Senior System Architecture / Platform Systems Engineering Lead
Seal Beach, CAJobSeen todaySeen in employer's feed today
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Job overview
The Senior System Architecture / Platform Systems Engineering Lead defines and matures architectures for complex space systems, translating mission needs and customer objectives into architectures, CONOPS, requirements, functional allocations, interfaces, and technical solutions. The role leads architecture development and trade studies, supports mission analysis and performance evaluation, and provides technical leadership through major program reviews, integration, verification, and test activities.
Skills & qualifications
Skills
Qualifications
Full job description
Job Description
We are seeking a Senior System Architecture / Platform Systems Engineering Lead to define and mature architectures for complex space systems.
The engineer will work at the highest system level, translating mission needs and customer objectives into system architectures, Concepts of Operations, requirements, functional allocations, interfaces, and technical solutions.
The ideal candidate understands how all pieces of a complex space platform interact and can make system-level decisions involving mission performance, autonomy, fault management, hardware, software, payloads, and ground systems.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead development and maturation of complex space-system architectures
- Translate customer and mission needs into system-level architectures and requirements
- Develop architecture frameworks and Concepts of Operations (CONOPS)
- Perform system-level functional analysis and allocation
- Lead architectural trade studies and technical analyses
- Support mission analysis and system performance evaluation
- Develop and evaluate fault management and autonomy concepts
- Define interactions between spacecraft platforms, payloads, software, ground systems, and external interfaces
- Lead development of system and platform requirements
- Decompose requirements to subsystem and unit levels
- Develop and maintain system specifications and interface definitions
- Support ICD development across space and ground segments
- Evaluate architecture alternatives for performance, reliability, maintainability, testability, survivability, safety, and mission effectiveness
- Coordinate architecture decisions across systems, subsystems, and engineering disciplines
- Support MBSE activities and model-based architecture development
- Provide technical leadership throughout major program reviews, including CDR
- Support downstream integration, verification, and test activities
- Identify architectural risks and technical gaps and drive them toward resolution
Locations Aurora, CO: 3800 N Lewiston St, Suite 100, Aurora, CO 80011 Colorado Springs: CO: 320 Wooten Rd, Colorado Springs, CO 80916 Seal Beach, CA: 2201 Seal Beach Blvd, Seal Beach, CA 90740 El Segundo, CA: 1950 E Imperial Hwy, El Segundo, CA 90245 Herndon, VA: 460 Herndon Pkwy, Suite 300, Herndon, VA 20170 Kennedy Space Center, FL: 355 NASA Pkwy, Building M7, Kennedy Space Center, FL 32815
Skills and Requirements
- Bachelor's degree or higher in Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related technical discipline
- Extensive systems engineering experience supporting complex systems
- Demonstrated experience developing system architectures
- Experience developing system or operational CONOPS
- Experience with requirements decomposition and verification
- Strong understanding of the systems engineering lifecycle through CDR
- Experience defining system interfaces and ICDs
- Ability to perform system-level technical trades and analyses
- Strong understanding of how hardware, software, payloads, and ground systems interact
- Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional technical teams
- Strong communication, technical decision-making, and problem-solving skills
- Active TS/SCI clearance required to start
- Spacecraft or satellite architecture experience
- Platform-level systems engineering experience
- Mission analysis experience
- Fault management and autonomy experience
- Experience with highly autonomous space systems
- MBSE experience
- End-to-end systems engineering experience
- Space/ground segment integration experience
- Space hardware experience
- Systems Engineering Lead or Chief Engineer-type experience
We are a company committed to creating diverse and inclusive environments where people can bring their full, authentic selves to work every day. We are an equal employment opportunity/affirmative action employer that believes everyone matters. Qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, marital status, national origin, ancestry, genetic factors, age, disability, protected veteran status, military or uniformed service member status, or any other status or characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations, and ordinances. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or the recruiting process, please send a request to [email protected].
How this job compares
Set against the 3,067 open Systems Engineering jobs on Olive Jobs, counted November 6, 2026.
- Pay
- This postingNot listed
- California median$161–235K/yr460 salary ranges
- California median$38–54/hr25 hourly ranges
- Openings
- Olive Jobs lists 559 open Systems Engineering jobs in California and 3,067 across the US. 5% of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
- Hiring the most in California
- Anduril102 open
- Northrop Grumman41 open
- NVIDIA19 open
- Experience
- Systems Engineering postings that state a minimum ask for 7 years of experience at the median; the middle half ask for 5 to 10 years (2,440 postings).
- Education
- This posting asks for a bachelor's degree; 1,031 of the 3,067 open Systems Engineering jobs (34%) ask for a bachelor's degree or higher.
Counted across the open, public US postings on Olive Jobs on November 6, 2026. Pay medians are the middle values of the low ends and of the high ends of postings that list both ends of a range in the same cadence (a yearly salary or an hourly rate); a range's midpoint is halfway between its ends. Pay and experience figures resting on fewer than 20 postings are left out.
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