Staff Spacecraft Systems Engineer – Electronics

About the role

CesiumAstro develops and pioneers out-of-the-box communication systems for satellites, UAVs, launch vehicles, and other space and airborne platforms. We offer a dynamic, cross-functional work environment that encourages learning, development, and engagement across the organization. If you thrive in hands-on, interactive, and autonomous work, CesiumAstro may be the right place for you.

Responsibilities

• Lead development, analysis, allocation, and management of system and subsystem requirements throughout the product lifecycle.
• Responsible for systems engineering of new electronics subsystems for CesiumAstro satellites.
• Collaborate with technical design leads to bring new spacecraft electronics products to life, integrating requirements across multiple satellites and missions to drive design implementation.
• Communicate technical needs across the spacecraft team, using data from flight operations to drive requirement evolution in future design cycles.
• Analyze customer, mission, and system-level requirements and decompose them into clear, verifiable subsystem requirements.
• Ensure subsystem requirements maintain end-to-end traceability to customer requirements, system architecture, and Concept of Operations (CONOPS).
• Translate customer requirements and operational concepts into technical requirements, system architectures, and engineering solutions.
• Lead system architecture development, technical trade studies, and engineering analyses to evaluate design alternatives and optimize system performance.
• Collaborate with systems, software, hardware, electrical, mechanical, manufacturing, and integration teams to ensure requirements are complete, feasible, and technically sound.
• Define and manage hardware, software, electrical, mechanical, thermal, and data interfaces across system elements.
• Support requirements management, configuration management, baseline control, and engineering change activities throughout the development lifecycle.
• Identify technical risks, requirement gaps, ambiguities, and integration challenges early in the design process and develop effective mitigation strategies.
• Develop system verification and validation strategies aligned with customer requirements, system architecture, and program objectives.
• Define verification approaches including verification methods (test, analysis, demonstration, and inspection), verification levels, acceptance criteria, and required evidence.
• Identify verification configurations including hardware setups, software loads, firmware versions, and test environments required to support verification activities.
• Lead development and maintenance of verification documentation, including verification cross-reference matrices (VCRM), requirements traceability matrices, and compliance evidence packages.
• Partner with Integration & Test teams to plan, coordinate, and execute system integration, qualification, environmental, and functional verification activities.
• Evaluate verification results, support technical issue resolution, and drive closure of verification gaps.
• Support technical reviews, design certification activities, and program milestones.
• Serve as the technical lead for assigned systems or major subsystems throughout the development lifecycle.
• Lead systems engineering execution for assigned programs, ensuring technical deliverables support program milestones and customer commitments.
• Support engineering planning, technical execution, and program readiness activities.
• Prioritize systems engineering activities to meet technical objectives, schedule commitments, and program requirements.
• Lead multidisciplinary technical discussions and provide engineering guidance across cross-functional teams.
• Participate in customer technical interchange meetings, architecture reviews, design reviews, and program milestone reviews.
• Provide technical mentorship to engineers on requirements development, traceability, verification planning, and systems engineering practices.
• Influence technical decisions through engineering analysis, technical trade studies, risk assessments, and data-driven recommendations.
• Drive continuous improvement of systems engineering processes, documentation quality, and technical rigor.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Systems Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Physics, or a related technical discipline with typically 8–12 years of relevant experience.
• Master’s degree in a related technical discipline with typically 6–8 years of relevant experience.
• PhD in a related technical discipline with typically 3–5 years of relevant experience.
• Advanced knowledge of systems engineering principles, lifecycle processes, and aerospace development practices.
• Experience developing, allocating, managing, and verifying complex system and subsystem requirements.
• Strong understanding of system architecture, interface management, integration, configuration management, and technical risk management.
• Experience leading technical trade studies, system analyses, and design assessments.
• Knowledge of verification, validation, qualification, and compliance methodologies.
• Ability to translate customer requirements, mission objectives, and CONOPS into technical solutions.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Visio).
• Experience with requirements management tools (Jama, IBM DOORS, or similar).
• Experience with Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) tools (CATIA Magic/Cameo, MagicDraw, or similar).
• Experience with systems modeling and simulation tools.
• Experience with collaboration platforms (Confluence, SharePoint, or similar).
• Experience with configuration management and version control systems (Git, GitLab, Bitbucket, or similar).
• Experience with issue tracking tools (Jira or similar).
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, communication, and collaboration skills.
• Ability to provide technical leadership, mentor engineers, and influence cross-functional engineering decisions.

Preferred Experience

• Experience supporting complex aerospace, defense, or other highly regulated engineering programs.

Pay

$158,000 – $189,000 a year

Benefits

• Company stock options.
• Health, dental, vision, HSA, and FSA benefits.
• Life, disability, and retirement plans.