Principal Mission Payload Engineer

K2 is building the largest and highest-power satellites ever flown, unlocking performance levels previously out of reach across every orbit. Backed by over $1 billion in total funding from leading investors including Altimeter Capital, ICONIQ, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Redpoint Ventures, and T. Rowe Price — and with over $1 billion in signed contracts across commercial and US government customers, we're mass-producing the highest-power satellite platforms ever built for missions from LEO to deep space.

The rise of heavy-lift launch vehicles is shifting the industry from an era of mass constraint to one of mass abundance, and we believe this new era demands a fundamentally different class of spacecraft. Engineered to survive the harshest radiation environments and to fully capitalize on today's and tomorrow's massive rockets, K2 satellites deliver unmatched capability at constellation scale and across multiple orbits.

With multiple launches in 2027 and plans to scale to 100 satellites a year, we're Building Bigger — helping develop the solar system and build toward a Kardashev Type II (K2) civilization. If you are a motivated individual who thrives in a fast-paced environment and you're excited about contributing to the success of a high-growth Series D-funded company, we'd love for you to apply.

As aPrincipal

Mission Payload Engineer within National Security Programs,you’llserve as the primary technical interface between K2 Space, customers, and partners as we integrate advanced payload capabilities onto K2’s satellite bus platform.

You’llsupport the entire program lifecycle – from early proposal phases through spacecraft design, development, integration, test, and on-orbit operations.

In this role, you will work closely with Program Managers and key engineering disciplines to define and negotiate payload interfaces (mechanical, data and software, power, mission, etc.) and develop integration and test plans that ensure successful mission execution.

You will alsorepresentK2 Space in critical customer engagements, design reviews, and verification milestones.

A Principal Mission Payload Engineer,you will apply yourself to shaping the way that Mission Payload Engineering does business both internally and externally.

The ideal candidate has strong multi-disciplinary engineering skills, hands-on experience, and excellent communication abilities to effectively collaborate with National Security customers and stakeholders.

• Manage payload integration across the full satellite lifecycle.
  
  Support initial proposals, design, development, integration, testing, launch and on-orbit commissioning.
• Serve as the primary customer interface for payload integration.
  
  Lead technical discussions, represent K2 Space in design reviews, and ensure customer requirements are understood and met.
• Development,maintain, and negotiate payload interface control documentation. Define mechanical, electrical, software, power, and mission interfaces, ensuring clear technical alignment between payload and bus teams.
• Create and execute payload interface verification and validation plans.
  
  Develop testing strategies to ensure compliance with mission and interface requirements, and oversee final sell-off with internal and external stakeholders.
• Coordinate cross-functional integration efforts.
  
  Work closely with vehicle engineering, avionics, software, propulsion, thermal, and AI&T teams to ensure seamless payload integration.
• Assistin training new team members.
• Develop common process workflows and tools to make an efficient operation.

• Bachelor’s degree in an engineering discipline.
• 5+ years of experience working in the aerospace or space industry, working with spacecraft, launch vehicles,…