Staff Systems Engineer - Mission Analyst

About the role

Please Note: To conform with the United States Government Space Technology Export Regulations, the applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., conditional resident, asylee or refugee (protected individuals as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

At CesiumAstro, we are developers and pioneers of out-of-the-box communication systems for satellites, UAVs, launch vehicles, and other space and airborne platforms. We take pride in our dynamic and cross-functional work environment, which allows us to learn, develop, and engage across our organization. If you are looking for hands-on, interactive, and autonomous work, CesiumAstro is the place for you. We are actively seeking passionate, collaborative, energetic, and forward-thinking individuals to join our team.

The Staff Systems Engineer - Mission Analyst is a recognized technical expert responsible for leading the design, analysis, modeling, and optimization of satellite missions and low Earth orbit (LEO) constellations across multiple programs. This role defines and influences mission architecture, constellation strategy, and long-term orbital operations concepts to ensure mission performance, resilience, scalability, and sustainability.

This position operates as a technical authority within a multidisciplinary engineering environment, providing leadership in mission analysis, constellation design, orbital dynamics, and system-level trade studies. The Senior Staff Systems Engineer partners with engineering leadership, program stakeholders, and customers to shape requirements, evaluate architectural trades, and drive data-informed decisions from early concept development through deployment, operations, replenishment, and end-of-life planning.

Job Duties and Responsibilities

• Lead development of mission analysis frameworks, simulation architectures, and advanced modeling tools for LEO constellation design and optimization.
• Define and influence constellation architecture, including sizing, orbital placement, coverage strategy, and long-term scalability.
• Lead system-level trade studies and evaluate competing mission architectures, orbital configurations, and operational concepts.
• Establish technical baselines for constellation performance, operational constraints, and mission design assumptions.
• Provide technical direction and expert review of mission analysis products across multiple programs and engineering teams.
• Drive alignment between mission requirements, system design, and operational feasibility.
• Serve as technical authority for orbital mechanics, constellation dynamics, and long-term orbital behavior modeling.
• Lead analysis of perturbation effects including gravity harmonics, atmospheric drag, solar radiation pressure, and related environmental influences.
• Define strategies for constellation maintenance, including station-keeping, orbit optimization, and collision risk mitigation.
• Lead planning for constellation replenishment, replacement strategies, and end-of-life disposal to ensure long-term sustainability and regulatory compliance.
• Develop and guide autonomous constellation control strategies and high-level operational concepts for fleet-wide management.
• Provide expert-level recommendations on constellation resilience, robustness, and operational efficiency.
• Lead system-level analysis of communications performance including coverage, capacity, latency, and connectivity across constellation architectures.
• Integrate communications constraints and performance drivers into mission and constellation design decisions.
• Partner with systems engineering and communications teams to define mission requirements, performance metrics, and operational constraints.
• Evaluate mission impacts of communications architecture tradeoffs and provide senior technical recommendations.
• Ensure alignment between system performance models and end-to-end mission objectives.
• Serve as a senior technical advisor to systems engineering, spacecraft engineering, flight software, mission operations, and program leadership teams.
• Lead technical reviews, architecture boards, and mission readiness assessments.
• Present complex technical findings and architectural recommendations to executive stakeholders, customers, and technical governance bodies.
• Influence program direction through data-driven analysis, risk assessment, and system-level technical insight.
• Provide mentorship and technical leadership to engineers across mission analysis and systems engineering disciplines.
• Ensure accuracy, traceability, and technical rigor across all mission analysis products and documentation.
• Perform additional duties and responsibilities as assigned.

Job Requirements and Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Astrodynamics, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, Systems Engineering, Applied Mathematics, or a related technical field.
• 8+ years of relevant experience in mission analysis, orbital mechanics, spacecraft systems, constellation design, or related aerospace disciplines.
• Master's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Astrodynamics, Physics, Systems Engineering, Applied Mathematics, or a related technical field with 6+ years of relevant experience may be considered.
• Deep expertise in LEO constellation design, architecture development, and lifecycle operations.
• Advanced experience developing and leading simulation frameworks and mission analysis tool chains.
• Expert understanding of orbital perturbations including drag, gravity field variations, and solar radiation pressure.
• Strong command of satellite operations, mission planning, and autonomous constellation management strategies.
• Expert knowledge of communications system performance and its impact on mission architecture.
• Advanced ability to translate system requirements into executable models, architectures, and operational concepts.
• Strong mathematical, analytical, and systems thinking capabilities.
• Demonstrated ability to lead technical decision-making in complex, multi-system environments.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to influence technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Demonstrated technical expertise in mission analysis, constellation architecture, orbital mechanics, spacecraft operations, or related aerospace disciplines.
• Recognized expert in orbital mechanics, astrodynamics, and spacecraft mission analysis.
• Ability to communicate complex technical concepts clearly in written and verbal formats.
• Ability to participate in technical reviews, architecture boards, and decision-making forums.
• Primarily office and engineering development environment.
• Proficiency in orbital analysis tools (STK, GMAT, FreeFlyer, or similar).
• Python, or similar analytical and modeling tools.
• Experience with advanced data visualization and mission simulation platforms, version control systems (Git, GitLab, Bitbucket, or similar), and collaboration platforms (Confluence, SharePoint, or similar).
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills.

Additional information

CesiumAstro considers several factors when extending an offer, including but not limited to, the role and associated responsibilities, a candidate’s work experience, education/training, and key skills. Full-time employment offers include company stock options and a generous benefits package including health, dental, vision, HSA, FSA, life, disability and retirement plans.

Please note: CesiumAstro does not accept unsolicited resumes from contract agencies or search firms. Any unsolicited resumes submitted to our website or to CesiumAstro team members will be considered property of CesiumAstro, and we will not be obligated to pay any referral fees.