Staff Systems Engineer and Product - Flight Operations Software

Vantor•Westminster, CO

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

Vantor is seeking a Systems Engineer and Product Owner to help define, build, and evolve the software systems used to command and operate our spacecraft. This is a hybrid role combining systems engineering with product ownership for the Flight Operations Software (FOS) team. You will operate at the intersection of ground systems, spacecraft systems, mission operations, and software engineering. As a Systems Engineer, you will help define command-and-control architectures, system behaviors, service APIs, real-time telemetry flows, and the technical architecture that connects our spacecraft to the people and systems operating them. You will apply Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE), requirements-driven design, interface definition, and system analysis to ensure FOS capabilities work as an integrated part of the broader Vantor Ground System. As Product Owner, you will own the translation of mission, spacecraft, ground, and operational needs into an executable software development roadmap. As a member of the development team, you will establish priorities, define Epics, User Stories, and Acceptance Criteria, manage and refine the development backlog, resolve technical ambiguity, and will be part of the implementation, integration, verification, and deployment process. This role requires more than backlog management. You must understand the systems you are helping build intimately to make sound technical trades, challenge assumptions, identify cross-system dependencies, and coordinate stakeholders and SME discussions to drive decisions when spacecraft, ground, software, and operational needs compete. You will also contribute to Vantor’s enterprise vision, engineering processes, and architectural roadmap. We expect you to move comfortably between system-level architecture and implementation details, communicate clearly across disciplines, identify integration problems early, and take ownership of outcomes rather than simply coordinating work. This position qualifies for a hybrid in-office schedule. As a general rule, the team works in the office on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and from home on Mondays and Fridays.

Requirements

Must be a U.S. Citizen and possess or have the ability to obtain a United States Government Secret Security Clearance.
Bachelor’s degree in systems engineering, aerospace engineering, computer science, software engineering, electrical engineering, or another relevant technical discipline.
5+ years of relevant industry experience developing, integrating, or operating aerospace, spacecraft, ground, command-and-control, or similarly complex technical systems.
Working knowledge of spacecraft command-and-control and space-to-ground architectures, including spacecraft commanding, real-time telemetry data flows, and the interactions between spacecraft, ground systems, flight software, and mission operations.
Experience performing systems engineering across architecture, requirements, interfaces, integration, verification, and operational deployment.
Experience applying Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) to define system architectures, interfaces, behaviors, and dependencies.
Experience defining and maintaining service APIs and interfaces within Service-Oriented Architectures (SOA) or other distributed software systems.
Experience translating mission and stakeholder needs into software capabilities, requirements, Epics, User Stories, Acceptance Criteria, and prioritized development work.
Experience with Agile software development methodologies and working directly with software teams throughout the software development lifecycle.
Strong technical judgment and demonstrated ability to drive decisions and coordinate across spacecraft, ground, operations, and software engineering disciplines.
Strong written and verbal communication skills with demonstrated ownership, initiative, and accountability in a fast-moving development environment.

Nice To Haves

Direct experience developing, integrating, or operating spacecraft flight operations software, mission control systems, ground software, or command-and-control systems.
Experience serving as a Product Owner, systems engineer, or software systems engineer with responsibility for both technical definition and software development priorities.
Hands-on spacecraft integration, test, commissioning, mission operations, or other flight-system experience.
Software development or integration experience with distributed, service-oriented, event-driven, or mission-critical systems, including REST, gRPC, publish/subscribe, or similar architectures.
Experience with spacecraft communications and commanding protocols such as CCSDS, Space Packet Protocol, CFDP, or comparable mission-specific protocols.
Experience developing or integrating real-time telemetry processing pipelines, including data ingest, validation, transformation, distribution, storage, or visualization.
Experience developing system models, interface definitions, API specifications, sequence diagrams, state models, or similar artifacts that directly support implementation and integration.
Experience with SysML and MBSE tools such as Ansys, Enterprise Architect, Cameo Systems Modeler or equivalent.
Familiarity with modern software development and deployment practices, including CI/CD, DevSecOps, containerized services, automated testing, and cloud or hybrid infrastructure.
Experience with Jira Cloud or similar Agile planning and issue-tracking tools.
Experience developing product roadmaps and balancing mission capabilities, architectural evolution, technical debt, and operational priorities.
Flight heritage on spacecraft, ground systems, mission operations software, or other high-reliability operational systems.

Responsibilities

Own systems engineering and product ownership activities for Flight Operations Software spanning spacecraft commanding, real-time telemetry processing, ground systems, and mission operations.
Translate mission, spacecraft, ground, and operational needs into executable software capabilities, Epics, User Stories, and Acceptance Criteria.
Own and prioritize the FOS development backlog, balancing mission needs, architectural evolution, technical debt, integration dependencies, and operational priorities.
Develop and maintain system architectures and MBSE models defining system behaviors, interfaces, dependencies, and operational flows.
Define, document, and maintain service APIs and interfaces between FOS and adjacent ground system software services.
Drive technical decisions and trades across spacecraft systems, ground systems, flight software, mission operations, and software development teams.
Partner directly with software engineers throughout design, implementation, integration, verification, deployment, and operational use.
Identify architectural, interface, and integration risks early and drive cross-functional teams toward resolution.
Support integration and verification of FOS capabilities across spacecraft, ground, and operational interfaces.
Contribute to Vantor enterprise architecture, engineering practices, and the long-term architectural roadmap for mission systems.