Senior Space Systems Lead: Acquisition & Design

aero; Chantilly (VA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

The Aerospace Corporation in Chantilly, VA is seeking a Senior Project Leader in multi-disciplinary engineering to drive spacecraft acquisition planning, system engineering, and cost/schedule analysis for national security space programs.

You'll lead cross-functional teams, perform technical evaluations of contractor deliverables, and mentor staff while coordinating with government officials and SETA personnel. Occasional travel is expected.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or advanced degree in science, engineering, mathematics, or a related technical field.
• 12+ years of relevant experience after bachelor's degree, at least 8 of which involve spacecraft acquisition and systems engineering.
• Experience in research and development of new technologies for space systems such as microelectronics, optical sensors, or RF systems.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively with customer, contractor, Aerospace, and SETA personnel.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Comprehensive knowledge of spacecraft design, development, and execution.
• Experience conducting engineering design trades across space systems design at spacecraft, system, and architecture levels.
• Experience developing and managing requirements and interfaces for an acquisition program.
• Extensive experience in technical project management, scoping projects and leveraging inter-disciplinary teams.
• Must have TS/SCI security clearance and polygraph; U.S. citizenship required.

Responsibilities

• Independently perform and lead Aerospace teams assessing satellite system acquisition planning activities, including budgets, schedules, concept-of-operations, requirements development, and milestone entry/exit criteria.
• Lead and advise matrixed cross-functional teams on spacecraft design trades across multiple satellite concepts.
• Perform and lead technical evaluation of contractor proposals, program plans, and contract deliverables in collaboration with acquisition teams.
• Identify and execute studies on behalf of the customer on the development and execution of spacecraft acquisition plans to include BAAs, study efforts, and development contracts.
• Assess program office acquisition and systems engineering processes, identify gaps, and lead teams to optimize these activities.
• Represent and advise the program office as senior technical authority in systems engineering and acquisition forums.
• Provide technical leadership and guidance to program office acquisition planning teams.
• Identify, task, and manage appropriate ETG subject matter experts.
• Lead assessment of performance, cost, and schedule constraints; collaborate with program teams to develop risk mitigation strategies.
• Senior mentor to other team members in areas of spacecraft design, government acquisitions, and systems engineering.
• Collaborate daily with mid- and senior-level government officials, SETA, and contractor personnel to drive program success as part of a small team in a fast-paced environment.
• Occasional travel, up to 10% of the time.

Skills

Spacecraft design

Systems engineering

Project management

Technical leadership

Education

Bachelor's or advanced degree in science/engineering/mathematics

Job description

The Aerospace Corporation in Chantilly, VA is seeking a Senior Project Leader in multi-disciplinary engineering to drive spacecraft acquisition planning, system engineering, and cost/schedule analysis for national security space programs.

You'll lead cross-functional teams, perform technical evaluations of contractor deliverables, and mentor staff while coordinating with government officials and SETA personnel. Occasional travel is expected.