Principal Mission Assurance Engineer

The Exploration Company; Oberpfaffenhofen; Vor Ort; EUR 120.000 - 180.000; Vollzeit

Zusammenfassung

The Exploration Company seeks a Principal Mission Assurance Engineer to lead our Mission Assurance team and own the end-to-end strategy ensuring spacecraft safety, reliability, and mission readiness. You will be embedded with design, test, and operations teams, driving safety architecture and risk reduction while mentoring a team of ~6 engineers.

As the technical authority for mission assurance, you will champion first-principles thinking, perform RAMS analyses, and report progress to program

Qualifikationen

• 8+ years of experience in RAMS, mission assurance, or systems safety on complex hardware systems.
• Master’s degree in an engineering or science discipline.
• Experience leading teams or projects — setting technical direction and delivering results.
• Proficiency with reliability tools (FMECA, FTA, RAM diagrams).
• Deep understanding of fault tolerance, redundancy management, and failure detection/isolation/recovery.
• Technical knowledge of spacecraft systems and operations (communications, orbital mechanics, avionics, propulsion, thermal control, life support).
• Strong written and verbal communication of technical information.
• Ability to manage projects and tasks while meeting aggressive deadlines.
• Thrives under pressure and is resilient in the face of technical challenges.
• Excellent organizational and interpersonal skills.

Aufgaben

• End-to-end ownership of the vehicle safety architecture and safety/reliability requirements.
• Own overall flight reliability, assess pre-flight risks and mitigations with design/analysis/ops teams.
• Perform and review FMECA, FTA, PRA, and RAM analyses to identify risks and failure modes.
• Define and validate spacecraft fault management and FDIR architecture.
• Collaborate with avionics, software, and operations teams to implement fault management strategies.
• Support on-console operations as Mission Assurance representative and drive anomaly resolution.
• Lead and mentor a team of safety, reliability, and fault management engineers.
• Champion a culture of mission assurance with data-driven decisions.
• Report RAMS status to program leadership and advise on residual risk and flight readiness.
• Drive corrective actions from anomalies and test failures back into design.

Kenntnisse

RAMS experience

Team leadership

Reliability tools

Spacecraft systems knowledge

Strong communication

Ausbildung

Master’s degree in engineering or science

Tools

FMECA

FTA

RAM diagrams

Jobbeschreibung

Here at The Exploration Company, we are developing, producing, and operating Nyx, a modular and reusable space orbital vehicle that can eventually be refuelled in orbit and that can carry cargo - and potentially humans in the longer run.

We are looking for a Principal Mission Assurance Engineer to lead our Mission Assurance team and own the end-to-end strategy that ensures our spacecraft is safe, reliable, and mission ready. In this role you will be embedded with the design, test, and operations teams, driving the vehicle safety architecture as well as relentlessly driving risk down and availability up. In this role you will be the technical authority for mission assurance across the program and get to lead and mentor a team of ~6 mission assurance engineers.

Key Responsibilities

• End-to-end ownership of the vehicle safety architecture making sure it meets all safety & reliability requirements (both internal and external from ISS program, ESA and CNES on entry safety).
• Owner of overall flight reliability, responsible for assessing pre-flight risks and potential mitigations with vehicle design, analysis, and operations teams.
• Perform and review FMECA, FTA, PRA, and RAM analyses to identify risks and failure modes.
• Define and validate the spacecraft fault management and FDIR architecture.
• Work with avionics, software, and operations teams to implement fault management strategies and ensure safe behavior under off-nominal conditions.
• Support on-console operations as the Mission Assurance representative and drive in-flight anomaly resolution. Ensure lessons learned feed directly back into design and FDIR improvements.
• Lead and mentor a team of safety, reliability, and fault management engineers. Set priorities, review their work, and grow their technical depth.
• Champion a culture of mission assurance. Instill first-principles thinking, disciplined verification, and data-driven decision-making.
• Report to program leadership on RAMS status, residual risk, and flight readiness.
• Drive corrective actions from anomalies, test failures, and operational events back into design improvements.

What we would love to see from you

The ideal candidate will have:

• Master’s degree in an engineering or science discipline.
• 8+ years of experience in RAMS, mission assurance, or systems safety on complex hardware systems.
• Experience leading teams or projects — setting technical direction and delivering results.
• Proficiency with reliability tools (e.g., FMECA, FTA, reliability block diagrams).
• Deep understanding of fault tolerance, redundancy management, and failure detection/isolation/recovery.
• Technical knowledge of spacecraft systems and operations (e.g., communications, orbital mechanics, avionics, propulsion, thermal control, life support systems).
• Strong written and verbal communication of technical information.
• Able to effectively manage projects and tasks while meeting aggressive deadlines.
• Thrives under pressure and is resilient in the face of technical challenges.
• Excellent organizational and interpersonal skills.

Bonus qualifications

• Experience developing and validating FDIR logic, watchdog strategies, and fault response sequences.
• Previous experience in a customer-facing role working through design requirements, test acceptance, and verification (especially with a government customer such as ESA/NASA).
• Ability and willingness to put in extra time to mentor other engineers while also being a significant individual contributor.
• Passion for advancing the commercial space industry and human spaceflight.

Why you should join us!

What makes us special here at The Exploration Company and why we think you will enjoy working here is:

• We’re Agile - we make decisions fast whilst keeping our goals and systems in mind
• We’re Open and Collaborative - we are transparent about risks and obstacles, so that we can cooperate to overcome them
• We have a lot of Fun - we refuel our energy knowing we are democratising space. It’s a wonderful and rare opportunity, are YOU up for the challenge?

The Exploration Company is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability status. Relocation assistance is provided for those willing to relocate including visa sponsorship where applicable.