System Engineer

CisLunar Industries; Loveland (CO); On-site; USD 155,000 - 185,000; Full time

Job summary

CisLunar Industries is seeking a Space Systems Engineer to plan, lead, and support the EPIC product line through full lifecycle, from concept to on-orbit operation. This hardware-first role centers on owning the system thread that ties subsystems together and delivering a working spacecraft power system.

You will work hands-on within a small, multidisciplinary team, developing requirements, conducting trade studies, and leading reviews across electrical, power, mechanical, thermal, and firmware.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering or physics (Master's preferred).
• Proven experience supporting and leading systems engineering activities and documenting them.
• Experience taking at least one significant system from requirements to working hardware.
• Working knowledge across multiple engineering disciplines (electrical, power electronics, mechanical, thermal).
• Experience with space hardware and tools such as JAMA or DOORS for requirements management.
• Experience creating schedules, system requirements, and budgets with cost awareness.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary teams and technical reviews.
• Ability to mentor and refine engineering processes.
• Willingness to work primarily on-site, with possible hybrid work.

Responsibilities

• Own the system-level technical thread for the EPIC product line through design, verification, and on-orbit operation.
• Decompose and flow down system requirements to major subsystems with traceability.
• Define and manage interfaces between subsystems (electrical, power, thermal, mechanical, data, software).
• Lead trade studies and architecture decisions balancing performance, mass, power, thermal, cost, schedule, manufacturability, and risk.
• Plan and lead technical reviews across disciplines (requirements, design, test-readiness, verification).
• Coordinate across disciplines to converge subsystem designs into a working system.
• Support power processing units for electric propulsion and high-voltage power systems.
• Own verification and validation planning and confirm closure.
• Support integration, bring-up, and system-level tests; diagnose cross-boundary failures.
• Create and maintain systems engineering documentation using tools such as JAMA.

Skills

Systems engineering

Requirements flow-down

Trade studies

Technical reviews

Mentoring

Hands-on hardware

On-site work

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering or physics

Tools

JAMA

DOORS

Python

MATLAB

Job description

We are looking for a Space Systems Engineer to help plan, lead, and support development of the EPIC™ product line across its full lifecycle, from concept and requirements through design, build, verification, and successful on-orbit operation.

This is a hands-on systems role at a hardware-first company. Architecture, requirements, and analysis matter here, but they are only useful if they lead to hardware that can be built, tested, qualified, and operated in space. You will own the technical thread that ties EPIC™ subsystems together and be accountable for the system actually working, not just for the documentation that describes it.

The ideal candidate is a strong individual contributor who can carry a complex, multidisciplinary power system from early architecture through integrated, verified hardware. That includes requirements development and flow-down, interface definition, trade studies, subsystem coordination across electrical, power electronics, mechanical, thermal, and firmware, design reviews, verification planning, integration, test, and operations support.

You do not need to have worked specifically on space power conversion or electric propulsion. Experience across large or small space missions, spacecraft power systems, high-voltage or high-power electronics, propulsion, or other complex high-reliability systems can all be highly relevant.

We are open to a range of experience levels, including senior engineers, but we care more about demonstrated ownership of real systems than years of experience alone. If your title has been systems engineer, lead engineer, responsible engineer, or something in between, and you have taken a system from concept to working hardware, we want to hear from you.

The Team

You will join a small, multidisciplinary hardware team building flight power systems across electrical, power electronics, mechanical, thermal, firmware, test, and systems engineering. As the systems engineer, you will sit at the center of that team, developing requirements for all major EPIC™ subsystems, ensuring the right teams and resources are in place to design and build them, and verifying that each subsystem meets its requirements through to successful integrated operation.

You will play a foundational role in developing CisLunar Industries' engineering and technical organization, including the processes, reviews, and documentation practices the team relies on. You will work closely with discipline engineers, leadership, partners, and customers, and you will support client work as necessary.

This role is a good fit for someone who wants technical ownership, close collaboration, and real influence over how a growing engineering organization works, while staying on a hands-on, individual-contributor path.

