Staff Systems Engineer

Staff Systems Engineer

Location: United States, Onsite
Compensation Range: 150,000 to 190,000 USD per year, plus equity and benefits

We are a rocket and spacecraft hardware manufacturer building next generation propulsion and space systems. Today, one of our biggest needs is strengthening our systems engineering foundation across spacecraft and propulsion hardware. We are seeking a Staff Systems Engineer who can bring clarity, structure and technical depth to a rapidly growing space products organization.

We need someone who can take ambiguous requirements and turn them into clear, actionable engineering direction. Someone who understands what it means to build hardware that stays in orbit for years and has strong intuition for how spacecraft subsystems interact. Someone who knows industry standards, understands how to interpret and apply them, and has opinions about how to design, verify and qualify real flight hardware.

You will serve as the initial technical contact for both internal manufacturing teams and customers. You will define requirements, write test plans, drive release processes, evaluate data and ensure that our systems are designed, tested and validated in a consistent, traceable and technically sound manner.

This is a role for someone who has worked across real spacecraft or propulsion programs and has the judgment to help us modernize our systems approach.

Role Overview

As a Staff Systems Engineer, you will take ownership of system level definition, integration and verification across our spacecraft hardware. You will help establish a more rigorous systems perspective within the organization: ensuring requirements are structured, tests are appropriate rather than excessive or insufficient, and that system behavior is predictable and well understood.

Your work will span product definition, trade studies, requirements flowdown, test planning, data review, design decisions and customer interaction. You will have the freedom to shape the systems engineering discipline from the ground up while still contributing directly to technical work.

Key Responsibilities

Systems Ownership

• Serve as the system authority for spacecraft and propulsion related hardware from concept through flight
• Define system requirements, interfaces and architecture for space products
• Ensure system consistency across engineering, manufacturing and test disciplines

Requirements Definition and Trade Studies

• Clean up and structure requirements so they are testable, traceable and aligned with actual mission needs
• Perform trade studies balancing cost, mass, power, performance, manufacturability and reliability
• Ensure all system level decisions follow a consistent and documented logic

Verification and Validation

• Develop and execute system level test plans
• Ensure requirements are verified through analysis, inspection and representative testing
• Evaluate data from testing, flag discrepancies and drive closure

Systems-Level Technical Decision Making

• Help ensure we are neither over testing nor under testing
• Provide input on system architecture and design decisions based on real spacecraft experience
• Support design reviews and ensure compliance with standards and mission expectations

Integration and Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with manufacturing, propulsion, avionics, structures and test teams
• Serve as the primary systems interface for customers and internal production
• Ensure smooth flow from design through build, test, release and operations

Leadership and Mentorship

• Provide guidance to engineers across disciplines
• Help develop a systems mindset within the company
• Drive best practices for documentation, decision making and program structure

Why We Value You

• Eight or more years of spacecraft systems engineering experience, working on hardware that remains in orbit long term
• Ability to define, organize and manage system level requirements
• Strong understanding of spacecraft subsystems, especially propulsion, fluid systems, avionics or structural/thermal design
• Experience writing and executing system level test plans, and evaluating test data
• Familiarity with LEO spacecraft mission constraints including thermal behavior, radiation effects and operational environments
• Hands on experience in system integration and qualification testing
• Working knowledge of industry standards such as NASA, ECSS, ESA, MIL-STD or similar
• Strong communication skills and ability to influence technical and program decisions

Desired Multipliers

• Direct experience with electric propulsion systems such as Hall thrusters or ion propulsion
• Experience with LEO spacecraft constellations or commercial satellite programs
• Experience developing systems processes from scratch or maturing them in a fast moving environment
• Experience supporting spacecraft manufacturing and testing at scale
• Background in system modeling tools such as MATLAB, Simulink, STK or MBSE platforms
• Experience designing systems to handle environmental loads including vacuum, thermal cycling, vibration and shock

Compensation and Benefits

• Base salary between 150,000 and 190,000 USD depending on experience
• Equity participation
• Medical, dental and vision coverage
• Onsite perks including provided lunches and access to test and engineering facilities

Darwin Recruitment is acting as an Employment Agency in relation to this vacancy.

Adam Slade