Satellite Systems Engineer - ADCS

constellr; Germany (OH); Hybrid; USD 103,603 - 149,649; Full time

Job summary

constellr is seeking a Satellite Systems Engineer with ADCS experience to join our spacecraft engineering team in a hybrid role based in Munich. You will translate mission and payload needs into ADCS requirements and collaborate with Payload, Mission Operations, Flight Dynamics, and platform providers to ensure pointing performance and mission success.

You will review ADCS design documentation, manage risk and verification activities, and support operations from LEOP through on-orbit

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in aerospace, mechanical, control, physics, or a related technical discipline.
• At least 4 years of spacecraft industry experience (constellation programme experience is a strong plus).
• Demonstrable knowledge of requirements management, flow-down, verification, and close-out, as well as space mission design, spacecraft subsystems and units, and their testing and verification.
• Practical understanding of ADCS/GNC concepts, including attitude sensors, actuators, attitude modes, pointing budgets, slew profiles, stability, and environmental disturbance sources.
• Ability to review technical analyses and verification evidence, identify gaps, and challenge assumptions constructively.
• Strong written and spoken English skills, with the ability to translate technical topics into clear inputs for teams and management.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the technical point of contact between engineering and programme management.
• Coordinate between AIT engineering and PA to ensure quality control according to PA processes.
• Support project management with schedule planning and regular progress reviews with subcontractors.
• Define requirements and ensure flow-down from mission to system and subsystems, managing verification and close-out.
• Oversee satellite system architecture and ensure interfaces are consistent.
• Review subcontractor designs for compliance and monitor milestones for timely completion.
• Coordinate system-level technical reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR, IRR, TRR).
• Identify technical risks and develop mitigation strategies with the project team.
• Plan verification activities with AIT teams and ensure proper documentation.
• Support LEOP and on-orbit operations, assisting with anomaly resolution.

Skills

ADCS/GNC knowledge

Requirements management

System engineering

Cross-functional communication

Technical writing

English proficiency

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in aerospace, mechanical, control, physics

Job description

Location

Hybrid, Munich

Team & Reporting line

Satellite Systems team, reporting to the Satellite Systems Lead

Our Mission

At constellr, we're harnessing the power of space to solve one of Earth’s greatest challenges: climate resilience & security in a changing world. Our thermal satellite constellation delivers the most accurate land surface temperature data on the market, equipping commercial players, governments, defence agencies, and global institutions with the thermal intelligence they need to make strategic decisions– from national security and infrastructure to agriculture and climate resilience.
As a fast-scaling company with offices in Brussels, Freiburg, Munich, Washington and Toulouse, our multidisciplinary team of engineers, scientists, and strategists is building the future of space-based Earth observation.

Your Role

We are seeking a highly motivated Satellite Systems Engineer with ADCS experience to join our spacecraft engineering team. In this role, you will carry out system engineering activities that ensure our satellites are successfully realised through to launch and on-orbit operations, while owning the attitude determination and control domain that underpins the pointing performance, stability, and agility our thermal infrared payload demands.

You will act as a technical interface across engineering, programme management, PA, and AIT, and work closely with the Payload, Mission Operations, Flight Dynamics, and Data Analytics teams as well as the satellite platform provider — translating mission and payload needs into clear system and ADCS requirements, reviewing technical evidence, preparing for operations, and monitoring on-orbit performance.

Key Responsibilities

System Engineering Tasks

• Serve as the technical point of contact between engineering and programme management.

• Serve as coordinator between AIT engineering and PA to ensure proper quality control and monitoring according to PA processes.

• Support project management with schedule planning and adherence, holding regular progress reviews with subcontractors.

• Coordinate the definition of requirements and ensure proper flow-down from mission to system and subsystem level, managing verification and close-out.

• Oversee the satellite system architecture and ensure subsystem interfaces are consistent and compatible.

• Oversee the work of subcontractors by reviewing and approving submitted designs, verifying compliance with technical requirements, industry regulations, and contractual obligations, and monitoring milestones for timely completion.

• Coordinate system-level technical reviews such as SRR, PDR, CDR, IRR, and TRR.

• Identify technical risks across the project, develop mitigation strategies, maintain the risk register alongside project managers, and prepare contingency plans.

• Plan and manage verification activities with the AIT teams, ensuring tests are conducted correctly, results are accurately reported, and final documentation is complete, accurate, and appropriately stored.

• Support LEOP, in-orbit commissioning, and flight operational planning and execution, providing support to operations teams on anomaly resolution as needed.

ADCS Engineering Tasks

• Translate payload imaging, calibration, pointing, slew, and stability needs into ADCS requirements, constraints, and interface inputs.

• Review ADCS-related design documentation, pointing budgets, analyses, test procedures, results, and verification evidence provided by the platform supplier, identifying gaps and challenging assumptions constructively.

• Support technical exchanges and reviews with the platform provider, ensuring ADCS assumptions, risks, actions, and open points are clearly tracked.

• Contribute to mission CONOPS, spacecraft mode definitions, operational constraints, commissioning plans, and operations procedures from an ADCS perspective.

• Work alongside Payload, Mission Operations, and Flight Dynamics teams so that attitude modes, slew profiles, target acquisition, calibration activities, and imaging operations support mission performance.

• Support investigations of anomalies or performance deviations of an ADCS nature and spacecraft pointing performance, coordinating with internal teams and the platform provider as required.

About you

Required

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in aerospace, mechanical, control, physics, or a related technical discipline.

• At least 4 years of spacecraft industry experience (constellation programme experience is a strong plus).

• Demonstrable knowledge of requirements management, flow-down, verification, and close-out, as well as space mission design, spacecraft subsystems and units, and their testing and verification.

• Practical understanding of ADCS/GNC concepts, including attitude sensors, actuators, attitude modes, pointing budgets, slew profiles, stability, and environmental disturbance sources.

• Ability to review technical analyses and verification evidence, identify gaps, and challenge assumptions constructively.

• Strong written and spoken English skills, with the ability to translate technical topics into clear inputs for systems, payload, operations, and management stakeholders, alongside a structured approach to documentation, requirements, and technical decision-making.

Nice to Have

• Experience with Earth observation missions, imaging payloads, or payload-driven pointing requirements.

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• Experience with FDIR concepts, spacecraft safe modes, or operational recovery procedures.

• Familiarity with ECSS and industry standards, smallsat platforms, or supplier-led satellite development programmes.

Why join constellr?

• High-Impact National Security Mission: Be part of an ambitious mission to launch the world’s first commercial thermal infrared constellation, delivering sovereign-grade "behavioural" intelligence from space to close critical blind spots for defence, intelligence, and maritime surveillance agencies.

• Fast-Paced "New Space" Innovation: Work at the leading edge of a rapidly evolving defence sector. By leveraging modern, agile New Space methodologies, you will help design, build, and deploy dual-use thermal payloads into operational orbit at a speed and scale that traditional aerospace models simply cannot match.

• Broad Interdisciplinary Exposure: Accelerate your professional growth by collaborating daily with a diverse, international cohort of astrophysicists, software developers, and defence-system engineers.

• Inclusive & Scientific Culture: Join a high-trust team deeply committed to diversity, inclusion, and scientific excellence, where academic curiosity is paired with high autonomy and a flat hierarchy.

• Financial Upside & Well-being: Benefit from a Virtual Share Option Plan (VSOP) for permanent employees, giving you a true stake in the company's growth, alongside highly flexible hybrid working models.