Senior Systems Engineer - Spaceplane

Dawn Aerospace; Christchurch; On-site; NZD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Dawn Aerospace in New Zealand is seeking an experienced Systems Engineer to take ownership of vehicle functions and lead multi-disciplinary engineering decisions across propulsion, structures, avionics, GNC, software, operations, and certification.

You will shape the system architecture, verification approaches, and safety cases while mentoring engineers and delivering credible evidence for reliability and certification in a fast-moving spaceplane program.

Qualifications

• Experience in systems engineering for complex aerospace or safety-critical systems.
• Ownership of system functions, including requirements, architecture, interfaces, and verification.
• Experience with qualification and reliability demonstration of structural, mechanical, electrical, or avionics systems.
• FHA, FTA, CCA, or reliability engineering knowledge.
• Environmental qualification testing, including test requirements and profiles.
• Flight test, vehicle integration, verification, and validation.
• Experience with aircraft, spacecraft, launch vehicles, or unmanned systems.

Responsibilities

• Take end-to-end ownership of one or more vehicle functions or systems.
• Define functional behaviour, requirements, architecture, interfaces, and verification approaches.
• Drive technical decisions and collaborate with propulsion, structures, avionics, GNC, software, operations, and certification teams.
• Establish verification plans and support execution across development lifecycle.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship within functional areas.
• Lead FHA for assigned areas and develop system-level safety requirements.
• Perform or contribute to FTA, CCA, and other safety activities.
• Support development of safety cases and certification evidence.
• Translate FHA safety objectives into practical verification activities.
• Develop qualification and environmental test programmes from expected use.
• Lead qualification and reliability demonstration activities.
• Ensure reliability is designed into systems from outset with robust evidence.
• Assist in establishing approaches for qualification and reliability across the program.

Skills

Systems engineering

Ownership of system functions

Qualification & reliability

FHA/FTA/CCA

Environmental testing

Flight test & verification

Aerospace safety-critical

Job description

Join us in developing a remotely operated reusable spaceplane that combines the demanding performance of a rocket with the operational discipline of an aircraft.

We're looking for an experienced Systems Engineer who enjoys taking ownership, solving complex technical problems, and driving engineering decisions across multidisciplinary teams. This is a hands‑on technical role for someone who can lead from the front and help shape both the vehicle and the way we engineer it.

If you want a narrow, heavily structured role, this is probably not for you. We are looking for someone practical, organised, and capable of taking ownership in a fast‑moving environment.

What You'll Do

Take Ownership of Vehicle Functions

• Take end‑to‑end ownership of one or more vehicle functions or systems.
• Define functional behaviour, requirements, architecture, interfaces, and verification approaches.
• Drive technical decisions and work closely with propulsion, structures, avionics, GNC, software, operations, and certification teams.
• Establish verification plans and support execution throughout the development lifecycle to deliver integrated vehicle capabilities.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to engineers working within your functional areas.

Lead Aircraft System Safety

• Lead Functional Hazard Assessments (FHA) for your assigned functional areas.
• Develop system‑level safety requirements and ensure hazards are effectively mitigated.
• Perform or contribute to Fault Tree Analysis (FTA), Common Cause Analysis (CCA), and other system safety activities.
• Support the development of safety cases and certification evidence where required.

Demonstrate System Reliability and Assurance

A key responsibility of this role is ensuring that the reliability statements identified through Functional Hazard Assessments (FHA) are supported by credible engineering evidence.

• Translate reliability allocations and safety objectives from FHA and other safety analyses into practical verification and qualification activities.
• Define appropriate combinations of testing, analysis, inspection, similarity, and operational evidence to support reliability claims.
• Develop qualification and environmental test programmes by deriving realistic vibration, shock, thermal, pressure, and other environmental conditions from expected operational use.
• Lead qualification and reliability demonstration activities, turning certification and safety objectives into practical engineering programmes.
• Work closely with design engineers to ensure reliability is designed into systems from the outset and demonstrated through robust engineering evidence.
• Help establish effective approaches for qualification, reliability demonstration, and engineering assurance across the spaceplane programme.
• Provide technical justification to support high‑confidence reliability claims for critical vehicle functions.

What We're Looking For

You are an experienced engineer who takes ownership, enjoys working across disciplines, and is comfortable making sound technical decisions in complex environments.

We expect applicants to bring strong experience in at least two or three of the following areas:

• Systems engineering for complex aerospace or other safety‑critical systems.
• Ownership of system functions, including requirements, architecture, interfaces, and verification.
• Practical qualification and reliability demonstration of structural, mechanical, electrical, or avionics systems.
• Functional Hazard Assessment (FHA). Fault Tree Analysis (FTA), Common Cause Analysis (CCA), or reliability engineering.
• Environmental qualification testing, including development of test requirements and profiles.
• Flight test, vehicle integration, verification, and validation.
• Aircraft, spacecraft, launch vehicle, advanced unmanned aircraft, or other highly integrated safety‑critical systems.

What Makes You Successful

• You quickly understand the strengths and capabilities of a team, adapt your approach accordingly, and raise the technical standard by leading through example.
• You naturally take ownership and drive work through to completion.
• You can understand complex systems and make pragmatic engineering decisions.
• You enjoy building practical engineering solutions rather than simply following process.
• You communicate clearly and influence technical direction through sound engineering judgement.
• You enjoy mentoring others and helping teams deliver higher‑quality engineering outcomes.

Why Join Us?

This is an opportunity to help develop a first‑of‑its‑kind aerospace vehicle operating at the intersection of aviation and spaceflight.

You’ll have genuine ownership of critical vehicle functions, work alongside highly capable engineers, and help solve technical challenges that don’t exist anywhere else in the industry. Your work will directly influence how we demonstrate safety, reliability, and operational readiness as we take the vehicle from development into routine operations.

Diversity & Inclusion

At Dawn Aerospace, we believe that diverse teams build better solutions. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment where people of all backgrounds, identities, and experiences are valued and supported to do their best work.

About Dawn Aerospace

Dawn Aerospace is a space transportation company with a purpose.

Our Mission Is To Enable The Next Generation Of Space Users By Providing More Sustainable And Scalable Ways To Access And Move Around In Space. We Believe This Access, In The Form Of a Transportation Network, Will Fundamentally Change What’s Possible From Space. We Currently Focus On Three Areas Of Space Transportation

• In‑space propulsion We’re a leading supplier of turnkey green propulsion systems for various classes of satellites. Our systems utilise safe, accessible propellants and we have over 170 of these propulsion units on more than 40 operational satellites already. A further 200 units are in production.
• In‑space servicing Coupled with our propulsion expertise, we are ensuring that our customers’ satellites are refuellable. In the coming years, Dawn will offer a refueling service to enable life extension of customer satellites. This new market is aligned with our sustainability goal to ensue a clean and safe space for everyone!
• Spaceplane We are developing the fastest and highest‑flying aircraft ever to take off from a runway, combining the extreme performance of rocket propulsion with the reusability of conventional airplanes to enable high‑frequency, low‑cost access to sub‑orbital space.

Our international teams are distributed across four locations: the Netherlands, France, New Zealand, and the USA.