System Engineer

Third-party recruiters: Please do not contact us about this role.

System Engineer

At ICEYE, we design, build and operate the largest fleet of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites in the world. Using advanced technology, our constellation collects topographical data about any location on Earth, day or night, through any weather conditions.

Headquartered in Southern California, our customers are society’s heroes – intelligence professionals, warfighters, first responders, and scientific researchers. As a trusted mission partner, the United States and its allies depend on us for critical information when it matters most.

Role Description

ICEYE US is developing next-generation spaceborne SAR radar payloads and needs a Systems Engineer / Architect to own the full systems engineering lifecycle — from mission concept through flight readiness. This role sits within the Space Systems team and is the single point of accountability for payload-level architecture, requirements, verification, and reliability. You will work daily with RF, digital, and mechanical design engineers, the software team, and program leadership to ensure the payloads are designed, built, and verified to meet mission objectives. This is not a paper-pushing SE role — you will drive architectural trade studies, define avionics interfaces, shape fault management strategies, and be deeply technical across the full payload stack.

Responsibilities

• Define and maintain the payload system architecture including avionics.

• Decompose mission and system-level requirements into subsystem and interface specifications; maintain full traceability through verification closure

• Lead FMEA and reliability analyses at system and subsystem level; identify single-point failures and drive redundancy or mitigation decisions

• Design the fault management architecture including FDIR strategies, safe modes, and anomaly response aligned to mission ConOps

• Establish and track Technical Performance Measures (mass, power, thermal, link, data rate budgets); flag margin erosion and drive resolution

• Own the V&V strategy and map every requirement to its verification method (test, analysis, inspection, demonstration) across design gates (PDR → CDR → TRR → FRR)

• Develop and refine mission ConOps including orbit geometry, imaging modes, duty cycles, and ground segment interfaces

• Define and control inter-subsystem and payload-to-bus ICDs.

• Collaborate with software engineers on embedded flight software architecture, command/telemetry definitions, and mode transitions

• Partner with the product team to translate product roadmap objectives into system-level technical requirements and trade spaces.

• Support and present at formal design reviews (SRR, PDR, CDR, TRR, MRR, FRR) with complete artifact packages

• Perform system-level budget and trade analyses to inform make-vs-buy, design margin, and cost-schedule-performance decisions

Required Qualifications

• 7+ years of systems engineering experience on space, radar, or avionics programs with at least 2 years in a system architect role

• 5+ years Demonstrated experience leading FMEAs and reliability analyses for flight hardware.

• 5+ years of hands-on experience with requirements decomposition, management, and verification closure.

• 2+ years working knowledge of radar or RF.

• 5+ years experience defining and tracking system-level budgets (link, mass, power, thermal) through full design lifecycle

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related field.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) mission design and performance analysis

• Background in fault management / FDIR design for LEO or MEO missions

• Familiarity with embedded flight software concepts (FPGA, real-time OS, command/telemetry protocols)

• Experience with avionics bus architectures (SpaceWire, MIL-STD-1553, CAN, SPI/LVDS)

• Exposure to NASA (NPR 7123) or DO-178, DO-330

• Experience supporting or leading qualification and acceptance test campaigns for space hardware

• Understanding of manufacturing readiness and production transition for space hardware.

• Master's degree in a relevant engineering discipline

Pay Range and Compensation Package

• The estimated base salary range for this role is $145K - $170K depending on experience

• Other benefits include health coverage, flexible PTO, a friendly work environment, plus extra fun perks!

Physical Requirements

This position primarily works in an office environment. It requires the ability to sit or stand for long periods of time and frequent walking. Daily use of a computer, phone, office equipment and other computing and digital devices is required. Some travel may be necessary – the ability to travel by car, plane, train, bus, vessel, or metro, operate a motor vehicle and maintain a valid Driver’s License and/or effectively navigate public transportation is required.

While performing the responsibilities of the job, the employee must be able to read and respond to inter-office communications as well as effectively participate in meetings. The employee is often required to sit and use their hands or fingers, to lift up to 50 lbs., pull, push, carry, handle, or feel. The employee is required to carry, handle items, reach with arms and hands, to stoop, kneel, or crouch; talk, or hear. Mental demands may require prolonged concentration, reading comprehension, understanding and interpretation of concepts, ideas, and philosophies. The physical demands of the position described herein are essential functions of the job and employees must be able to successfully perform these tasks for extended periods. Reasonable accommodations may be made for those individuals with real or perceived disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job described unless such accommodations would cause ICEYE US an undue burden.

EEO Statement

ICEYE US is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, age, or any other protected characteristic under federal, state, or local law.