Senior Space Payload Systems Engineer - Hybrid

Vantor (Maxar Intelligence); Westminster (CO); Hybrid; USD 109,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) with company match

Mental health resources

Student loan repayment assistance

Adoption reimbursement

Pet insurance

Job summary

Vantor is seeking a Senior Payload Systems Engineer to join our SpaceWrx team in Westminster, CO. The role combines end-to-end payload and spacecraft interface work with exciting, cutting-edge satellite constellation development.

Expect cross-functional collaboration across engineering teams to optimize performance and reliability. The position supports in-office Tuesdays through Thursdays and remote Mondays and Fridays, offering exposure to advanced imaging technologies and mission-critical

Qualifications

• U.S. Citizen with active secret clearance.
• Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Physics, or a related technical field.
• 5–7 years of experience working with space-based optical remote sensing payloads or similar hardware systems.
• Demonstrated experience with spacecraft-to-payload interface development and cross-functional coordination.
• Experience with MATLAB and Python, and ability to learn new tools.
• Understanding of requirements management documentation and processes.
• Experience working across payload, spacecraft, and ground teams.

Responsibilities

• Manage the technical interface between the imaging payload and spacecraft bus, ensuring compatibility and joint performance optimization.
• Lead and participate in system-level trades to evaluate design alternatives and risk/cost trade-offs.
• Participate in supplier management and design reviews, ensuring payload meet performance and environmental constraints.
• Support development of a payload concept-of-operations including power, data, and timing modeling.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and COTS/FoS hardware for system-level integration.
• Assess and troubleshoot payload and bus designs.

Skills

MATLAB

Python

System trades

Interface development

Cross-functional

Requirements mgmt

Systems engineering

Space payloads

Education

Bachelor’s in Aerospace Engineering

Physics

Tools

STK

SPICE

HFSS

Power analysis software

Job description

Vantor is seeking a Senior Payload Systems Engineer to join our SpaceWrx team in Westminster, CO. The role combines end-to-end payload and spacecraft interface work with exciting, cutting-edge satellite constellation development.

Expect cross-functional collaboration across engineering teams to optimize performance and reliability. The position supports in-office Tuesdays through Thursdays and remote Mondays and Fridays, offering exposure to advanced imaging technologies and mission-critical