Spacecraft Systems Architect

Apex Space, Inc.; Los Angeles (CA); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Shared equity

Healthcare: comprehensive coverage

PTO: starting at 15 days, 20+ later

401(k) with matching

Parental leave: 8 weeks

Catered lunch & snacks

Playa Vista office

Impact opportunity

Job summary

Apex Space, Inc. in Playa Vista, CA is seeking a Space Vehicle Systems Engineer to lead system-level design, requirement allocation, and interface management for national security and commercial programs.

You will coordinate across engineering teams, government customers, and payload partners, driving trade studies, risk analyses, and disciplined execution to meet milestones and maintain traceability throughout the lifecycle.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, or related field; advanced degree a plus.
• 5+ years of systems engineering experience in spacecraft, aerospace, or defense hardware.
• Strong grounding in systems engineering, requirements management, and verification/validation.

Responsibilities

• Define and manage spacecraft-level architecture and requirements with full lifecycle traceability.
• Lead system-level trade studies, risk analyses, and simulations across performance, cost, and schedule.
• Develop and maintain system documentation, ICDs between bus and payload, and technical budgets.
• Coordinate subsystem integration and ensure interface compatibility across electrical, mechanical, thermal, and software domains.
• Analyze test data, identify anomalies, and drive resolution with teams.
• Identify technical risks, develop mitigations, and support FMEA and reliability efforts.
• Support and present at SRR, PDR, CDR, TRR reviews to ensure readiness.
• Align technical activities to schedules and advise leadership on cost-driving decisions.
• Engage with government customers and partners to capture requirements and represent Apex in reviews.

Skills

Space systems engineering

Requirements management

Systems engineering

Trade studies

Cross-disciplinary communication

Analysis

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering or related field

Tools

DOORS

Jira

SysML

Python

MATLAB

STK

GMAT

FreeFlyer

Job description

Apex Space, Inc. in Playa Vista, CA is seeking a Space Vehicle Systems Engineer to lead system-level design, requirement allocation, and interface management for national security and commercial programs.

You will coordinate across engineering teams, government customers, and payload partners, driving trade studies, risk analyses, and disciplined execution to meet milestones and maintain traceability throughout the lifecycle.