Systems Engineer

The Giant Magellan Telescope is the most powerful ground-based telescope ever engineered. It was designed to push the boundaries of human knowledge and discover the unknown. With unmatched image quality, seven of the world’s largest mirrors will launch our view into the universe to uncover the cosmic mysteries of dark matter, investigate the origins of chemical elements, and search for signs of life on distant exoplanets for the first time.

The 30-meter class telescope is under construction at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile’s Atacama Desert, one of the best locations on Earth to view the heavens. From this unrivaled vantage into the southern sky, the Giant Magellan Telescope will produce the sharpest and most detailed images ever taken of our universe.

When complete in the early 2030s, the Giant Magellan Telescope will be the largest public-private funded science project in history. The endeavor was founded by an international consortium of 15 research institutions representing Australia, Brazil, Chile, Israel, South Korea, Taiwan, and the United States, and is managed by the GMTO Corporation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Pasadena, California. Our culture is impactful, inclusive, and fearlessly innovative.

We solve the most difficult engineering challenges and scientific questions with talented individuals who share a passion for revolutionizing humanity’s knowledge of the universe.

We invite you to join our team and leave your mark on astronomy’s future and beyond.

Lead Systems Engineer and Risk Manager

Reporting to the Lead Systems Engineer, the successful candidate will provide Systems Engineering (SE) support to the Science Instrument Teams throughout all phases of development. This includes reviewing Science Instrument Team deliverables prior to major gate reviews and providing guidance on SE processes to ensure consistency, traceability, and alignment with project SE standards. The engineer will track non‑compliances, work with teams to develop dispositions, and present SE processes and expectations at Science Instrument reviews.

The candidate will collaborate with the Science Instrument Teams to update their Interface Control Documents (ICDs), Requirement Documents, and associated change requests. The candidate will also support the development of Assembly, Integration, and Testing (AIT) plans for each Science Instrument, ensuring that lower‑level verification activities properly support System‑Level AIVC objectives. This will require regular coordination with the Systems Engineering organization and the Assembly, Integration, Verification, and Commissioning (AIVC) team.

This position plays a key role in maintaining system-level consistency across Science Instruments by ensuring that interfaces, requirements, and verification artifacts meet programmatic and technical expectations. The selected candidate will also prepare technical reports and present them in their area of responsibility at project reviews and conferences.

The candidate will periodically update the GMT Product Tree and work with the project to agree on naming conventions for product deliverables. This includes coordination with the subsystems to update higher level deliverables and ensuring that the product names are consistent across the project documents.

• Provide Systems Engineering (SE) support to the Science Instrument Teams throughout all development and construction phases.
• Collaborate on Science Instrument Team deliverables in preparation for major gate reviews, ensuring alignment with project standards and SE best practices.
• Provide guidance and recommendations to Science Instrument Teams about Systems Engineering processes including change control, hazard analysis (HA), risk management, requirements and interface management, verification and validation (V&V), to ensure consistency, traceability, and compliance with program requirements.
• Track non‑compliances and collaborate with Science Instrument Teams to develop appropriate dispositions.
• Present SE processes, expectations, and findings during Science Instrument reviews.
• Collaborate with teams to update…