What You Will Do

• Own the system-level technical thread for the EPIC™ product line, from requirements and architecture through integrated, verified hardware and on-orbit operation.
• Develop, decompose, and flow down system requirements to all major subsystems, and maintain traceability from mission needs through verification.
• Define and manage interfaces between subsystems, including electrical, power, thermal, mechanical, data, and software boundaries.
• Lead trade studies and architecture decisions, balancing performance, mass, power, thermal, cost, schedule, manufacturability, and risk.
• Plan and lead technical reviews, including requirements, design, test-readiness, and verification reviews, across multiple disciplines.
• Coordinate across electrical, power electronics, mechanical, thermal, and firmware to keep subsystem designs converging on a working system.
• Support power processing units for electric propulsion and nuclear electric propulsion, and high-voltage power systems for directed energy and industrial applications.
• Own verification and validation planning: define how each requirement is verified by analysis, inspection, demonstration, or test, and confirm closure.
• Support integration, bring-up, and system-level test of EPIC™ hardware, and help diagnose failures that cross subsystem boundaries.
• Support spacecraft propulsion and other safety-relevant systems, including operating limits and off-nominal behavior, where they interface with EPIC™.
• Create and maintain systems engineering documentation, including requirements, interface control documents, trade studies, verification matrices, and review packages, using tools such as JAMA.
• Develop development schedules, systems requirements, and budgets, and maintain working knowledge of costs for space-related systems.
• Ensure the proper teams, resources, vendors, and test capabilities are in place to design, build, and qualify each subsystem.
• Help transition hardware from one-off prototypes and demonstrators toward repeatable, manufacturable, low-volume flight builds.
• Support environmental and qualification testing, including thermal vacuum, vibration, and acceptance testing, at the system level.
• Mentor, review, and critique engineering work, and help redefine and improve engineering processes as the organization grows.
• Support customer- and partner-facing technical work, including commercial, defense, and NASA programs, as necessary.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering or physics (Master's, dual degrees, or advanced degrees preferred).
• Proven experience supporting and leading systems engineering activities and developing the associated documentation.
• Experience taking at least one significant system or major subsystem from requirements through working, verified hardware.
• Working knowledge across multiple engineering disciplines, which may include electrical, power electronics, mechanical, and thermal.
• Experience in software and/or hardware development and working directly with space hardware and requirements-management tools such as JAMA.
• Experience creating development schedules, system requirements, and budgets, with general knowledge of costs for space-related systems.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary engineering teams and technical reviews.
• Ability to mentor, review, critique, and redefine engineering processes.
• Ability to multitask, prioritize deliverables, and lead design projects with minimal supervision.
• Ability to work under pressure and adhere to tight deadlines.
• Effective communication skills and the ability to build strong working relationships across disciplines and with partners and customers.
• Willingness to work primarily on-site, starting in person, with the possibility of hybrid work in the future, due to the hands-on nature of the hardware.
• United States-based role. U.S. citizenship required.

Preferred Experience

• Systems engineering across both large and small space missions at a variety of institutions.
• Spacecraft power systems, power conversion and distribution, or power processing units (PPUs).
• High-voltage or high-power electronics, including high-voltage design practices and safe lab handling.
• Electric propulsion or nuclear electric propulsion, and the power systems that drive them.
• Thermal design and analysis for vacuum or constrained aerospace environments.
• Requirements management, model-based systems engineering, or verification tooling such as JAMA, DOORS, or similar.
• Environmental and qualification testing, including thermal vacuum, vibration, shock, and acceptance testing.
• Low-volume production, design for manufacturability, design for test, and vendor or contract-manufacturing coordination.
• Python, MATLAB, or similar tools for analysis, modeling, data reduction, and design calculations.
• Experience in a startup, R&D, aerospace, defense, or other high-reliability hardware environment, including work on federal or NASA programs.

You don't need all of these. Your aptitude for complex technical challenges and your practical experience designing, building, and coding will matter more to us than any specific qualification or tool.

Who Thrives Here

You may be a strong fit if you:

• Like owning whole systems, not just documenting them.
• Are comfortable carrying a system from concept through integrated, verified hardware and operation.
• Can move between requirements, interfaces, trade studies, reviews, bench integration, and test without treating any of them as someone else's job.
• Can hold the whole system in your head while still going deep in a single discipline when it matters.
• Have enough technical confidence to make decisions, and enough humility to take feedback.
• Are willing to make decisions that remove ambiguity and accept responsibility for the outcomes.
• Care about making hardware work more than once.
• Prefer solving problems directly over creating process for its own sake, while still building the minimum process a growing team needs.
• Communicate clearly during design reviews, test failures, schedule pressure, and cross-disciplinary tradeoffs.
• Want to be a high-impact individual contributor at the center of a spaceflight hardware team.
• Ability to balance aerospace rigor with speed, cost, and scalability
• Comfortable pushing back on management, engineers, and technicians
• Influencing teams without conflict
• Strong problem-solving skills and a desire to get to the root cause and implement robust corrective and preventive actions while balancing cost/effort.
• Ability to balance schedules and recognize when delivery practical solutions take priority over rigor and perfection

U.S. Person Requirement:

This position involves access to flight hardware and technical data controlled under U.S. export control laws. Candidates must therefore qualify as a U.S. Person - a U.S. citizen or national, a lawful permanent resident, or an individual granted asylum or refugee status. This requirement stems from federal export regulations, not from a preference regarding citizenship or national origin.

Compensation and Benefits:

Base salary range: $155,000 – $185,000, depending on experience.