Senior Space Systems Engineer — RPO & On‑Orbit Ops

0909 SP - Orbital Space Systems; United States; On-site; USD 142,000 - 213,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance coverage

Life and disability insurance

Savings plan

Company paid holidays

Paid time off (PTO)

Job summary

Northrop Grumman Space Systems in Dulles, Virginia, is seeking an experienced Space Systems Engineer to join the Space Superiority Division. You will work on revolutionary spacecraft and mission systems across full lifecycle, including design, analysis, integration, and on‑orbit operations.

The role emphasizes collaboration across engineering disciplines, development of mission concepts, and delivering resilient capabilities for demanding environments.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM field with required experience, or advanced degrees with less experience.
• Active U.S. Government Top Secret clearance at time of application.
• Experience supporting design, development, integration, test, or operation of spacecraft.
• Experience performing systems engineering functions: requirements, interfaces, architecture, CONOPS, trade studies, or verification.
• Experience collaborating across engineering disciplines to resolve technical issues and develop integrated spacecraft/missions.
• Experience developing technical documentation and communicating complex engineering information to teams and customers.

Responsibilities

• Develop spacecraft and mission architectures, CONOPS, and mission scenarios.
• Perform mission-level analyses and trade studies.
• Develop mission sequences for launch, on-orbit operations, and contingency scenarios.
• Collaborate across payload, GNC, software, and mission-operations teams to deliver integrated solutions.
• Model and mature mission elements, interfaces, and execution plans.
• Support spacecraft integration, test, and mission-readiness activities.
• Create technical content for reviews, reports, and customer briefings.

Skills

Active TS clearance

Spacecraft experience

Systems engineering

Technical documentation

Cross-disciplinary collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in STEM

Master’s degree

PhD

Tools

Python

MATLAB

Systems Tool Kit (STK)

MBSE tools

Job description

Northrop Grumman Space Systems in Dulles, Virginia, is seeking an experienced Space Systems Engineer to join the Space Superiority Division. You will work on revolutionary spacecraft and mission systems across full lifecycle, including design, analysis, integration, and on‑orbit operations.

The role emphasizes collaboration across engineering disciplines, development of mission concepts, and delivering resilient capabilities for demanding environments.