Senior Space Systems Engineer (EM & Power)

Actalent; Herndon (VA); On-site; USD 119,000 - 208,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Job summary

Actalent in Herndon, VA seeks a Senior Systems Engineer to design, develop, and integrate first-of-a-kind electromagnetic and power systems for spacecraft payloads and small satellites. You will lead complex programs, set system-level objectives, and coordinate across teams in highly constrained defense and intelligence environments.

You will guide deployments, manage budgets, and mentor staff while maintaining strict confidentiality and compliance with safety standards.

Qualifications

• Progressive engineering experience typically consisting of twelve or more years with a bachelors degree, ten or more years with a masters degree, or seven or more years with a PhD.
• Detailed and extensive technical expertise in engineering principles, concepts, theory, and practice, with demonstrated ability to organize, plan, schedule, conduct, and coordinate workloads to meet established deadlines and milestones.
• Real-world experience with system architecture, including defining and documenting system-level designs and interfaces.
• Hands-on experience with requirements tracking, including developing, managing, and verifying system requirements throughout the lifecycle.
• Experience developing and tracking system budgets, including performance, power, mass, and other resource allocations at the system level.
• Proven ability to perform system-level analyses in support of trade studies and mission design decisions.
• Extensive experience with orbital dynamics, attitude control systems, and orbital visualization tools used in spacecraft modeling and mission analysis.
• Strong understanding of principles for spacecraft design, build, test, and operation, including end-to-end lifecycle considerations.
• Experience with CONOPS (Concept of Operations) design and mission modeling for space or mission-critical systems.
• Strong communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills that enable effective collaboration with other departments, customers, government representatives, and professionals at all levels.
• Ability to represent the organization as a prime technical contact, communicating complex technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Demonstrated capability to provide leadership and guidance to less experienced professionals and contribute to project leadership activities.
• Ability to quickly understand new concepts and apply them accurately in an evolving technical and operational environment.

Responsibilities

• Formulate long-term plans for the development, documentation, and deployment of engineering solutions, ensuring alignment with compliance, reporting, and safety standards.
• Determine technical objectives and system-level approaches to solve advanced engineering problems across spacecraft payloads, small satellites, and related mission systems.
• Evaluate the integration of engineering solutions within the broader engineering environment and ensure that documentation, testing, maintenance, and updates are thoroughly completed.
• Guide the development and implementation of engineering solutions, including defining deployment strategies, resource requirements, integration plans, testing approaches, and compliance measures.
• Plan and coordinate ongoing maintenance of engineering solutions, including documentation, reporting, publishing technical materials, and delivering presentations to internal and external stakeholders.
• Communicate effectively with engineering professionals, solution users, and management throughout the solution development lifecycle to ensure technical clarity and alignment.
• Represent the organization as a prime technical contact on contracts and projects, interfacing with Senior external personnel on technical matters that require coordination between organizations.
• Participate in, and at times lead, the development of new business opportunities or the expansion of existing programs by contributing technical insight and solution strategies.
• Function in an advisory or project leadership role, providing direction, guidance, and mentorship to less experienced professional staff and multidisciplinary engineering teams.
• Plan for future applications and enhancements of existing solutions by monitoring and incorporating new developments in engineering technology and space systems.
• Maintain strict confidentiality of sensitive and classified information associated with national security and government programs.
• Ensure all work adheres to applicable laws, regulations, and organizational obligations, and consistently work in a safe manner in accordance with established operating procedures and practices.
• Perform additional engineering and technical duties as assigned to support evolving program and mission needs.

Skills

System architecture

Requirements tracking

Budgeting (performance/power/mass)

Orbital dynamics

Attitude control systems

Orbital visualization tools

CONOPS design

Communication

Leadership

Adaptability

Education

Engineering degree (Bachelors/Masters/PhD)

Tools

Orbital visualization tools

Spacecraft modeling tools

Ground control software

Embedded software development

Job description

Actalent in Herndon, VA seeks a Senior Systems Engineer to design, develop, and integrate first-of-a-kind electromagnetic and power systems for spacecraft payloads and small satellites. You will lead complex programs, set system-level objectives, and coordinate across teams in highly constrained defense and intelligence environments.

You will guide deployments, manage budgets, and mentor staff while maintaining strict confidentiality and compliance with safety standards.