Senior Ground Systems Engineer

The Systems Engineering Division (SED) offers unparalleled expertise in systems engineering to the U.S. government and various public and private agencies, universities, nonprofit organizations, consortia, and commercial companies involved in the advanced development and application of space systems. From systems CONOPs and architecture development to system design and analysis, mission assurance, cost and schedule assessment, and economic market analysis, SED leverages a vast array of engineering and business disciplines across a diverse and dynamic portfolio of space programs and national challenges spanning the total space system lifecycle. 

The Ground Systems Engineering Department (GSED) transforms innovative ground system concepts into operational realities. As trusted leaders in ground systems engineering, we deliver operationally focused solutions for space enterprise C3 systems, mission management, PNT, SATCOM, launch operations, and SIGINT missions supporting Space Systems Command, the National Reconnaissance Office, and the Intelligence Community. GSED leads ground systems and modernization efforts while leveraging deep technical experience and operational expertise to enable mission success across the space enterprise. We are seeking a Senior Ground Systems Engineer to join our team and contribute to the advancement of critical space ground infrastructure and help shape the future of space enterprise ground systems. 

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

What You’ll Be Doing  

• Analyze and recommend innovative solutions for ground system requirements, software design, acquisition strategies, operations, and sustainment 

• Establish and implement Agile and DevSecOps development methods and metrics for ground system software modernization 

• Define comprehensive space-to-ground and ground-to-ground integration plans, including requirements verification and cross-disciplinary coordination with spacecraft systems and flight software teams 

• Design and develop mission-critical interfaces (organizational, physical, functional, hardware/software, operational) for space ground control systems 

• Lead and manage engineering teams by defining technical tasking, monitoring deliverables, and ensuring quality of engineering studies, recommendations, and analyses 

• Develop and analyze system requirements for engineering models, simulations, test beds, special test equipment, and end-to-end integration testing 

• Provide expert technical guidance to government customers on complex ground system engineering challenges 

• Apply operational experience and technical expertise to influence future ground system architectures and capabilities 

What You Need to be Successful  

Minimum Requirements for the Senior Ground Systems Engineer: 

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, science or mathematics 

• Minimum 12 years’ experience with multiple aspects of space ground systems experience such as enterprise integration, space vehicle to ground integration, ground systems development, and new technology insertion into existing systems 

• Demonstrated technical leadership and strong interpersonal skills required for interacting with peers, internal and external customers, and contractor representatives 

• Experience with requirements development, traceability, and validation methodologies 

• Experience with enterprise-level testing and integration of complex systems, including test planning and execution campaigns, test artifact review, and Independent Verification & Validation (IV&V) processes 

• Experience with ground system operations, sustainment, and integration of mission applications with processing platforms and network infrastructures 

• Must have demonstrated the ability to clearly define technical tasks, form and lead technical teams 

• Experience supporting government acquisition strategies, pre-solicitation efforts, and source selections 

• Ability to work across mission and program boundaries to identify common challenges and formulate recommendations 

• Experience with mission processing systems, constellation tasking and optimization, or space data transport (SDT) 

• Knowledge of modern satellite constellation architectures and distributed space systems 

• An active Top Secret/SCI clearance  

How You Can Stand Out  

It would be impressive if you have one or more of these: 

• Advanced degree in engineering, science or mathematics 

• Experience with SIGINT and GEOINT mission systems and processing from multiple aspects of space systems integration, such as space-ground-user integration, payloads to spacecraft bus, spacecraft bus integration, ground software to hardware development and new technology insertion into existing space applications (e.g., system requirements, system integration and testing, spacecraft subsystems, manufacturing, test, and/or spacecraft operations 

• Demonstrated experience of Agile and DevSecOps programs 

• Experience with Ground as a Service (GaaS) models, cloud-native ground architectures, or commercial ground service implementations