Autonomy Engineer

Senior Autonomy Engineer

On-site in El Segundo, CA

Target salary range: $104,550 - $172,000

Lead the development and implementation of spacecraft autonomy and fault management architectures for advanced satellite and constellation programs. As the Responsible Engineering Authority (REA), you will define and validate fault detection, isolation, and response (FDIR) strategies, develop autonomous spacecraft behaviors, and ensure mission objectives are achieved while maintaining spacecraft health and safety throughout the mission lifecycle.

• Serve as the Responsible Engineering Authority (REA) for autonomy and fault management activities on programs, studies, and proposals.
• Lead development, decomposition, verification, and validation of spacecraft fault management and autonomy requirements.
• Define spacecraft and constellation operational states, modes, transitions, and autonomous behaviors.
• Develop fault detection, isolation, and response (FDIR) architectures, including fault tolerance and redundancy strategies.
• Define and analyze fault thresholds, persistence criteria, and response logic to ensure spacecraft health and mission success.
• Design, implement, and validate autonomous spacecraft responses to off-nominal conditions and hardware failures.
• Support development of mission Concepts of Operations (CONOPS) and Design Reference Missions (DRMs).
• Participate in architecture studies, trade analyses, and mission-level design activities.
• Develop tools, procedures, and operational products used during on-orbit mission operations.
• Perform end-to-end validation and testing of autonomy software, fault management configurations, and mission behaviors.
• Support on-console spacecraft operations and anomaly response activities.
• Lead multidisciplinary engineering teams, including task planning, prioritization, technical oversight, and verification of deliverables.

• U.S. Citizenship is required by Federal Law.
• Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Computer Engineering, Physics, or a related technical discipline.
• 5+ years of experience in satellite design, spacecraft development, mission operations, or related aerospace systems engineering roles.
• Experience with Fault Detection, Isolation, and Response (FDIR) design, development, and verification.
• Experience developing and validating spacecraft autonomy architectures, software, or configurations.
• Familiarity with one or more spacecraft subsystems and/or system-level spacecraft analysis.
• Experience supporting spacecraft integration, testing, and/or on-orbit mission operations.
• Ability to meet Export Control requirements as a U.S. Person.

• 9+ years of experience in satellite design, development, or operations.
• Deep expertise in one or more spacecraft subsystems or spacecraft systems engineering disciplines.
• Experience developing mission CONOPS and deriving autonomy and fault management requirements from operational concepts.
• Technical leadership experience, including ownership of subsystem architectures, engineering processes, and program execution.
• Experience establishing engineering standards, processes, and best practices.
• Experience supporting spacecraft testing, mission readiness activities, and on-orbit operations.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary technical teams.