Mission Systems Team Lead

You will manage a group of systems engineers that are the technical linchpin of Astroscale UK, keeping our ambitious space systems projects, both early and late in product lifecycle, rolling towards key milestones. You will collaborate with diverse sets of engineers and project managers to facilitate trade-offs and mature system architectures and designs. The end goal is a technical solution that balances customer and internal needs and meets all performance requirements.

Responsibilities

Main Technical Responsibilities

• Define the mission concepts, requirements, and timelines/profiles based on customer needs and stakeholder inputs, then mature and deliver a system the meets those customer needs and mission requirements
• Systems thinking approach and ability to see past trivial details and identify key drivers for system design, performance, risk and cost
• Lead and present trade-off analyses based on objective system analyses and engineering judgment and experience for early and late lifecycle engineering systems
• Design baseline and change management across the entire system lifecycle
• Manage key stakeholders (project managers, company leadership, customers, suppliers) to find consensus on critical technical topics
• Negotiate effective action plans for technical deliverables and risk mitigations with engineers and other technical people of different backgrounds
• Use discussion with subject-matter experts and their analysis results to derive technical risks at mission and system levels
• Delegate and escalate effectively to other technical stakeholders such that everyone is satisfied with agreed scope and schedule and without excessive stress or workload
• Be patient in addressing complex organisational and project issues; persevere through long change and improvement negotiation processes with technical stakeholders
• Discuss system-level technical issues with non-technical people of different backgrounds and come to a common understanding, acceptable compromises and clear technical status

Team Lead Responsibilities

• Line management of 6-8 team members. This includes helping resolve blockers to their work, prioritising their work, conducting appraisals and conducting probation reviews.
• Planning the technical work for the team members. Assigning tasks appropriately and effectively taking team member skillsets and abilities into account
• Some oversight and detailed review of the team’s technical output.
• Identify skillset and headcount/labour shortfalls in context of current and upcoming team workload
• Work with the group manager to create a plan together to address resource shortfalls (including permanent hiring, temporary hiring and/or outsourcing solutions)
• Support recruitment by reviewing CVs and conducting interviews for positions in your team
• Create a plan to address the development needs of the existing team members
• When time allows, supporting the team by assisting with technical engineering work. The ability to do this will depend upon the number of people being managed.

Essential Skills

• 5+ years’ experience of space system engineering or engineering of similarly complex systems
• At least a basic understanding of the critical subsystems and functions that make up a typical satellite mission
• Good understanding of complex system validation, verification and delivery, including methods for managing stakeholders around technical risk and scope in the face of challenging budget and schedule constraints
• Experience with engineering requirement derivation and management
• Ability to perform complicated technical and programmatic trade-offs
• Comfortable working with engineering simulations and outputs of common aerospace engineering tools

Desirable skills

• 2+ years of experience managing a team of systems engineers
• 8+ years of experience of space system engineering or engineering of similarly complex systems
• Good understanding of any other space system functional areas (mechanical, thermal, mechanisms, GNC, etc.)
• Experience of satellite-level AIT
• Experience of space mission operations
• Experience working on ESA and similar institutional projects

Benefits

• Competitive base salary
• Opportunity to work with a highly talented, diverse & dynamic international team with cutting edge technology
• Flexible working around core hours in a friendly and supportive environment
• Optional 9/75 working pattern
• Hybrid working available (dependent on individual role requirements)
• 25 days holiday (increasing yearly up to a maximum of 28 days) + 8 days Bank Holiday
• Life insurance and long-term sick pay
• Private healthcare (taxable benefit)
• Relocation allowance
• State of the art office and cleanroom facility
• Regular social events

Location

Astroscale UK (Harwell).

About Astroscale

Founded in 2013, Astroscale is the global leader in on-orbit servicing, dedicated to the secure and sustainable development of space for the benefit of future generations. We provide trusted and value-added solutions for government and commercial clients from their geography of choice, to drive the long-term, circular space economy. Astroscale is also collaborating with government and commercial stakeholders to develop norms, regulations, and incentives that promote the sustainable growth of space.

Since our first successful launch in March 2021, Astroscale has proven rendezvous and proximity operations technologies in orbit during the ELSA-d and ADRAS-J missions, establishing the company as a leader in on-orbit servicing. Astroscale spacecraft have been selected for pioneering missions with JAXA, the U.S. Space Force, the European Space Agency, the UK Space Agency, and Eutelsat OneWeb. As more satellite operators adopt on-orbit servicing to routinely inspect, service and remove, the potential of a circular space economy — and a future of no waste in space — is being unlocked.

At Astroscale we pride ourselves on our inclusive culture. Our essential criteria are based solely on the requirements necessary to perform the role. If any criteria could present a barrier, we are open to discussing reasonable adjustments and are committed to ensuring an inclusive recruitment process. Astrsocale is also open to supporting job share arrangements, to further our flexible working offering.

Note to recruitment agencies: Astroscale operates a preferred Supplier List, and we do not accept unsolicited agency approaches. Please do not forward candidate CVs or details in response to this advert, or to any Astroscale employee.