions to assess whether support levels are consistent with requirements baselines.
Present network status and respond to mission action items during monthly working group meetings and technical exchange meetings.