Payload Systems Lead - 4 days in office

MRL Consulting Group | Global Niche Technology Recruitment; United States; Hybrid; GBP 85,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Life assurance

Income protection

Employee Assistance Programme

Career development opportunities

Job summary

MRL Consulting Group | Global Niche Technology Recruitment seeks a Payload Systems Project Lead to own the design, integration and delivery of RF payloads for GEO satellites. You will lead multidisciplinary engineering teams, shape architectures, and drive successful mission outcomes in a fast paced space technology environment.

This role offers a challenging path across technical trade studies, interface management, and customer collaboration, with four days in the office and one day remote,

Qualifications

• Degree in Engineering, Mathematics, Physics or a related technical discipline.
• 10+ years’ experience in communications systems engineering and/or engineering management.
• Proven experience developing technologies for space environments.
• Experience working with space industry standards such as ECSS.
• Experience leading engineering teams and managing technical delivery.
• Knowledge of RF payload systems and satellite design.

Responsibilities

• Lead multidisciplinary engineering teams delivering RF payload and antenna system solutions.
• Develop and maintain technical plans covering scope, schedule, cost, resources and project risks.
• Monitor technical performance against project baselines and identify opportunities for mitigation and improvement.
• Drive cross-functional technical execution to deliver projects on time, within budget and to required standards.
• Manage technical requirements, specifications and interface definitions throughout the system lifecycle.
• Guide systems engineering activities including architecture definition and concept of operations.
• Performance analysis and trade studies.
• Allocation of system requirements to subsystems and components.
• Development of antenna and onboard processing requirements.
• Perform technical trade-off analysis, including link budgets and capacity assessments.
• Support technology maturation and risk reduction activities for critical satellite systems.
• Lead technical discussions with customers, partners and engineering stakeholders.
• Support technical proposals and RFI/RFP responses, presenting complex engineering concepts clearly to customers.

Skills

RF Payload Systems

System Architecting

Space Environment Expertise

ECSS Standards

People Leadership

Education

Engineering Degree

Tools

Job description

Payload Systems Project Lead - 4 days in office

Are you an experienced Systems Engineer with a passion for satellite communications and space technology? We are seeking a Payload Systems Project Lead to take ownership of the design, integration and delivery of advanced RF payload and antenna systems for GEO and next-generation satellite platforms.

This is an exciting opportunity to lead multidisciplinary engineering teams, shape future space communication systems, and contribute to the development of innovative technologies that are pushing the boundaries of the space industry.

The Role

As the Payload Systems Project Lead, you will be responsible for leading engineering activities across complex satellite payload programmes, working closely with internal teams, customers and external partners to define solutions, manage technical delivery and drive successful mission outcomes.

You will play a key role in developing system architectures, performing technical trade-offs and ensuring payload solutions meet performance, cost, schedule and quality objectives.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead multidisciplinary engineering teams delivering RF payload and antenna system solutions.
• Develop and maintain technical plans covering scope, schedule, cost, resources and project risks.
• Monitor technical performance against project baselines and identify opportunities for mitigation and improvement.
• Drive cross-functional technical execution to deliver projects on time, within budget and to required standards.
• Manage technical requirements, specifications and interface definitions throughout the system lifecycle.
• Guide systems engineering activities including:
• Architecture definition and concept of operations.
• Performance analysis and trade studies.
• Allocation of system requirements to subsystems and components.
• Development of antenna and onboard processing requirements.
• Perform technical trade-off analysis, including link budgets and capacity assessments.
• Support technology maturation and risk reduction activities for critical satellite systems.
• Lead technical discussions with customers, partners and engineering stakeholders.
• Support technical proposals and RFI/RFP responses, presenting complex engineering concepts clearly to customers.

About You

You are an experienced communications systems professional with a strong background in satellite payload design and engineering leadership.

You will ideally have:

• Degree in Engineering, Mathematics, Physics or a related technical discipline.
• 10+ years’ experience in communications systems engineering and/or engineering management.
• Proven experience developing technologies for space environments.
• Experience working with space industry standards such as ECSS.
• Experience leading engineering teams and managing technical delivery.
• Strong knowledge of communications satellite design, including:
• RF payload systems.
• Experience developing and analysing end-to-end system requirements and performing complex trade studies.
• Ability to translate system-level requirements into detailed subsystem solutions.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to engage effectively with customers, leadership teams and engineering stakeholders.
• Line management or formal project management experience.
• Digital signal processing expertise.
• Experience designing phased array antenna systems.
• Experience supporting technical proposals and customer presentations.

What's on Offer

• Opportunity to work on pioneering satellite communication and space technology programmes.
• Competitive salary and comprehensive benefits package.
• Life assurance and income protection.
• Employee Assistance Programme.
• Career development opportunities within a growing international engineering environment.