Staff Mission Lead Systems Engineer

About the Role

Muon seeks a Staff Mission Lead Systems Engineer to join our Mission Execution team. At Muon, we are developing multiple missions to help understand and act on Earth and climate intelligence. As a Staff Mission Lead Systems Engineer, you will partner with our Mission Architecture team during early mission formulation and study phases — shaping the technical concept, driving architecture trades, and developing the requirements baseline for prospective Muon missions. When a mission you helped formulate is selected for implementation, you will become the Mission Lead Systems Engineer (MLSE), owning end-to-end technical success from concept through on-orbit operations for our most demanding missions. This role is pivotal as we scale our engineering rigor to meet the exacting standards of any customer requiring high-reliability systems, including those in the U.S. Government (USG), Department of Defense (DoD), Intelligence Community (IC), and select commercial sectors. In this role you will have a “big-picture” view of mission execution, spanning the full lifecycle of mission design — from initial formulation with the Business Development team, through execution with the space vehicle hardware and software teams, to on-orbit validation and mission performance monitoring with the Operations team. You will be the primary technical interface with customers and cross-functional team leads to develop requirements and ICDs, work with other Systems Engineers to perform system modeling, develop test plans with AI&T teams, and identify and reduce risk across the program with Program Managers.

Muon is a lean and agile team, so keys to success in this role are your ability to “right-size” analysis and processes for differing levels of system maturity and risk, your flexibility to work with changing demands and schedules, and your effective communication of technical content to a diverse audience.

This position is hybrid and requires working on-site in our San Jose, CA office three days per week.

Responsibilities

• Partner with the Mission Architecture team during study efforts to develop mission concepts, run architecture trade studies, and shape technical baselines for prospective missions and proposal responses.
• Develop and maintain mission-level system models, including architecture, requirements, interfaces, and behavior models — carrying these artifacts forward from the study phase into implementation as the authoritative technical baseline.
• Serve as the ultimate technical authority for your designated mission, leading the conceptualization, design, and development of the mission. Drive critical cross-functional technical trades and decisions to ensure mission success.
• Lead the tailoring and implementation of the Muon mission design process for your designated mission, ensuring alignment with program needs, while contributing to process refinement across all missions.
• Own the translation of customer objectives and stakeholder needs into clear, verifiable, and actionable technical requirements for your designated mission.
• Serve as the primary technical point of contact for your designated mission, interfacing with customers, partners, and internal stakeholders on all technical matters.
• Manage requirements traceability, verification, and validation.
• Define mission CONOPS and manage subsystem budgets (e.g., power, data, mass, pointing/stability).
• Identify and mitigate internal and external mission risks, communicating impacts effectively.
• Assess and coordinate design changes across disciplines throughout the program lifecycle.
• Lead design, test readiness, and flight readiness reviews.
• Monitor on-orbit spacecraft and data pipelines to ensure mission success and that customer requirements are met.
• Foster deep collaboration with and provide technical direction to systems, hardware, software, data, ground segment, and operations teams for your designated mission, and support these interactions across other missions.
• Effectively serve as the Mission Lead Systems Engineer for one mission while contributing general systems engineering expertise and support to other Muon missions, potentially deputizing for other Mission Lead Systems Engineers as needed.
• Contribute to the continuous improvement of engineering processes, tools, and methodologies to enhance efficiency and effectiveness in mission development and operations.

Qualifications

• B.S. or higher degree in an engineering field and 10+ years of experience in complex system, mission architecture, and/or spacecraft design, with a focus on high-rigor development for government and/or demanding commercial customers.
• Demonstrated experience as a technical lead (e.g., Chief Engineer, Lead Systems Engineer) on at least one complex system design for USG, DoD, IC customers, and/or commercial customers.
• Experience with major space programs for USG, DoD, IC customers, and/or commercial customers.
• Experience with USG/IC acquisition programs, standards for space systems development, and mission assurance standards.
• A strong understanding of USG/IC contracts and their artifacts.
• Experience supporting proposal development (e.g., RFI/RFP responses) for government contracts.
• Extensive experience in system modeling, systems analysis, and running simulations.
• Proven history of system integration and delivery of complex systems.
• Experience in formal requirements management for a multi-disciplinary project.
• Demonstrated project management skills and ability to collaborate with other engineering disciplines.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and coordination skills.
• Ability to rapidly change roles/responsibilities while working in a fast-paced, rewarding work environment.
• Active TS/SCI security clearance

Nice-to-have Skills

• Direct engineering experience with RF systems — e.g., RF payload/instrument design, link budget analysis, spectrum and regulatory considerations, and mission-level RF architecture trades.
• Experience with Cameo Systems Modeler (or an equivalent SysML MBSE tool) to capture mission architecture, requirements, interfaces, and behavior — and using those models to drive design decisions across a multi-disciplinary team.
• Software skills in Python or Julia.
• Familiarity with software engineering tools and processes (version control, code review).
• Knowledge of industry standards for electrical and/or software quality practices.
• Remote sensing instrument experience across multiple modalities (e.g., optical, multispectral, RF), and their associated data pipelines.

Salary

The salary range for this role is $216,000-$242,000 plus a competitive equity grant and comprehensive benefits package. Final compensation will be based on skills, qualifications, experience, and geographic location as assessed during the interview process.

About Muon Space

Founded in 2021, Muon Space is an end-to-end Space Systems Provider that designs, builds, and operates LEO satellite constellations delivering mission-critical data. Our revolutionary, integrated technology stack enables customers to optimize every dimension of their missions for faster time-to-orbit and superior constellation remote sensing performance. Our state-of-the-art facility in the heart of Silicon Valley is optimized for manufacturing spacecraft and rapid, flexible payload integration at scale. From climate monitoring to national security, Muon Space is dedicated to delivering Earth Intelligence for a safer and more resilient world.

Taking Care of Our Team

At Muon salary is only part of our total compensation package. In addition to salary, full-time employees receive equity compensation as well as benefits including medical, dental, and vision insurance, a 401k retirement plan, short & long term disability and life insurance. We also offer three weeks paid vacation for new employees, along with 12 paid holidays, unlimited sick time and paid parental leave.

ITAR/EAR Requirements

This position requires access to export controlled information. To conform to U.S. Government export regulations applicable to that information, applicant must either be (A) a U.S. person, defined as a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (green card holder), (iii) refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, (B) eligible to access the export controlled information without a required export authorization, or (C) eligible and reasonably likely to obtain the required export authorization from the applicable U.S. government agency. The Company may, for legitimate business reasons, decline to pursue any export licensing process.