Satellite Flight Software Systems Engineer

Space Systems Integration•Chantilly, VA

5d•$180,000 - $220,000•Onsite

About The Position

SSI is seeking a Satellite Flight Software Systems Engineer for a Systems Engineering and Technical Assistance (SETA) position supporting a customer in Chantilly, Virginia. The role oversees the design, development, integration, and testing of flight software systems—including spacecraft bus and payload systems—across individual spacecraft vendors. The engineer works alongside vendors to guide development processes, evaluate verification evidence, and resolve flight software concerns, drawing on satellite systems and space hardware knowledge and receiving mentorship from senior spacecraft and flight software subject-matter experts across the customer’s enterprise engineering teams.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Physics, or a closely related STEM field from an accredited university.
At least 7 years of experience in aerospace engineering and spacecraft systems.
Strong domain knowledge of satellite software systems and operations, such as Guidance, Navigation & Control (GNC), networking, power management, command and data handling, and flight computers.
Expertise in software operating on space vehicles and associated flight hardware.
Experience in Agile development environments, creating software use cases, and writing and executing flight software test plans.
Ability to rapidly understand complex software and requirements, supported by strong leadership and technical communication skills.
Experience working on DoD or Intelligence Community (IC) programs.
Active TS/SCI security clearance.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Physics, or a related field.
Ten years of DoD/IC or relevant industry hands-on work experience with commercial and/or Government satellite systems.
Hands-on software development experience in a modern programming language such as C, C++, or Python.
Experience with a cloud development environment.
Familiarity with cybersecurity requirements and Risk Management Framework (RMF) practices for space vehicles.

Responsibilities

Oversee the development of spacecraft vendor flight software systems across bus subsystems, payload interfaces, and ground segment overlaps.
Work alongside spacecraft vendors as needed to support development processes and resolve flight software concerns.
Participate in vendor Agile software development cycles, including sprint planning and reviews, to track milestones and maintain schedule alignment.
Create, review, and evaluate software use cases, system-level requirements, and operational concepts using systems engineering best practices.
Evaluate vendor verification evidence for compliance with requirements and assist test teams in ensuring flight software systems are thoroughly tested.
Deliver reports, technical evaluations, and risk assessments regarding spacecraft vendor progress to leadership.