Lead Space Systems Engineer - RPO & Missions

0909 SP - Orbital Space Systems; United States; On-site; USD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Northrop Grumman Space Systems in Dulles, Virginia, is seeking an experienced Space Systems Engineer to join the Space Superiority Division. You will work on cross-disciplinary teams to develop, test, and deliver advanced spacecraft and mission systems for space security missions.

The ideal candidate has deep expertise in spacecraft engineering, mission design, or RPO operations, and will contribute to architectures, CONOPS, and mission analyses.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a STEM field with 5+ years of applicable experience, or Master’s with 3 years, or PhD with 1 year.
• Active U.S. Government Top Secret clearance required.
• Experience in design, development, integration, test, or operation of spacecraft or space-based systems.
• Experience performing systems-engineering functions: requirements, interface definition, architecture, CONOPS, trade studies, verification and validation.
• Experience collaborating across multiple engineering disciplines to develop integrated spacecraft or mission solutions.
• Experience developing technical documentation and communicating complex engineering information to technical teams and customers.

Responsibilities

• Developing and evaluating spacecraft and mission architectures, CONOPS, and operational scenarios.
• Performing mission-level analyses and technical trade studies.
• Assessing day‑in‑the‑life operations and designing mission sequences for launch, on-orbit, and contingency scenarios.
• Collaborating across spacecraft, payload, GNC, software, ground, and mission-operations teams.
• Modeling and maturing mission elements, interfaces, and execution plans with partners.
• Supporting spacecraft integration, test, and mission-readiness activities and reviews.

Skills

Spacecraft engineering

System architecture

Requirements management

Technical documentation

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's in STEM

Master's in STEM

PhD in STEM

Tools

Python

MATLAB

STK

MBSE

Job description

Northrop Grumman Space Systems in Dulles, Virginia, is seeking an experienced Space Systems Engineer to join the Space Superiority Division. You will work on cross-disciplinary teams to develop, test, and deliver advanced spacecraft and mission systems for space security missions.

The ideal candidate has deep expertise in spacecraft engineering, mission design, or RPO operations, and will contribute to architectures, CONOPS, and mission analyses.