Mission Systems Engineer

The Mission Systems Engineer (MSE) is the single point of technical accountability for systems engineering on an assigned government contract or task order. The MSE owns that mission's requirements baseline, interface control, verification and validation planning, and requirements compliance closure - reporting to the Program Manager and/or the Chief Systems Engineer (CSE), as assigned. The MSE operates within the enterprise system architecture and electrical ICD framework owned by the CSE, and is the CSE's forward-deployed counterpart on the contract: translating fleet-level architecture and standards into mission-specific requirements, schedules, and customer commitments.

What you will do:

Mission requirements ownership - decomposing customer/contract requirements, allocating them to subsystem and payload budgets, and maintaining the requirements compliance matrix for the assigned mission.

Interface control - developing and baselining mission-specific ICDs consistent with the enterprise electrical and system ICD framework; coordinating interface changes with subsystem owners and the CSE organization.

Verification & Validation - building and executing the mission V&V plan, defining and tracking Technical Performance Measures (TPMs), planning environmental test campaigns (TVAC, vibration/acoustic, EMI/EMC), and dispositioning test data and anomalies for the assigned mission.

Integration & Test support - supporting AI&T campaign planning and execution for the mission, including FlatSat/Hardware in-the Loop activities, test readiness reviews, and anomaly investigation for mission-specific hardware and interfaces.

Program and customer interface - serving as the technical point of contact to the government customer and Program Manager for the assigned contract; preparing for and presenting at contract technical reviews and milestones (e.g., SRR, PDR, CDR, TRR) and closing associated action items.

Configuration management - maintaining the mission's configuration baseline, participating in the Configuration Control Board process, and managing engineering change orders affecting the assigned contract.

Digital thread / MBSE - maintaining mission-level traceability between requirements, design artifacts, verification evidence, and as-built records within the enterprise digital thread; working familiarity with MBSE tools (DOORS NG, Cameo, SysML).

Contract deliverables - supporting preparation of contract data requirements list (CDRL) items and other government deliverables related to systems engineering.

What you bring to this role:

8+ years of progressive systems engineering experience in the space or defense industry, including direct requirements, ICD, or verification ownership on at least one program from early design review through delivery or on-orbit operations.

Government contract experience - prior work on a U.S. government space, satellite, or space-adjacent program, with familiarity navigating customer technical reviews, CDRLs, and government-furnished requirements.

ICD and design review experience - direct responsibility for requirements traceability and verification closure; has presented technical status or baselines at formal design reviews before a customer or internal review board.

Prior subsystem or mission depth - hands-on experience in a subsystem (payload, bus, ground, RF/comms) or mission engineering role prior to or alongside systems engineering responsibilities, sufficient to credibly coordinate across disciplines.

Digital communications familiarity - working knowledge of RF link design, phased array systems, modem/waveform, or OSI Layer 1-2 protocol architecture is a plus.

Independent judgment under oversight - ability to make and defend mission-level technical decisions and risk trade-offs, escalating to the CSE or Program Manager where enterprise-level authority is required.

Security clearance - active Secret or Top Secret clearance, or the ability to obtain one, as required by the assigned government contract.

Additional Requirements

This is a fast-paced, high-impact environment - flexibility to occasionally work extended hours or weekends during critical periods is expected.