Lead Ground Engineer

The Aerospace - Grand Forks Air Force Base, ND

Full-time - Senior

Remote - Grand Forks Air Force Base, ND

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services

About the position

The Aerospace Corporation is the trusted partner to the nation's space programs, solving the hardest problems and providing unmatched technical expertise. As the operator of a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC), we are broadly engaged across all aspects of space- delivering innovative solutions that span satellite, launch, ground, and cyber systems for defense, civil and commercial customers. When you join our team, you'll be part of a special collection of problem solvers, thought leaders, and innovators. Join us and take your place in space. At Aerospace, we are committed to providing an inclusive and diverse workplace for all employees to share in our common passion and aspiration - to carry out a mission much bigger than ourselves. The Defense Systems Group (DSG) provides analysis-based decision support to senior leaders on space architectures, policy and strategy, developmental planning, system of systems engineering, and threat reduction to help shape future space missions across the national security space enterprise. DSG is unique at Aerospace as it not only directly supports major customers, including United States Space Force, United States Space Command, Air Force Materiel Command, and senior leadership at the Pentagon, but also provides a broad range of services and support across the national space enterprise, maintaining vertical responsibilities with customers but also horizontal, matrixed responsibilities across the corporation. Aerospace support for the SDA resides within the Agile Acquisition Division of the Defense Architectures and Integration office of the Defense Systems Group, which provides decision support at the enterprise level to senior Aerospace customers across the DoD, as well as helping to connect and align customers and Aerospace across the space enterprise. This position supports SDA's Ground team at its Operations Center-North (OC-North) facility at Grand Forks, ND, for which the selected candidate will provide expertise in ground systems development, space-to-ground and ground-to-space networks, systems engineering, performance evaluation, acquisition oversight, and ground operations planning across the SDA constellations and spacecraft vendors to ensure successful operations of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA).

Responsibilities

• Support the SDA Tranche-1 (T1) Ground Operations and Integration (O&I) Program Manager (PM) on-site at SDA's OC-North, located at Grand Forks Air Force Base in Grand Forks, ND.
• Assist the SDA Ground PM with overall acquisition of the OC-North system and management of the primary contractor.
• Provide day-to-day Ground systems engineering support at OC-North for T1 orbital operations.
• Interface with Operations Center-South (OC-South) counterparts as part of mission planning operations.
• Assist with the test planning, test execution, evaluation, and implementation of new Ground systems at OC-North.
• Provide Ground systems engineering expertise to guide contract execution and performance assessments.
• Review technical documentation and lead Aerospace Independent Review Teams (IRTs).
• Employ strategic planning principles across the T1 Ground functions.
• Interact daily with SDA senior leaders, FFRDCs, SETAs, and UARC personnel across all the SDA program Cells.
• Apply lessons learned, commercial best practices, and systems engineering principles to develop the T1 ground system.

Requirements

• A Bachelor of Science degree in a Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics field.
• 12 or more years of increasingly responsible and related engineering/scientific experience with satellite Ground systems.
• Knowledge of acquisition processes and a willingness to adjust them to best support SDA's 2-year cycle acquisition efforts.
• Ability to lead, work, and communicate effectively as part of a team in a fast-paced environment.
• High interest, enthusiasm, and motivation in addressing future national security space challenges.
• Demonstrated ability to build and lead cross-functional high-performance teams.
• Ability to build and/or maintain substantive rapport with Aerospace peers, SETA personnel, and government customers.
• Demonstrated ability to influence outcomes utilizing objective facts.
• Experience in systems engineering, risk assessment, and trade space exploration studies.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Willing to travel domestically approximately 10% of the time.
• This position requires a TS/SCI security clearance.

Nice-to-haves

• A Masters or PhD degree from an accredited program in a Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics field.
• 15 or more years of experience in Ground systems acquisition, development, operations, and risk assessment.
• Knowledge of DoD, IC, Civil, and Commercial missions and technologies.
• Direct experience working with SDA and a working knowledge of the SDA architecture.

Benefits

• Comprehensive health care and wellness plans.
• Paid holidays, sick time, and vacation.
• Standard and alternate work schedules, including telework options.
• 401(k) Plan with company-paid benefit and matching contributions.
• Flexible spending accounts.
• Variable pay program for exceptional contributions.
• Relocation assistance.
• Professional growth and development programs.
• Education assistance programs.
• An inclusive work environment built on teamwork, flexibility, and respect.