TCS and ECLSS Certification Engineer

The Exploration Company•Turin,

About The Position

The Exploration Company is developing, manufacturing, and operating Nyx, a modular and reusable spacecraft intended to carry cargo to space stations and potentially humans in the longer term. The company is seeking an experienced Certification Engineer to lead, coordinate, and drive certification and verification closure activities for the Thermal Control System (TCS) and Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS), supporting vehicle qualification, NASA certification, and flight acceptance. The role is the primary focal point between the TCS and ECLSS teams and System Engineering, Verification & Validation, the Chief Engineering Office, AIT, Program, Safety Engineering, and external stakeholders. The engineer ensures subsystem requirements are allocated, verified, traceable, and closed with appropriate evidence, in alignment with NASA SSP requirements, Data Item Deliverables (DIDs), verification plans, and Safety Review Panel expectations. The position calls for knowledge of spacecraft systems engineering, thermal engineering, verification methodologies, qualification logic, and agency review processes so evidence for both subsystems is complete, credible, traceable, and accepted by certification authorities.

Requirements

MSc or equivalent degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related field.
Strong understanding of spacecraft thermal control systems, ECLSS, and spacecraft development processes.
Experience with spacecraft verification and qualification methodologies.
Familiarity with NASA and/or ECSS verification standards, requirements management, verification matrices, and closure processes.
Understanding of thermal analyses, thermal testing, qualification logic, and evidence generation.
At least 8 years of experience in spacecraft development, systems engineering, verification, certification, or thermal engineering.
Experience supporting spacecraft design reviews and qualification campaigns.
Experience interfacing with external customers, agencies, or certification authorities.
Experience managing complex technical documentation and evidence packages.
Strong organization, coordination, technical writing, and communication skills.
Ability to drive closure of multidisciplinary actions across engineering teams.
High level of rigor, traceability, and attention to detail.
Ability to challenge assumptions and ensure certification readiness.
Comfort presenting technical material to senior engineering leadership and external review boards.

Responsibilities

Lead the TCS and ECLSS verification closure process from subsystem level through spacecraft-level qualification.
Ensure TCS and ECLSS requirements are allocated to appropriate verification methods.
Coordinate preparation, execution, and closure of verification events with analysts, product owners, subsystem engineers, system engineers, and test teams.
Maintain consistency between TCS and ECLSS verification strategies and spacecraft-level verification planning.
Ensure analyses, test reports, inspection records, non-conformance reports (NCRs), requirement justifications, and review documentation are available to support certification closure.
Support preparation of qualification, certification, and flight readiness reviews.
Ensure verification logic and evidence are consistent across TCS and ECLSS, especially for shared requirements, interfaces, functions, or verification activities.
Act as the TCS and ECLSS focal point for NASA certification and verification activities.
Coordinate closure of applicable NASA SSP requirements and associated verification products, including DIDs.
Ensure consistency between analyses, test results, requirements, qualification rationale, and certification documentation for both subsystems.
Maintain alignment between NASA verification expectations and the company’s verification approaches.
Coordinate with TCS and ECLSS technical owners to ensure certification evidence is technically robust and delivered according to program and customer milestones.
Prepare and coordinate TCS and ECLSS contributions to NASA Safety Reviews.
Ensure TCS and ECLSS hazards, controls, verification evidence, and closure rationale are fully documented.
Support and coordinate development of safety review presentations and supporting technical packages.
Ensure consistency between hazard reports, verification evidence, and qualification activities.
Coordinate with Safety Engineering and subsystem technical owners to identify and make available certification evidence supporting hazard-control verification.
Ensure qualification, acceptance, development, and integrated test campaigns provide the evidence required for certification.
Identify verification gaps early and drive mitigation actions.
Support preparation of verification plans, qualification matrices, and closure notices.
Participate in major test reviews and assess certification impacts of anomalies and non-conformances.
Support requirement closure from TVAC, Thermal Balance, functional testing, and integrated spacecraft verification campaigns.
Drive closure of actions and verification-related NCRs.