Staff Engineer - Spacecraft System Safety

Job Description

Be more than just an employee number! Join Terran Orbital, a leader in innovation, manufacturing, and operations in the satellite industry. We are a pioneer in the miniaturization of space technologies and the delivery of responsive space solutions. We are a unique, fast-growing, and trusted team focused on quickly and economically designing, building, launching, and operating state-of-the-art satellites for advanced mission constellations.

Terran Orbital is seeking an experienced Staff Engineer – Spacecraft System Safety to join our growing team. Reporting to the Director, Mission Assurance
, the Staff Spacecraft System Safety Engineer will work with a multidisciplinary team - specifically engineering, production, test, quality, and supply chain - to analyze system designs and operations for potential failure modes. The Staff Spacecraft System Safety Engineer is responsible for identifying, analyzing, and controlling potential design, facility, and operational hazards and risks related to the satellite system and impacts on other satellite hardware.

The Staff System Safety Engineer will utilize tools and strategies to avoid potential failure modes and hazards (e.g., Fault Tree Analysis and Failure Modes and Effects Analysis) to support the design, manufacturing, and test teams for holistic system lifecycle safety. The Staff System Safety Engineer provides assurance to deliver affordable, high-performance satellite systems that successfully complete the product lifecycle and meet internal specifications and customer contract requirements while maintaining hardware and personnel safety.

• Work with responsible engineers to identify potential safety failure modes, properly analyze risks, and implement preventative mitigations to eliminate, reduce, and/or control risks and hazards.
• Perform hazard and failure analyses across the complete system, including payload and launch vehicle interfaces.
• Analyze and review system designs, interfaces, environments, and historical data/trends to identify potential safety issues or risks and take measures to mitigate them.
• Perform system safety analyses to meet customer contract requirements.
• Identify regulatory and non-regulatory safety requirements and the functional safety requirements for system design, manufacture, test, assembly, and handling.
• Identify issues, controls, risks, and mitigations associated with human, facility, operational, and hardware safety.
• Participate in requirements review, system safety reviews, development and validation activities, failure causal analyses, and issue resolution.
• Support the development and maintenance of hardware safety plans and procedures.
• Prepare, review, and evaluate test plans, procedures, and operations for safety implications.
• Work with module leads, subsystem leads, and system engineers to ensure the flight system operates as an integrated, safe spacecraft.
• Evaluate design for manufacturability changes to enhance safety, production efficiency, and system/vehicle reliability.

• BS degree in engineering or applied sciences.
• At least 8 years of engineering experience, preferably in aerospace.
• Spacecraft system safety analysis experience.
• Experience leading Failure Modes and Effects Analyses (FMEA) and root cause analysis (RCCA).
• Experience performing hazard analyses and identifying associated controls - including electrical, mechanical, chemical, pressure, lifting, handling, and transportation.
• Experience leading technical reviews or investigations.
• Excellent written and verbal communication - able to speak, listen, and write in both technical and non-technical terms across organizational boundaries and at all levels.
• Able to work in a dynamic and fluid team environment - must be able to adapt to changing environments and priorities and thrive despite ambiguity and uncertainty.

• Master's degree in engineering, physical sciences, or business administration.
• Degree or professional certification in safety engineering or systems engineering.
• Software safety analysis experience.
• Spacecraft propulsion system assembly, testing, and fueling experience or…