Technical Product Lead (Project Engineer/Sr. Project Engineer)

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.

What You’ll Be Doing

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 and delivering on strategic goals

Hands-on experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP)

Working knowledge of data platforms and architectures

Demonstrated experience with DevOps practices and CI/CD pipelines

Proficiency with automated testing frameworks and test-driven development practices

Understanding of microservices architecture and distributed systems

Experience working in a program office or similar cross-functional environment

Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, with the ability to translate technical concepts for non-technical stakeholders

Proven ability to navigate competing priorities, negotiate trade-offs, and work autonomously while knowing when to escalate

Experience gathering user requirements and working directly with customers and end users

T his position requires the a bility to obtain and maintain a Secret security clearance , issued by the US government. US citizenship is required to obtain a security clearance.

In addition to the above, the minimum requirements for Sr. Project Engineer – Systems Software Engineering and Cloud Computing Architecture include:

10 or more years of software engineering experience, preferably with experience on STARS 2.0 or similar mission-critical platforms

3+ years in a product ownership, technical lead, or similar role managing product roadmaps and delivering on strategic goals

Deep expertise with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP) including architectural design decisions and cost optimization strategies

Demonstrated experience leading incident response, implementing reliability improvements, and establishing best practices for DevOps, CI/CD pipelines, and automated testing frameworks across teams

How You Can Stand Out

It would be impressive if you have one or more of these:

Prior hands-on experience with the STARS 2.0 platform or related launch engineering systems

Background in aerospace, defense, or mission-critical systems

Active Secret security clearance

Experience supporting live operations or production environments with on-call responsibilities

Familiarity with Agile/Scrum methodologies and experience leading ceremonies

Track record of incident management, post-mortem facilitation, and implementing reliability improvements

Knowledge of security and compliance requirements for government/aerospace systems

Experience providing strategic input on budget planning and resource allocation

Demonstrated success in identifying and implementing process improvements that enhanced team performance or product quality

We offer a competitive compensation package where you’ll be rewarded based on your performance and recognized for the value you bring to our business. The grade-based pay range for this job is listed below. Individual salaries within that range are determined through a wide variety of factors including but not limited to education, experience, kn