Senior Spacecraft Software Systems Engineer

We are seeking a Senior Spacecraft Software Systems Engineer to lead the definition, coordination, verification, and delivery of spacecraft software systems for advanced space observatory missions.

This role will support the current mission through design maturity, AI & T, launch readiness, commissioning, and operations
, while also helping establish software systems engineering practices for future missions.

This is a software‑focused systems engineering role with hands‑on flight software involvement. The role requires strong technical judgment, requirements ownership, interface discipline, vendor oversight, and end‑to‑end mission thinking, while also contributing directly to flight software activities where needed. This may include reviewing and developing software requirements, supporting software architecture trades, writing or reviewing scripts and test tools, supporting FSW integration, debugging software‑interface issues, reviewing code or software implementation details, contributing to test automation, and supporting software validation in flatsat, simulator, EGSE, AI & T, and operations environments.

The role spans flight software behavior, command and telemetry, onboard autonomy, FDIR, software‑related ICDs, emulators/simulators/flatsats, verification, operations readiness, and selected hands‑on FSW activities. The candidate will translate mission, spacecraft, payload, ground, and operations needs into clear software requirements, interface definitions, command and telemetry products, FDIR behavior, verification plans, test infrastructure, and practical implementation support.

The candidate will work closely with spacecraft bus, payload, telescope, instrument, ground system, mission operations, science, AI & T, and vendor teams to ensure software behavior is robust, testable, operationally usable, and aligned with mission success.

• Serve as the technical owner for spacecraft software systems engineering across flight software, command and data handling, onboard autonomy, telemetry, command interfaces, and software configuration.
• Define and maintain software‑related spacecraft requirements.
• Ensure traceability across mission, spacecraft, bus, payload, ICD, FDIR, verification, and operational products.
• Identify software‑related risks, gaps, ambiguities, and non‑compliances.
• Ensure that software behavior supports mission performance, science data handling, timing, data latency, fault response, commandability, observability, commissioning, and operations.
• Lead or support the definition and review of spacecraft flight software behavior, onboard autonomy, and fault‑management functions.
• Help define and verify FDIR behavior, including fault detection, fault isolation, recovery actions, safe modes, survival modes, autonomous responses, inhibit logic, and recovery paths.
• Ensure that fault‑management behavior is consistent across the spacecraft bus, telescope, payload, instruments, ground systems, and mission operations, and that it is aligned with power, thermal, attitude, communications, safety, and operational constraints.
• Contribute directly to selected hands‑on flight software activities where needed, in coordination with internal teams, vendors, and mission partners.
• Support software architecture trades.
• Review implementation details.
• Develop or review scripts and test tools.
• Support software integration.
• Debug interface issues.
• Contribute to test automation.
• Assist with validation in flatsat, simulator, EGSE, AI & T, and operations environments.
• Own or co‑own the development and maintenance of command and telemetry products required for test, operations, and mission execution.
• Lead the development, review, and release of spacecraft telemetry and command dictionaries.
• Coordinate command, telemetry, data handling, timing, and software interface requirements.
• Ensure these products support AI & T, test procedures, health and status monitoring, anomaly investigation, commissioning, routine operations, and future mission reuse.
• Support the definition, release, verification, and maintenance of software‑related interfaces across the full spacecraft system.
• Own or support software‑relevant…