System Engineer

Flight Software, On-Board Computing & Guidance Navigation Control

Arlington, VA | Full-Time On-Site

Symphony Space Inc. is an early-stage U.S. space company developing modular autonomous space stations. We are headquartered in Arlington, Virginia and are building a lean, highly skilled engineering team. If you are excited about reimagining how spacecrafts and space systems are designed, deployed, and operated — join us at the frontier.

Symphony Space's engineering team is highly skilled and mission-driven. You will be one of the first engineers on the team, working directly with the CTO and Chief Engineer. At this stage, you will not be handed a narrow task list. You will be in charge of the software and on-board computing architecture and the GNC / mission analysis function.

This is a triple-domain engineering role. You will operate as the technical lead for Flight Software & On-Board Computing and GNC / Mission Analysis, and as Program Manager for the Robotic Arm Manipulation System — with the expectation that you progressively build specialist depth in each as the program matures.

• Design and own the FSW architecture for the bus on-board computer (OBC)
• Define and implement the interface software protocol stack — the data communication layer between the bus and payload modules
• Implement and test telecommand/telemetry (TC/TM) data handling, CCSDS compliance, and fault management
• Develop ground simulation environments (software-in-the-loop, hardware-in-the-loop) for FSW validation
• Establish FSW development processes: version control, CI/CD, coding standards, and documentation

• Lead mission analysis activities: orbit trade studies, delta‑V budgets, coverage analyses, and launch window definition
• Design the adaptive AOCS for the bus, accounting for variable inertia as modules are swapped on orbit
• Select and size actuators (reaction wheels, magnetorquers) and sensors (star trackers, IMU, GPS)
• Develop GNC algorithms and implement them into the FSW with end-to-end ownership of the control loop
• Build and validate 6‑DOF GNC simulation models; integrate into the system‑level analysis environment
• Use simulation tools to validate mission architectures and GNC performance end-to-end: mission scenario generation and coverage analysis in STK, orbital mechanics modelling in GMAT, attitude control loop simulation in MATLAB/Simulink, and software-in-the-loop (SIL) / hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) environments for flight software validation
• Define and execute the GNC verification and validation plan; support AIT and LEOP from a GNC perspective

• M.S. or B.S. in Aerospace Engineering, Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, or related field
• 7+ years of experience spanning both spacecraft software/embedded systems and GNC
• Proficiency in C/C++ for embedded/real‑time systems and Python/MATLAB for GNC simulation and analysis
• Experience with RTOS (FreeRTOS, VxWorks, RTEMS, or equivalent) and flight software frameworks (cFS or similar)
• Solid grounding in orbital mechanics, attitude determination and control algorithms (Kalman filtering, TRIAD, etc.)
• Experience with orbital mechanics tools (STK, GMAT, or equivalent) and MATLAB/Simulink for GNC development
• Familiarity with CCSDS standards and space communication protocols
• Must be a U.S. citizen or Legal Permanent Resident.

• Experience with adaptive or robust control for variable‑inertia spacecraft
• Prior work on LEO small satellite programs through flight
• Familiarity with hardware-in-the-loop test environments
• Experience with Ansys Systems Tool Kit (STK) for mission analysis: coverage and access analysis, orbit trade studies, sensor modelling, and conjunction assessment; ability to script STK scenarios programmatically (STK Engine / Python API)
• Familiarity with GMAT (General Mission Analysis Tool) for trajectory design and manoeuvre planning; experience integrating GMAT or STK outputs into higher‑level system budgets
• Experience with robotic simulation environments (ROS/Gazebo, Simulink Robotics Toolbox, or equivalent) for arm kinematics, motion planning, and proximity operations…