Senior Mission Systems Engineer

Jobtailor; California (MO); On-site; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Jobtailor seeks a Senior Ground Systems Architect to lead requirements development, interfaces, and verification for space missions. You will work with flight, ground software, mission operations, and payload teams to ensure real-time and store-and-forward operations meet NASA/CCSDS standards.

The role requires 8+ years in ground systems or related fields, strong communication, and experience with DOORS NG, Confluence, JIRA, and Git. Collaboration and program readiness are key.

Qualifications

• B.S. in a related technical field and 8+ years in ground systems or CCSDS-focused roles.
• Experience across full lifecycle: requirements, design, implementation, verification, and operations.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Collaborative in a fast-paced environment; DOORS Next Gen preferred.
• Experience with NASA civil space programs or government missions is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Identify, derive, develop, and maintain mission systems requirements with traceability and validation approaches.
• Define and maintain ground element interfaces and ICDs for payload-facing interfaces.
• Collaborate with flight, ground software, mission ops, and payload teams.
• Plan ground system architectures for real-time and store-and-forward operations.
• Lead mission system product updates, integration, tests, and readiness validation.
• Conduct ground-system functionality testing and performance measurement against requirements.
• Perform flight software to ground-system integration and testing.
• Ensure alignment with NASA and CCSDS interoperability standards.

Skills

Ground Systems Architecture

Requirements Definition/Verification/

CCSDS Communications Protocols

End-to-End Testing

Python Programming

Education

B.S. in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, or related field

Tools

DOORS Next Generation

Confluence

JIRA

Git

Configuration and Product Data Management Tools

Job description

• Identify, derive, develop, and maintain mission systems requirements, including traceability and verification and validation approaches
• Define and maintain ground element and external interface requirements and interface control documents, including user- and payload-facing interfaces
• Collaborate with flight vehicle systems, ground software, mission operations, and payload/user customer teams
• Define ground system and mission operations architectures for real-time and store-and-forward spacecraft and ground-system operations
• Plan and perform mission system product updates, integration and test activities, and validation exercises leading to training and mission readiness
• Conduct ground-system functionality testing and measure performance against requirements
• Perform flight software to ground-system integration and testing
• Analyze operability across the space-ground system and support improvements
• Ensure mission system requirements and interfaces align with NASA and CCSDS interoperability standards

Requirements

• B.S. in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, or a related technical field
• 8+ years of experience in ground systems architecture, spacecraft operations, requirements definition/verification/validation, or CCSDS communications protocols and standards
• Experience across a complex system lifecycle: requirements definition, design solution definition, implementation, integration, verification, validation, qualification, and operations
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to work collaboratively in a fast-paced, dynamic work environment
• Experience with requirements management and traceability, preferably using DOORS Next Generation (DNG)
• Experience developing and maintaining interface control documents (ICDs) for complex systems
• Experience with NASA civil space programs and/or integrating U.S. Government agency missions
• Experience conducting end-to-end testing of large, complex systems
• Familiarity with DTN, delay/disruption-tolerant architectures, or deep space operations concepts
• Experience designing or operating spacecraft instruments and payloads
• Experience developing, deploying, and maintaining software in AWS or Azure
• Proficiency in programming languages such as Python
• Experience with Confluence and JIRA
• Familiarity with version control, preferably Git
• Experience with configuration and product data management tools
• Must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident, or lawfully admitted U.S. refugee/asylee

Core Competencies

Demonstrates expertise in ground systems architecture, spacecraft operations, and requirements management, with a strong focus on NASA and CCSDS standards. Proficient in conducting end-to-end testing and integration of complex systems while ensuring mission readiness.

Highest-signal resume keywords

• Ground Systems Architecture
• Requirements Definition/Verification/Validation
• CCSDS Communications Protocols
• End-to-End Testing
• Python Programming

Hard Skills

• Requirements Management
• Interface Control Documents
• Spacecraft Operations
• Integration and Testing
• Configuration Management
• Software Development in AWS
• Software Development in Azure
• DTN Architectures
• Flight Software Integration
• Performance Measurement

Soft Skills

• Excellent Communication Skills
• Collaborative Work Style
• Adaptability in Dynamic Environments

Industry Keywords

• NASA Civil Space Programs
• U.S. Government Agency Missions
• Mission System Requirements
• Traceability and Verification
• Payload/User Customer Collaboration

Tools & Technologies

• DOORS Next Generation
• Confluence
• JIRA
• Git
• Configuration and Product Data Management Tools