Sr Systems Engineer - Satellite Ground Systems
About The Position
The Sr Systems Engineer contributes to the development and implementation of advanced ground system solutions supporting a national missile tracking satellite program. The role provides technical alignment and direction throughout a fast-paced, mission-critical development lifecycle, championing an integrated, system-wide perspective and connecting segments and subsystems through requirements decomposition, traceability, integration, verification, and validation. The engineer helps the team deliver a compliant, cohesive ground system on an aggressive schedule while tracking performance measures and rapidly identifying and retiring technical risks. The position leads specification, architecture, and integration of complex ground system solutions, with a focus on command and control, mission operations, satellite tasking, sensor data processing, and network and communications infrastructure interfacing with the space segment. It leads teams through systems engineering scope, milestone reviews, and development activities, and helps develop systems thinking in others. The role requires comfort with ambiguity and rapid iteration in a high-tempo environment. The engineer collaborates with cross-functional teams, government stakeholders, and subject matter experts to understand requirements and objectives under compressed timelines. Responsibilities include managing ground system requirements and architectures; defining and documenting concepts of operation for ground-to-space mission support; overseeing integration and verification to ensure system functionality, performance, and operational readiness; managing technical risks and mitigation strategies; and supporting continuous improvement. The role follows engineering processes and standards while pragmatically streamlining them where appropriate, and communicates proactively to maintain alignment in support of the missile warning and tracking mission. The position requires the ability to obtain and maintain a Top Secret U.S. Security Clearance; U.S. citizenship is required.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in a related field, or equivalent work experience in lieu of a degree; alternatively, a Master's degree plus 8 years of experience.
- Typically 10+ years of related experience, or a Master's degree plus 8 years of experience.
- Demonstrated expertise in Systems Engineering principles and practices, including comprehensive understanding of the systems development lifecycle.
- Progressive experience across the system development lifecycle, including requirements management and functional requirements parsing, derivation, and allocation.
- Progressive experience developing systems architecture and performing systems integration, verification, and validation activities.
- Demonstrated ability to work and communicate with technical and specialty subject matter expert engineers to drive systems engineering products.
- Ability to obtain and maintain a Top Secret U.S. Security Clearance; U.S. citizenship is required.
Nice To Haves
- Master's degree in Engineering, Physics, or a related field.
- Extensive experience with Requirements Management and Model Based Systems Engineering tools and frameworks, such as DOORS, CAMEO EA, Rhapsody, Matlab, and SysML.
- Strong understanding of ground systems architecture, including command and control, telemetry processing, data management, and network infrastructure subsystems.
- Experience architecting and designing ground system solutions, including interface definitions, data flows, and subsystem integration strategies.
- Experience creating, managing, and executing comprehensive ground system test plans, including integration testing, end-to-end testing, and operational readiness validation.
- Background in software systems engineering and integration test (SW SEIT) for complex ground systems.
- Knowledge of Agile and Dev Sec Ops methodologies for ground software development and deployment.
- Strong understanding of project management methodologies, including risk management and technical performance tracking.
- Strong understanding of technical baseline and configuration management.
- Experience leading projects and mentoring junior and mid-level engineers.
- Experience or certification in INCOSE standards.
- Excellent problem-solving skills and attention to detail.
- Ability to adapt to a fast-paced and dynamic work environment.
- Active Top Secret U.S. Security Clearance.
Responsibilities
- Lead the specification, architecting, and integration of complex ground system solutions.
- Derive, decompose, allocate, trace, and manage ground system requirements and architectures.
- Define and document concepts of operation for ground-to-space mission support, including satellite command, control, and missile tracking data delivery.
- Create artifacts and deliverables and lead development milestone reviews.
- Oversee system integration and verification activities to ensure ground system functionality, performance, and readiness for on-orbit operations.
- Identify and manage technical risks and develop and execute mitigation strategies.
- Track performance measures and help retire technical risks rapidly.
- Lead teams in executing systems engineering scope and help develop systems thinking in others.
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams, government stakeholders, and subject matter experts to understand requirements and objectives.
- Contribute to continuous improvement initiatives and adhere to engineering processes and standards while pragmatically streamlining where appropriate.
- Communicate proactively with team members, customers, and stakeholders to ensure alignment and successful execution.
Benefits
- Medical, dental, and vision plans.
- 401(k) with 150% match up to 6%.
- Life insurance.
- Three weeks of paid time off.
- Personal and professional development opportunities.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
