Mission Operations Lead

York Space Systems; Greenwood Village (CO); On-site; USD 120,000 - 165,000; Full time

Job summary

York Space Systems in Colorado is seeking a Systems Engineer – Mission Operations Lead to provide technical leadership for mission planning, execution, and operational readiness across the full mission lifecycle. This hands-on role bridges spacecraft development and on-orbit operations, with you actively involved in planning, testing, rehearsals, and real-time spacecraft operations.

The successful candidate will have a BS in engineering or related field with 4+ years of experience, strong

Qualifications

• BS degree in engineering, CS, or related field with 4+ years of experience.
• Experience in spacecraft systems engineering, satellite operations, or related areas.
• Ability to balance priorities across mission phases and learn complex systems.
• Active Security Clearance – SECRET preferred with TS/SCI potential.

Responsibilities

• Lead mission operations across lifecycle as the technical interface to customers and multidisciplinary teams.
• Develop operational concepts, procedures, and documentation.
• Plan rehearsals, simulations, and table-top exercises for readiness.
• Create telemetry analysis, trending, and health monitoring tools.
• Support anomaly investigations using telemetry and command history.

Skills

Systems engineering

Mission operations

Telemetry analysis

ConOps development

Anomaly investigations

Communication skills

Education

BS degree in engineering or related field

Tools

Python

JIRA

Confluence

Job description

York is seeking a Systems Engineer – Mission Operations Lead to provide technical leadership for mission planning, mission execution, and operational readiness across the full mission lifecycle. The Mission Operations Lead serves as the technical bridge between spacecraft development and on‑orbit execution, ensuring mission concepts are translated into safe, efficient, and successful flight operations. This is a hands‑on individual contributor role in which the successful candidate will serve as the Mission Operations lead for assigned programs while remaining directly involved in mission planning, systems integration, testing, rehearsals, and real‑time spacecraft operations. This is not a personnel management position. This role is ideal for engineers who enjoy working across disciplines, taking ownership of complex technical problems, and seeing their work directly influence the success of spacecraft from development through on‑orbit operations.

This role will be fully on‑site in our Greenwood Village office.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the Mission Operations technical lead for assigned programs throughout the mission lifecycle, acting as the primary technical interface with customers, program management, and multidisciplinary engineering teams
• Support systems engineering activities including requirements development, verification planning, integration, test, and operational readiness reviews
• Collaborate with spacecraft, ground systems, flight software, and payload engineering teams to define operational interfaces, evaluate technical trades, and support system integration
• Develop mission operations architectures, concepts of operations (ConOps), operational plans, procedures, and supporting documentation that satisfy system and customer requirements throughout the program lifecycle
• Plan and execute mission rehearsals, simulations, and table‑top exercises to ensure operational readiness while mentoring and providing technical guidance to junior team members as needed
• Develop and maintain operational products including spacecraft checklists, command scripts, customer training materials, and console documentation
• Develop and apply telemetry analysis, trending, modeling, and software tools to evaluate spacecraft health, mission performance, and mission objectives
• Support anomaly investigations through multidisciplinary systems analysis using telemetry, command history, and engineering data

• Coordinate and provide technical guidance to mission operations personnel in the development and execution of mission operations activities
• Serve as the Mission Operations technical lead during launch, early orbit, and commissioning activities, coordinating execution across multidisciplinary engineering and operations teams.

Required Qualifications

• BS degree in engineering, computer science, or relevant technical field, plus 4+ years of relevant experience
• Experience with one or more of the following: spacecraft systems engineering, satellite operations, spacecraft subsystem design, ground systems, flight software, integration and test, mission planning, or orbit dynamics
• Ability to independently balance competing technical priorities across multiple mission phases
• Demonstrated ability to integrate information across multiple engineering disciplines to solve complex technical problems
• Demonstrated ability to rapidly learn complex spacecraft systems, operational concepts, and new software tools
• Experience developing, validating, and executing operational procedures and mission documentation
• Willingness to work extended periods of rotating shifts, off hours and weekend/holidays
• Clear and concise communication skills
• Active Security Clearance– SECRET highly desired with eligibility for TS/SCI in the future
• Desired – familiarity with JIRA, Confluence, Python or other scripting languages, and project management/collaboration tools
• Willingness to work full-time in our Greenwood Village, CO office