Spacecraft Systems Engineering Lead Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Job ID: 2612640

Location: Chantilly, VA, US

Date Posted: 2026-07-21

Category: Engineering and Sciences

Subcategory: Systems Engineer

Schedule: Full-Time

Shift: Day Job

Travel: Yes - 10% of the time

Minimum Clearance Required: TS.SCI_wPoly

Clearance Level Must Be Able to Obtain: None

Potential for Remote Work: ORA_ON_SITE

Description

SAIC is seeking a Spacecraft Systems Engineer. This position is located in Chantilly, VA and requires an active TS/SCI clearance with Polygraph. 

The Spacecraft Systems Engineer will support a program office for a Major System Acquisition who requires a mid-career engineer with technical expertise in systems engineering who is anxious to grow their skills.  

The Spacecraft Systems Engineer may perform but not limited to the following duties:

•    Provide direct support for major program acquisitions. 
•    Provide a key role in the verification of system level requirements and selloff by the developer within a government program office.
•    Be part of a team working with both developers and operators after launch for the initialization of multiple satellites on orbit.
•    Provide operations planning and execution support.
•    Develop and coordinate operations transition plans for constellation of multiple satellites.
•    Provides support to anomaly resolution during initialization.
•    Author, review, and coordinate documents, briefings and data to aid the Government in communications and decision-making.
•    Maintain configuration control using tools such as Jira and Confluence to track changes, manage requirements, and monitor project progress.
•    Coordinate with cross-functional teams, including engineering, integration and test, and developers to ensure that configuration changes are effectively communicated and implemented.

Qualifications

•    Active TS/SCI Clearance with Polygraph.
•    Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Systems Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field and 9+ years professional relevant experience, Master of Science degree and 7+ years of professional relevant experience. Note: Additional years of experience may be substituted in lieu of a degree.
•    Knowledge of systems engineering practices, including requirements management, verification, and validation.
•    Experience in Agile software development, preferably software for satellite systems.
•    Experience in satellite operations, preferably with government intelligence satellite systems.
•    Experience with verification sell off of requirements.
•    Strong computer skills with the ability to quickly master different tools.  Experience with configuration management tools, such as Jira and Confluence. 
•    Solid understanding of engineering principles and project lifecycle phases, especially in space systems development.
•    Strong organizational skills, with attention to detail and an ability to manage multiple tasks and priorities. 
•    Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, with an ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams. 
•    Willingness to learn and adapt in a dynamic project environment.
•    Available to travel occasionally domestically.

Preferred Qualifications:
•    Experience in space system development or satellite integration.
•    Solid understanding of DoD/IC satellite systems and architectures.
•    Experience in defense and intelligence community acquisition and program management processes.
•    Fluency in a coding language (JavaScript, HTML, Python, Microsoft VBA) 
•    Solid understanding of the DOD and/or IC Acquisition process and related milestones. 
•    Familiarity with space systems ground support and hardware acquisitions.
•    An understanding of full life cycle system support, from procurement to launch, including requirement analysis, requirements tracking, system design and development through system test, installation and sell-off, delivery, and hardware development, testing, analysis, and requirements verification.