Mission Lead Engineer

K2 is building the largest and highest-power satellites ever flown, unlocking performance levels previously out of reach across every orbit. Backed by $450M from leading investors including Altimeter Capital, Redpoint Ventures, T. Rowe Price, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Alpine Space Ventures, and others – with an additional $500M in signed contracts across commercial and U.S. government customers – we’re mass‑producing the highest‑power satellite platforms ever built for missions from LEO to deep space. The rise of heavy‑lift launch vehicles is shifting the industry from an era of mass constraint to one of mass abundance, and we believe this new era demands a fundamentally different class of spacecraft. Engineered to survive the harshest radiation environments and to fully capitalize on today’s and tomorrow’s massive rockets, K2 satellites deliver unmatched capability at constellation scale and across multiple orbits. With multiple launches planned through 2026 and 2027, we’re Building Bigger to develop the solar system and become a Kardashev Type II (K2) civilization. If you are a motivated individual who thrives in a fast‑paced environment and you’re excited about contributing to the success of a groundbreaking Series C space startup, we’d love for you to apply. The Role As a Mission Lead Engineer within National Security Programs, you’ll serve as the primary technical interface between K2 Space, customers, and partners as we develop and shape mission architectures for future and ongoing opportunities to host advanced payload capabilities onto K2’s satellite bus platform. You’ll primarily support mission‑level engineering for early technical engagement, requirements formulation and negotiation, concept and architecture studies, payload‑to‑bus compatibility, proposal‑phase activities, and program execution. In this role, you will work closely with Program Managers and key engineering disciplines to define and architect missions (mechanical, software, power, avionics, etc.) and ensure alignment to K2 Space’s technology and capabilities. You will also represent K2 Space in critical customer engagements, study reviews, and technical negotiations. The ideal candidate has strong multi‑disciplinary engineering skills, hands‑on experience, and excellent communication abilities to effectively collaborate with National Security customers and stakeholders. Responsibilities Define, mature, and negotiate mission concepts. Support initial payload integration studies, mission analysis, system architecture trades, system integration designs, and concept of operations development. Develop and maintain technical documentation for system architecture, payload interface designs, spacecraft design capabilities and requirements, and concepts of operations to ensure customer requirements and architectures align with K2 Space’s technology offerings. Serve as the primary technical interface for early customer engagement. Lead technical discussions, represent K2 Space in TEMs and study reviews, ensure customer requirements are understood, and ensure the customer understands the extent of K2 Space’s capabilities. Coordinate cross‑functional early study efforts. Work closely with vehicle engineering, avionics, software, propulsion, thermal, and AI&T teams to ensure solutions are practical and executable. Qualifications Bachelor’s degree in an engineering discipline. 5+ years of experience working in the aerospace or space industry, working with spacecraft or space systems. Direct experience designing, developing, integrating or testing spacecraft or space systems. Strong understanding of spacecraft subsystems, space system architectures, and mission modeling and simulation. Exceptional written and verbal communication skills. Nice to Have Master’s degree or above in an engineering discipline. 10+ years of experience working in the aerospace or space industry, working with spacecraft, launch vehicles, airborne systems, or payloads. Experience working directly with National Security customers and systems. Satellite constellation modeling, simulation and analysis experience and intuitive understanding of multibody dynamics. Payload performance modeling and analysis (electro‑optical, radio‑frequency, infrared, communications, networking, positioning, timing, etc.). Deep understanding of national security enterprise ground systems and architectures including command and control, networking, tasking, planning, scheduling, processing, dissemination, and tracking software architectures. Ability to travel up to 25% of the time. Compensation and Benefits Base salary range for this role is $100,000 – $180,000 + equity in the company. Salary will be based on several factors, including, but not limited to: knowledge and skills, education, and experience level. Comprehensive benefits package including paid time off, medical/dental/vision coverage, life insurance, paid parental leave, and many other perks. If you don’t meet 100% of the preferred skills and experience, we encourage you to still apply! Building a spacecraft unlike any other requires a team unlike any other and non‑traditional career twists and turns are encouraged! Export compliance: As defined in the ITAR, “U.S. Persons” include U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents (i.e., Green Card holders), and certain protected individuals (e.g., refugees/asylees, American Samoans). Please consult with a knowledgeable advisor if you are unsure whether you are a “U.S. Person.” The person hired for this role will have access to information and items controlled by U.S. export control regulations, including the export control regulations outlined in the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR). The person hired for this role must therefore either be a “U.S. person” as defined by § 120.15 or otherwise eligible for a federally issued export control license. K2 Space is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with K2 Space is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status. #J-18808-Ljbffr K2 Space