Own end-to-end reliability and performance of the STARS 2.0 platform, monitoring system health and proactively addressing technical debt
Lead release review board meetings and oversee the software release process, with authority to veto releases that threaten platform stability or fail to meet process requirements
Run weekly wargame sessions and actively contribute to product team meetings
Gather feedback from launch engineers and end users, translating it into clear requirements, epics, and technical tasks
Triage and prioritize incoming tasks, bugs, and feature requests on a day-to-day basis
Collaborate with the Systems Director to establish annual platform goals, strategic roadmap, and budget priorities
Partner with the Project Manager to ensure the team adheres to established software development processes
Act as the liaison between the technical team, program office, and customers, facilitating communication and alignment
Support live mission operations, including availability outside of normal business hours as needed
Identify and implement structural and process improvements for both the platform and technical team
Coordinate rapid response when production issues arise, working with the team to implement fixes
Travel occasionally to launch sites (at least annually) to meet with stakeholders and field teams
What You Need to be Successful
Minimum Requirements for Project Engineer - Systems Software Engineering and Cloud Computing Architecture :
Bachelors of Science degree in an applicable STEM areas or other discipline
6 or more years of software engineering experience, preferably with experience on STARS 2.0 or similar mission-critical platforms
2+ years in a product ownership, technical lead, or similar role managing product roadmaps
Benefits
Health insurance
Additional Information
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.
The Defense Systems Group (DSG) provides analysis-based decision support to senior leaders on space architectures, policy and strategy, technology development, warfighter capability enablers, systems integration, defense industrial base, and threat reduction to help shape existing and future space missions across the national security space (NSS) enterprise. DSG is unique at Aerospace as it not only directly supports major customers, including the U.S. Space Force, U.S. Space Command, Air Force Materiel Command, and senior leadership at the Pentagon, but also provides a broad range of technical support across the national space enterprise, maintaining vertical responsibilities with customers' portfolios as well as horizontal, matrixed responsibilities across the corporation. Additionally, DSG provides deep technical expertise to the Space Force Space Systems Command (SSC) in the conception, design, acquisition, launch and operations of satellite, launch vehicle, ground control, and range systems.
STARS, the Spacelift Telemetry Acquisition and Reporting System, is a networked, distributed processing system used to acquire , process, analyze, display, and archive launch vehicle telemetry and other data for vehicle checkout and launch activities. We are seeking a Technical Product Lead to take ownership of STARS 2.0, our cloud-based software platform that hosts mission-critical applications for launch engineering and mission assurance work.
Reporting directly to the Systems Director of the STARS Mission Operations Center, this individual contributor will serve as the bridge between program leadership, end users, and our technical team of approximately 10 engineers. The ideal candidate combines deep technical expertise with strong product management and stakeholder engagement skills. You will be responsible for the reliability and continuous improvement of the platform, translating user needs into actionable requirements, overseeing the software release process, and working closely with leadership to set strategic priorities and annual goals. This role requires someone who can work autonomously on day-to-day decisions while collaborating with the Systems Director on large-scale architectural changes and strategic initiatives. You must be comfortable supporting live mission operations outside of normal business hours and have the technical judgment to ensure that every release maintains platform stability and meets our high standards for mission assurance.
The selected candidate will be required to work full-time, on-site at our Aerospace Technical Campus in El Segundo, CA.
Aero · El Segundo, CA