Chief Satellite Systems Engineer

About us One team. Global challenges. Infinite opportunities. At Viasat, we’re on a mission to deliver connections with the capacity to change the world. For more than 35 years, Viasat has helped shape how consumers, businesses, governments and militaries around the globe communicate. We’re looking for people who think big, act fearlessly, and create an inclusive environment that drives positive impact to join our team.

What you'll do Space agencies around the world are investing heavily into lunar exploration with the aim of establishing the Moon as a platform for humanity to become a multi-planetary species. Lunar exploration missions are furthering key scientific objectives around surviving and prospering in space as well as providing information on the origins of life as a whole. The lunar roadmap foresees in-situ resource utilisation on the Moon to establish a permanent human presence during the 2030s, as well as using the Moon as a “refuelling station” for further space exploration to Mars and beyond. As part of the investment into lunar exploration, European Space Agency (ESA) created the Moonlight programme – a private-public partnership. Moonlight will develop new communications and navigation capabilities and services that will be provided to missions on and around the Moon through the launch of dedicated infrastructure. Viasat is entering the programme as the design authority for the communications service, responsible to design and procurement of the space segment, ground segment and user infrastructure to provide communications services by the end of the decade.

You will be required to join a team responsible for the manufacture, integration, test, and launch of satellite systems. Your role will be to supervise the Contractor, to ensure that the design, engineering, manufacturing and testing of the Satellite spacecraft are of the required quality standard, within specifications and delivered in the planned time frame. As the Chief Engineer, you will be the Systems Engineering and technical lead for the Spacecraft on the programme. The responsibilities will also include operational support to the satellite operations department in London.

The day-to-day:

• Integrate with the contractor teams, and coordinate their efforts to procure, design, develop, integrate, test, and launch the System.
• Act as technical interface and lead for external and internal exchanges in meetings, workshops, actions, queries, technical notes and using email to ensure there is full awareness and alignment at all times in a timely manner.
• Manage applicability, rightness and compliance of interface design and requirements between platform and payload.
• Manage technical acceptance, from a system level perspective, of a third party payload to be delivered to the spacecraft prime for system level integration and testing.
• Identify technical risks and propose mitigation plans.
• Proactively support, work closely and provide recommendations to the execution team (program manager, PA, platform and payload engineers) for the compliance delivery of the space segment.
• Ensure system level design is sound and compatible between the platform and the payload.
• Ensure contract technical requirements are flown down to subcontractors, subsystem and system requirements.
• Lead sub-system design reviews, test activities, data reviews, anomaly investigations and resolutions.
• Support system design reviews, test activities, data reviews, key system-level hardware inspections, anomaly investigations and resolutions.
• Serve as the technical lead for the system-level integration, test, and launch of the spacecraft.
• Manage contractor for technical sound and timely resolution of the spacecraft bus subsystems technical problems.
• Report issues and contractual conflicts affecting satisfactory technical problem resolution.
• Support new space infrastructure procurement tasks.
• Support the London based operational team as required.
• Be on–call for the In Orbit fleet as required.

What you'll need:

• Degree in Engineering with proven experience in the field of Spacecraft Systems.
• In depth experience in satellite design manufacturing & test, system engineering, launch, and operations gained within a business.
• Extensive knowledge and understanding of satellite subsystem and system design, assembly, integration & test, and launch.
• Excellent writing and reporting skills.
• Excellent communication skills with people at all levels of the organisation.
• Ability to coach other members of the Satellite Engineering team.
• Flexible with regards to working location.

What will help you on the job:

• Accountability – taking ownership, getting results and keeping our promises.
• Respect – collaborating, embracing diversity and valuing differences.
• Excellence – creating bold solutions for our customers and putting quality at the heart of everything we do.

EEO Statement Viasat is proud to be an equal opportunity employer, seeking to create a welcoming and diverse environment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, marital status, genetics, age, or veteran status or any other applicable legally protected status or characteristic.