Chief Engineer

Symphony Space Inc. is an early-stage U.S. space company developing modular autonomous space stations. We are headquartered in Arlington, Virginia and are building a lean, highly skilled engineering team. If you are excited about reimagining how spacecrafts and space systems are designed, deployed, and operated — join us at the frontier. The Role You will be the technical backbone of Symphony Space. Reporting directly to the CTO, you will serve as the single technical authority across the entire spacecraft — owning system architecture, interface control, verification, validation and qualification activities and planning, operations design, and the program management of our most critical subsystems. This is a key engineering role: you set the engineering culture, define processes, and scale the team. At this stage, breadth matters as much as depth — you will span the full system while building the specialist capability around you. As Chief Engineer, you own the end-to-end technical integrity of the platform from concept through validation. Your remit spans: Own and maintain the overall platform architecture Serve as Interface Control Document (ICD) authority across all subsystems and external partners Lead and maintain the Design, Development & Verification Plan (DDVP) and ensure full requirements traceability Chair technical reviews and drive convergence across engineering, operations, and business stakeholders Simulation & Mission Validation Use and oversee the use of simulation tools to validate mission architectures, system performance, and subsystem interactions across the platform; ensure simulation results feed directly into design decisions and technical reviews Define and enforce the simulation tool strategy across engineering pillars: mission analysis (STK/GMAT), power and thermal (MATLAB/Simulink, Thermal Desktop), structural (NASTRAN/ANSYS), RF and EMC (HFSS, CST), and flight software (SIL/HIL environments) IP Subsystem Program Management Lead technical development and program management of Symphony's IP-critical subsystems Define subsystem development plans, track schedule and technical risk, and manage subcontractor interfaces Team & Process Leadership Establish engineering standards, configuration management, and documentation practices Build, lead, and manage the full Symphony Space engineering organization across its three pillars: (1) Mission & Program Engineering — system architecture, requirements, GNC, mission analysis; (2) Satellite Systems & AIT — EPS, RF/communications, mechanical/thermal, interface hardware, assembly and integration; (3) Flight & Ground Software & Operations — on-board software, ground software, and mission operations Define the engineering headcount plan wave by wave (Wave 1 early engineers, Wave 2 post-PDR specialists, Wave 3 AIT/Ops); recruit, interview, and onboard engineers at each stage; define roles, reporting lines, and technical scope Mentor and develop the engineering team; foster a culture of technical rigor, documentation discipline, and cross-domain collaboration Support government proposals and represent Symphony Space at technical reviews and customer engagements What you'll bring Required M.S. or Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering, Systems Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related field 15+ years of experience in space systems engineering, with demonstrated technical leadership on satellite or spacecraft programs Experience leading at least one end-to-end spacecraft program (concept through launch) as Systems Engineer or technical lead Deep expertise in ICD management, requirements flow-down, and Verification & Validation planning Strong program management skills: schedule, risk, and resource management across concurrent workstreams Demonstrated experience building and managing engineering teams across multiple disciplines (systems, software, hardware); ability to recruit, structure, and grow a technical organization from a small founding core to a full program team Experience with U.S. government space programs (Dept of War or NASA) and familiarity with proposal processes Must be a U.S. citizen or Legally Permanent Resident Preferred Prior experience as Chief Engineer or Deputy Chief Engineer on a satellite program Experience with modular spacecraft, hosted payload architectures, or novel interface concepts Familiarity with wireless power/data transfer systems Active U.S. security clearance or clearance eligibility Hands‑on experience with Ansys Systems Tool Kit (STK) for mission analysis, coverage simulation, and constellation trade studies; ability to review and challenge simulation outputs produced by subsystem engineers Familiarity with multidisciplinary simulation environments: MATLAB/Simulink for system-level modelling, GMAT or equivalent for orbital mechanics, and systems engineering tools such as CAMEO or MagicDraw for model-based systems engineering (MBSE) The person we are looking for You thrive in ambiguity. You can hold the big picture and dive into a subsystem ICD in the same day. You have strong opinions, hold them loosely, and know how to build consensus across a team of experts. You want to build something — not manage something that already exists. Compensation and Benefits Base salary is competitive with early-stage aerospace startups, commensurate with experience. Meaningful early-team equity grant with standard 4-year vesting / 1-year cliff. Health, dental, and vision insurance Flexible PTO policy 401(k) match and vesting Symphony Space Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. #J-18808-Ljbffr