Model Systems Engineer

Location

Irvine, CA

Full time

On-site

Ground Software

• $140K – $190K

Base salary will vary depending on job-related knowledge, education, skills, experience, business needs, and market demand. Salary is just one component of our comprehensive compensation package. Full-time employees also receive company equity, as well as access to a full suite of compelling benefits and perks.

The Ground Systems Engineer will be responsible for driving development and integration of systems across the ground segment of spacecraft operations, including command and telemetry ingestion, ground station contact management, and constellation health monitoring. This role serves as the primary integrator between systems in this segment. It involves collaborating with cross-disciplinary teams to determine system requirements, track risks, plan projects, define interfaces, lead system verification, and ultimately shape the future of systems engineering at Turion.

• Gather, analyze, and refine requirements across the ground segment, including interfaces to the spacecraft. Translate mission objectives and performance criteria into well-defined and actionable requirements and/or technical performance measures. Develop and maintain system-level design budgets (e.g., compute, data rates, parameter error) and maintain a clear, traceable link between requirements, verification artifacts, and mission objectives.

• Collaborate with the ground software and the mission operations team to collect feedback and lessons learned from existing missions. Provide this feedback to engineering teams to inform future designs.

• Evaluate and track risks, including fault trees, failure modes, and potential mitigation.

• Lead the program team to coordinate milestones and deliverables for customers. Organize and execute design technical reviews, including System Architecture Reviews with customers and internal design reviews.

• Identify and document internal and external dependencies, such as vendor-provided systems or internal blockers from other teams across the program.

• Develop Fault Detection, Isolation, and Recovery (FDIR) strategies for the ground segment. Collaborate with Subject-Matter Experts (SMEs) to determine potential failure modes and document mitigation strategies to address the failure in ground systems.

• Lead the effort to validate all software requirements are met by the ground solution. Work closely with development teams to define requirements that are testable and develop a test plan to verify these requirements.

• Directly engage with subcontractors on deliverables.

• Assist in developing road maps and development plans for the ground systems department. Monitor progress in relation to milestones, manage action items, and highlight risks or blockers to stakeholders.

• Take ownership over the ground systems engineering process at Turion
  . Serve as the key contributor behind ground systems engineering at Turion and contribute to the evolution of systems engineering standards.

Minimum Qualifications:

• 3+ years' experience in systems engineering or spacecraft missions with expertise in ground software, flight software, or command and control.

• Strong understanding of spacecraft systems and architectures

• Excellent communication skills and the ability to interface between various technical teams.

• Capable of identifying and solving complex problems with little to no supervision or direction.

• Demonstrated capability to act as a technical leader on a small fast-moving team.

• Must obtain a Secret and/or a TS/SCI clearance.

Preferred

Skills and Experience:

• Previous experience across the entire life cycle of a space mission, including gathering requirements, design, integration, testing, risk management, commissioning, and operating the space vehicle.

• Bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering, a related engineering field, or equivalent experience.

• Hands-on experience with spacecraft integration, flatsat testing, or mission operations.

• Familiarity with embedded Linux software development, simulation frameworks, or spacecraft propulsion systems.

• Experience developing or scripting analysis tools in…