Chief Systems Engineer, Spacecraft & Missions

Firefly Aerospace; Cedar Park (TX); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental & vision plans

Parental leave

Education reimbursement

Short-term disability

Flexible PTO

Job summary

Firefly Aerospace in Texas seeks a Chief Engineer to define vehicle-level architecture and enable missions from LEO to the Moon. You will lead interdisciplinary optimization, drive decisive technical direction, and ensure engineering excellence across programs.

Based at our Briggs, TX facility north of Cedar Park, you will chair design reviews, manage risk, mentor teams, and coordinate with Production, QA, and partners to deliver reliable, innovative spaceflight capabilities.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering or related discipline required.
• 10+ years in spacecraft/subsystem development and operations.
• 5+ years aerospace leadership experience.
• Active TS/SCI clearance or ability to obtain.
• Strong understanding of orbital mechanics.

Responsibilities

• Define vehicle-level architecture and capabilities.
• Lead system-level trades and optimize mass, delta‑V, power, and data budgets.
• Chair vehicle-level design reviews and ensure risk posture compliance.
• Develop innovative solutions and standardize component selection across programs.
• Provide on-console support for integrated operations and mission reviews.

Skills

Leadership

Oral and written communication

Systems thinking

Mentoring

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering

Master's or PhD in engineering

Tools

Confluence

Jira

Bitbucket

Teamcenter

Epsilon3

Odoo

Job description

Firefly Aerospace in Texas seeks a Chief Engineer to define vehicle-level architecture and enable missions from LEO to the Moon. You will lead interdisciplinary optimization, drive decisive technical direction, and ensure engineering excellence across programs.

Based at our Briggs, TX facility north of Cedar Park, you will chair design reviews, manage risk, mentor teams, and coordinate with Production, QA, and partners to deliver reliable, innovative spaceflight capabilities.