Senior Systems Engineer

About Matter Intelligence

Welcome to Matter, where we are building the future of vision AI: pairing a world-first sensor that sees molecular chemistry, temperature, and 3D shape with a Large World Model that will be the most powerful intelligence engine for our physical world. This system doesn't just see what something looks like; it understands everything from a single pixel. We call this Superintelligent Vision.

You'll join a team that has delivered technologies to Mars for NASA/JPL, co-founded and led infrastructure for OpenAI, designed cutting-edge sensors for U.S. Defense, and invented core algorithms for spectral and 3D imaging. We've come together to build the next infrastructure for vision and intelligence in the physical world.

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced Senior Systems Engineer to own the end-to-end technical architecture, integration, and mission assurance of a complete remote-sensing space system. This role is the technical authority ensuring all mission elements-from payload through spacecraft, launch, ground, and operations-come together coherently to deliver transformative Earth-observation capability.

You will lead mission systems engineering, orchestrate subsystem integration, maintain the technical baseline, drive major design and verification decisions, and guide the engineering team across the full lifecycle. Your work will directly shape mission feasibility, performance, and long-term operational success.

Key Responsibilities

Mission Architecture & Systems Leadership

• Serve as the top technical authority for an integrated remote-sensing space mission.
• Define and maintain mission architecture, technical baseline, and system-of-systems design from concept through operations.
• Lead mission-level trade studies, performance modeling, and system analyses (SNR/radiometric budgets, pointing/jitter, downlink/data budgets, etc.).
• Establish mission-level CONOPS for deployment, commissioning, calibration, tasking, autonomous ops, and contingencies.
• Ensure the spacecraft, payload, launch vehicle, ground segment, and data systems meet mission requirements.

Requirements, Budgets & Interface Management

• Own requirements definition, flowdown, allocation, and verification across all mission elements.
• Develop and manage system budgets (power, mass, thermal, pointing, link, data volume, reliability, etc.).
• Define and validate Interface Control Documents (ICDs) across payload, spacecraft, ground, and external partners.
• Coordinate closely with subsystem leads to ensure alignment and uncover cross-system issues early.

Integration, Test & Verification (IV&V)

• Lead spacecraft and payload integration planning with a focus on clean, testable interfaces.
• Develop system-level V&V plans including simulation, hardware testing, environmental qualification, and operational validation.
• Oversee payload, spacecraft, and ground system integration and test operations.
• Drive anomaly resolution with rigor, ensuring root-cause closure and prevention of recurrence.

Operations Integration

• Collaborate with mission operations engineers to define autonomy, tasking, data handling, and commissioning procedures.
• Ensure the mission design supports operational automation, low-latency data flows, and robust health & safety monitoring.
• Lead and support Mission Readiness Rehearsals.

Team Leadership

• Identify mission-level risks early, propose mitigations, and guide engineering execution.
• Partner with program management to align technical progress with schedule, budget, and customer needs.
• Communicate technical decisions clearly to leadership, partners, and external stakeholders.
• Mentor junior engineers to grow high-functioning mission-systems capability.

What Success Looks Like

• A coherent mission architecture enabling performance, schedule, and cost targets.
• Clean, well-defined interfaces across payload, spacecraft, ground, and operations.
• Technical risks are understood and mitigated before they threaten mission success.
• A coordinated engineering team executing confidently across disciplines.
• A remote-sensing system that delivers high-quality data on orbit.

Strategy & Leadership

• Applies first-principles thinking to preserve agility while ensuring engineering rigor.
• Operates with high integrity, intelligence, and energy.
• Intuitively understands how architecture choices propagate across subsystems.
• Brings clarity and decisiveness to complex engineering decisions.

Engineering & Product Excellence

• Acts as a systems-level thinker with deep technical credibility.
• Engages cross-functionally with optics, spacecraft engineering, ground systems, and AI teams.
• Ensures mission-level performance is validated through modeling, testing, and real-world operations.

Operational Excellence

• Anticipates integration, testing, and operations bottlenecks and resolves them early.
• Maintains disciplined documentation and configuration control.
• Embeds reliability, testability, and operational readiness into mission design.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Physics, or related discipline.
• 12+ years in spacecraft or remote-sensing systems engineering
• Demonstrated leadership on multi-disciplinary spacecraft or payload development programs.
• Deep understanding of spacecraft subsystems (GN&C, power, thermal, avionics, comms, propulsion, data handling).
• Proven experience with systems architecture, requirements flowdown, modeling, and interface management.
• Hands-on experience with integration & test, design verification, and environmental qualification.
• Experience with on-orbit operations, commissioning, or anomaly resolution.
• Excellent communication and cross-functional leadership skills.

Preferred

• Master's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related field.
• Experience building or operating EO/IR, hyperspectral, SAR, or other remote-sensing missions.
• Familiarity with simulation environments (Python/MATLAB) or mission modeling tools.
• Experience in rapid development or startup environments.
• Experience contributing to technical proposals (NASA, DoD, SBIR, commercial).

Location

This role is based in El Segundo, CA, with onsite presence required (temporary remote flexibility may be considered). Ability to travel to San Francisco Bay Area or El Segundo offices as needed.

ITAR Requirements

To comply with U.S. export regulations, applicants must be one of the following:

• A U.S. citizen or national
• A lawful permanent resident (green card holder)
• Eligible to obtain required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State

Employee Offerings & Benefits

At Matter, we believe in rewarding high performance and providing the support you need to thrive. Our compensation and benefits package includes:

• Compensation: Competitive total package based on experience.
• Equity : Early-stage equity package so you share directly in Matter's growth and success.
• Health & Wellness : 100% employer-paid health, dental, and vision coverage.
• Growth : Opportunities to expand into leadership, strategic accounts, or cross-functional roles as we scale.

Who You Are

You are a mission-driven technical leader who thrives at the intersection of engineering complexity, high-stakes decisions, and building real hardware that flies. You think holistically, communicate clearly, and elevate the entire engineering team around you.