Systems Architect

• Clearance:
  Clearable

ALTEN is a global engineering and technology consultancy operating across over 35 countries worldwide. We partner with industry leaders across sectors including Aeronautics, Aerospace, Defence, Naval, Automotive, Energy, Rail, IT and many more to deliver innovative engineering solutions that drive technological advancement & support sustainable transformation.

Our teams of passionate and agile engineers work on cutting-edge projects that shape the future of technology and sustainability. At ALTEN, we empower talented engineers to innovate, solve complex challenges, and deliver impactful solutions that build tomorrow’s world—today.

Join us and start building tomorrow’s world today!

Seeking an experienced System Architect to join our team in London to define and oversee the technical architecture of a major spacecraft mission within the space sector. You will shape the end‑to‑end system design, ensuring that all subsystems integrate seamlessly into a coherent, reliable, and mission‑ready spacecraft platform.

• Location:
  
  London
• On Site: 1-2x a month
• Clearance:
  Clearable
• Experience Level: Mid Level - Senior

• Define the overall spacecraft architecture, ensuring alignment with mission objectives, constraints, and performance requirements.
• Lead the development of system‑level concepts, including functional breakdowns, subsystem interactions, and high‑level design flows.
• Own and maintain the technical baseline, ensuring consistency across electrical, mechanical, RF, software, thermal, and payload domains.
• Produce and manage system specifications, architectural documentation, and interface definitions.
• Drive trade‑off analyses, evaluating design options across performance, reliability, mass, power, and cost.
• Support risk identification, mitigation strategies, and architectural decisions that impact mission reliability.
• Oversee system‑level verification and validation, ensuring the architecture is fully testable and compliant.
• Collaborate with AIT, mission operations, and engineering teams to ensure architectural consistency throughout development and testing.
• Provide senior technical leadership, mentoring engineers and influencing long‑term architectural strategy.

• Mandatory Space industry experience — direct involvement in spacecraft architecture, satellite systems, or mission‑critical space hardware.
• Proven experience defining system architectures for complex aerospace or space platforms.
• Strong understanding of subsystem domains (electrical, mechanical, RF, software, thermal, payload).
• Skilled in producing system‑level documentation, specifications, and architectural models.
• Strong analytical skills for trade studies, risk analysis, and architectural decision‑making.
• Ability to coordinate across multidisciplinary engineering teams and drive system‑level coherence.
• Experience supporting system‑level verification, validation, and design reviews.

• A Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Engineering, or equivalent military experience.

• Knowledge of ECSS or similar space‑industry standards.
• Experience with MBSE tools or model‑based architectural frameworks.
• Familiarity with spacecraft AIT workflows and system‑level testing.
• Understanding of mission analysis, operations concepts, and spacecraft behaviour modelling.
• Exposure to configuration control, change management, and baseline evolution.
• Experience contributing to long‑term architectural roadmaps or multi‑mission system strategies.

We bring together entrepreneurial, tech-driven people to deliver innovative solutions for leading companies.

At ALTEN, you’ll work on exciting projects, supported by ongoing learning, mentoring,…