Senior Spacecraft Systems Architect

Firefly Aerospace; Cedar Park (TX); On-site; USD 210,000 - 270,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental and vision plans

Relocation benefits

Educational reimbursement

Short term disability

Flexible PTO

Job summary

Firefly Aerospace seeks a Chief Engineer to define vehicle-level architecture and lead interdisciplinary optimization from proposal through end of mission data reviews. You will direct system trades, assess mass and power budgets, and maintain rigorous risk management across programs.

Based at our Briggs, TX site north of Cedar Park, you will mentor the engineering team and coordinate with production, QA, and business development to ensure mission success.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering or related field (e.g., computer science, physics).
• 8+ years engineering experience in design, analysis, test, or operations of launch vehicle/spacecraft systems.
• Strong orbital mechanics fundamentals and ability to translate concepts into vehicle-level decisions.
• Willingness to travel ~10% (more for environmental test/launch).
• Excellent written and verbal communication; team player with solid organizational skills.

Responsibilities

• Define vehicle-level architecture and capabilities.
• Lead system-level trades to drive innovative vehicle design.
• Analyze mass, delta-V, power, and data budgets for feasibility.
• Chair reviews and ensure adherence to program standards and risk posture.
• Act as primary technical authority and mentor the Chief Engineering team.
• Coordinate across Production, QA, Program Management, and Ops.
• Provide on-console support during missions and resolve anomalies.
• Represent Firefly at conferences and customer/vendor meetings.

Skills

Orbital mechanics

Communication

Risk management

System-level trades

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering or related discipline

Master's or PhD in engineering (desired)

Tools

Confluence

Jira

Bitbucket

Teamcenter

Epsilon3

Odoo

Job description

Firefly Aerospace seeks a Chief Engineer to define vehicle-level architecture and lead interdisciplinary optimization from proposal through end of mission data reviews. You will direct system trades, assess mass and power budgets, and maintain rigorous risk management across programs.

Based at our Briggs, TX site north of Cedar Park, you will mentor the engineering team and coordinate with production, QA, and business development to ensure mission success.