Senior Systems Engineer in Glasgow

Our client is a space engineering organisation developing and delivering small satellite platforms, missions and associated space systems.

The Senior Systems Engineer will provide systems engineering and technical leadership across spacecraft projects and major technical work packages. The role is centred on maintaining technical coherence across requirements, architecture, interfaces, system budgets, verification, AIT and operations, while guiding multidisciplinary engineering activity through complex technical decisions.

This is a senior position with responsibility for substantial technical scopes, including acting as Technical Lead where required and providing direction across engineering teams, suppliers and project stakeholders.

What you will be working on

The role covers systems engineering throughout the spacecraft and mission lifecycle, with particular focus on architecture, integration, technical decision-making and verification.

• Define and manage spacecraft and mission architectures, including CONOPS, product breakdown structures and power, data, communications, grounding and operational architectures
• Lead the definition and management of system and mission requirements, maintaining traceability, verification and compliance throughout the project lifecycle
• Manage interfaces between spacecraft subsystems and across platform-payload, space-ground, launch and supplier boundaries
• Lead multidisciplinary technical trade-offs, balancing performance, feasibility, cost, schedule and technical risk
• Lead or assure spacecraft system budget analysis covering areas such as mass, power, data, delta-V and RF link performance
• Plan and lead system verification and validation activity, including verification strategy, test planning, acceptance criteria and assessment of verification evidence
• Support spacecraft integration, qualification and acceptance testing, including investigation and resolution of complex test anomalies
• Review engineering outputs, communicate technical status and risks, mentor other engineers and contribute to bid and proposal activity

What our client is looking for

For this Senior Systems Engineer position, our client is looking for someone with experience in:

• Systems engineering for complex, multidisciplinary technical systems
• Owning a subsystem, major work package or comparable technical scope through requirements, design, integration and verification
• Defining and managing system architectures across hardware, software, payload, ground and operational elements
• Requirements management, traceability, verification and compliance
• Managing complex interfaces and producing or reviewing Interface Control Documents
• Independently managing system budgets and leading technical trade-offs
• Systems verification and validation, spacecraft test planning and AIT support

A relevant degree or equivalent professional experience in engineering, physics or another applicable technical discipline is required. Experience within space, aerospace or another high-reliability engineering environment is desirable, as is exposure to mission analysis, FDIR, FMECA, MBSE, ECSS standards or spacecraft hardware.

Why consider this role?

The Senior Systems Engineer will work across the full technical picture of spacecraft development, combining architecture, requirements, interfaces, performance analysis, verification and practical AIT activity. It offers genuine technical leadership responsibility while retaining close involvement with engineering decisions and spacecraft hardware.