Sr. Space Development Agency Tracking Engineer

aero; Chantilly (VA); On-site; USD 166,400 - 249,600; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive health care and wellness plans

Paid holidays and vacation

401(k) Plan with company matched contributions

Education assistance programs

Job summary

The Aerospace Corporation is seeking a Senior Project Engineer who will support the Space Development Agency's Tracking Cell in Chantilly, Virginia. This role involves providing technical leadership and guidance on Missile Warning, Tracking, and Defense systems.

The ideal candidate will possess a Bachelor's degree in a relevant field and have over 12 years of experience. You will engage actively with stakeholders and lead high-performance teams to ensure mission success.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of related experience in engineering/scientific fields.
• Experience with space system integration.
• Ability to work in a dynamic environment.

Responsibilities

• Support SDA Tracking Cell Director and Program Managers.
• Provide technical leadership in Missile Warning, Tracking, and Defense.
• Engage with external stakeholders and industry partners.

Skills

Experience in Missile Warning, Tracking, and Defense

Team leadership

Excellent written and verbal communication

Engineering background

TS/SCI clearance

Education

Bachelor of Science degree in engineering, math, computer science, or physics

Job description

The Aerospace Corporation is the trusted partner to the nation’s space programs, solving the hardest problems and providing unmatched technical expertise. As the operator of a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC), we are broadly engaged across all aspects of space— delivering innovative solutions that span satellite, launch, ground, and cyber systems for defense, civil and commercial customers. When you join our team, you’ll be part of a special collection of problem solvers, thought leaders, and innovators. Join us and take your place in space.

The Defense Systems Group (DSG) provides analysis-based decision support to senior leaders on space architectures, policy and strategy, technology development, warfighter capability enablers, systems integration, defense industrial base, and threat reduction to help shape existing and future space missions across the national security space (NSS) enterprise. DSG is unique at Aerospace as it not only directly supports major customers, including the U.S. Space Force, U.S. Space Command, Air Force Materiel Command, and senior leadership at the Pentagon, but also provides a broad range of technical support across the national space enterprise, maintaining vertical responsibilities with customers’ portfolios as well as horizontal, matrixed responsibilities across the corporation. Additionally, DSG provides deep technical expertise to the Space Force Space Systems Command (SSC) in the conception, design, acquisition, launch and operations of satellite, launch vehicle, ground control, and range systems.

The Space Development Agency (SDA) was established in 2019 by the Department of Defense to define and monitor the Department’s future thread‑driven space architecture and accelerate the development and fielding of new military space capabilities necessary to ensure our technological and military advantage in space for national defense. Aerospace support to SDA resides within the Agile Acquisition Division of the Defense Architectures and Integration office of the Defense Systems Group, which provides decision support at the enterprise level to senior Aerospace customers across the Department of War, as well as helping to connect and align customers and Aerospace across the space enterprise. This position supports SDA’s Tracking Cell, in which the selected candidate will provide expertise in Missile Warning (MW), Missile Tracking (MT), and Missile Defense (MD) mission architecture definition, performance modeling and evaluation, acquisition oversight, operations planning, and external stakeholder enterprise mission integration. We are looking for a Sr. Space Development Agency Tracking Engineer (Senior Project Engineer – Signal & Image Processing Engineering and Modeling & Simulation Engineering).

The selected candidate will be required to work full‑time, on‑site at our facility in Chantilly, Virginia.

What You’ll Be Doing

• This position will support the SDA Tracking Cell Director and Tracking Tranche Program Managers, who work with other SDA cells as well as external mission stakeholders to focus on providing Warfighter capabilities to fill capability gaps.
• This cell provides Missile Warning, Tracking, and Defense (MWTD) technical leadership to SDA across all tranches, including understanding of MWTD architectural modeling and requirements as well as acquisition support, enterprise MWTD stakeholder coordination and partner system operational integration, warfighter mission involvement, and ensuring that SDA tracking space and ground efforts fulfill warfighter requirements.
• Tracking is the primary sensing mission for SDA’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) and its proliferated LEO tracking layer is a core component of the future MWTD system. This job includes daily interaction with SDA senior leaders, FFRDCs, SETAs, and UARC personnel across all SDA program cells and mission areas. This role may also include daily interaction with external mission stakeholders and partners across the DoD as well as regular engagement with industry partners on potential technology developments that support accelerated and enhanced missile defense mission capability.
• This role supports the SDA tracking cell director and program managers by providing MWTD mission systems engineering, integration, and test expertise to help guide contract execution, performance assessments and trades, on‑orbit operations planning and analysis, PWSA space and ground system integration, technology roadmap development, and future tranche requirement definition.
• Responsibilities include assisting the government in monitoring contractor execution, providing direct systems engineering and subject matter expert (SME) support, and directing the Aerospace Engineering Technology Group (ETG) SME support to all tracking operations, integration, and acquisition efforts, including modeling, simulation, and analysis of operational capabilities of missile defense scenarios.
• The successful candidate will apply innovative approaches to MWTD sensing, testing, and processing mission acquisitions and operations as well as MWTD enterprise and warfighter integration.

