Senior Staff Systems Engineer - Rocket Engine / Thruster Programs

Agile Space Industries, Inc.•Durango, CO

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

Agile Space Industries is seeking an experienced Systems Engineer to provide end-to-end systems engineering leadership across rocket engine and thruster development programs. This role is responsible for driving a clear, executable thread from customer mission and CONOPS through system requirements, architecture, design, verification, qualification, and delivery. The ideal candidate brings strong system-level thinking and deep technical experience in propulsion or related aerospace hardware. This role works directly with the customer and internal teams to define the mission, translate it into requirements, and ensure the system is designed, built, and tested to meet those objectives. This position is accountable for maintaining technical coherence across disciplines and driving system-level decisions throughout the program lifecycle. The role requires leadership in requirements definition and flowdown, architecture development, trade studies, risk management, and verification and validation planning and execution. The candidate is responsible for working with the customer to drive agreement on requirements. Agile operates in a fast-paced development environment. This role is expected to take ownership, drive decisions, and ensure alignment across teams, customers, and suppliers to deliver a working, testable system.

Requirements

B.S. in Engineering or related technical field (or equivalent experience)
10+ years of experience driving systems development in aerospace or related technical field
Experience in systems engineering on rocket engine, thruster, or similar aerospace hardware development programs
Strong understanding of propulsion systems, fluid systems, and system integration challenges
Demonstrated experience in requirements definition, decomposition, and management
Experience leading or supporting verification and validation planning and execution through hardware development lifecycles
Experience supporting or leading gated design reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR)
Ability to drive system-level decision making and cross-functional alignment
Experience working with customers (government or commercial)
Experience with requirements management tools (e.g., JAMA or similar)
U.S. Citizenship or permanent residency (U.S. persons) required

Nice To Haves

Experience developing space flight hardware with a comprehensive understanding of space design best practices.
Experience with test plan development and hot fire testing of rocket engines
Experienced in leading failure investigations and root cause analysis
Familiarity with NASA or other relevant industry standards.
Familiarity with Range Safety requirements, such as AFSPCMAN 91-710, and process of tailoring industry standard specification to a specific application
Experience with leading teams and working with Government customers.
Experience with Propulsion Systems Engineering is desired.
Clear and concise presentation skills.
Demonstrated experience with risk and opportunity management activities and strategies

Responsibilities

Work directly with customers to define mission objectives, CONOPS, and system success criteria
Translate mission needs into clear, testable system requirements and maintain end-to-end traceability through delivery
Lead system architecture development and trade studies, including evaluation of performance, risk, cost, and schedule impacts
Ensure consistency and integration across propulsion, structures, avionics, thermal, fluids, and manufacturing interfaces
Drive requirement decomposition and flowdown to subsystems and components
Own and maintain technical baseline and configuration control
Lead the definition, planning, and execution of the verification and validation approach, including qualification plans and acceptance test procedures (ATP)
Ensure verification is tied directly to requirements and planned early in the development lifecycle
Lead and support gated product development reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR, etc.)
Identify, track, and drive closure of technical risks, interface issues, and system gaps
Independently analyze system performance and recommend design or architecture changes as needed
Facilitate communication between customers, internal teams, and suppliers, ensuring clear understanding of system intent, constraints, and decisions
Support failure investigations, root cause analysis, and corrective actions
Contribute to improving systems engineering processes, tools, and execution across programs