What You Need to be Successful

Minimum Requirements – Senior Project Engineer – Signal & Image Processing and Modeling & Simulation Engineering

• Bachelor of Science degree from an accredited program in engineering, math, computer science, physics, or other related discipline.
• 12 or more years of increasingly responsible and related engineering/scientific experience.
• Relevant, progressive work experience in Missile Warning, Tracking, and Defense (MWTD) space vehicle development and test, and in space‑to‑ground system integration.
• Experience leading, working, and communicating effectively as part of a team in a fast‑paced, dynamic environment, reacting quickly and providing products of consistent, high quality.
• Demonstrated ability to build and lead cross‑functional high‑performance teams.
• Demonstrated ability to influence outcomes utilizing objective facts.
• Ability to build and/or maintain substantive rapport with Aerospace peers and government customers.
• Ability to work with the Aerospace Engineering Technology Group matrix and other Aerospace program offices.
• Excellent written communication skills, organizing complex materials and concepts in a manner that is clear and logical.
• Excellent verbal communication skills building consensus through speaking with clear, concise, persuasive, and polished professional style.
• Candidate must be willing to travel domestically approximately 10% of the time.
• Current and active TS/SCI clearance, which is issued by the U.S. government. U.S. citizenship is required to obtain a security clearance.

How You Can Stand Out

• A Masters or PhD degree from an accredited program in engineering, math, computer science, physics, or other related discipline.
• 12 or more years of experience in MWTD systems, architectures, operations, data processing, and performance assessment.
• Experience with mentoring junior engineers.
• Experience directly interfacing with customers and delivering comprehensive assessment products.
• Multidisciplinary experience including spacecraft and launch vehicle concept design and operations, knowledge of DoD, IC, Civil, and Commercial mission and technologies.
• Direct experience working with SDA and a working knowledge of the SDA architecture, functional cells, and leadership interactions.

Compensation

We offer a competitive compensation package where you’ll be rewarded based on your performance and recognized for the value you bring to our business. The grade‑based pay range for this job is $166,400.00 – $249,600.00 Pay Basis: Annual.

Leadership Competencies

• Operate Strategically
• Lead Change
• Engage with Impact
• Foster Innovation
• Deliver Results

Benefits Highlights

• Comprehensive health care and wellness plans

• Paid holidays, sick time, and vacation

• Standard and alternate work schedules, including telework options

• 401(k) Plan — Employees receive a total company‑paid benefit of 8%, 10%, or 12% of eligible compensation based on years of service and matching contributions; employees are immediately eligible and vested in the plan upon hire.

• Flexible spending accounts

• Variable pay program for exceptional contributions

• Relocation assistance

• Professional growth and development programs to help advance your career

• Education assistance programs

• An inclusive work environment built on teamwork, flexibility, and respect

Company Culture

We are all unique, from various backgrounds and all walks of life, yet one thing bonds all of us to each other—the belief that we can make a difference. This core belief empowers us to do our best work at The Aerospace Corporation.

Equal Opportunity Commitment

The Aerospace Corporation is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, age, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, color, religion, genetic information, marital status, ancestry, national origin, protected veteran status, physical disability, medical condition, mental disability, or disability status and any other characteristic protected by state or federal law. If you’re an individual with a disability or a disabled veteran who needs assistance using our online job search and application tools or needs reasonable accommodation to complete the job application process, please contact us by phone at 310.336.5432 or by email at [e-mail]. You can also review Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal.