Standard Job Description

Space is a critical domain, connecting our technologies, our security and our humanity. While others view space as a destination, we see it as a realm of possibilities, where we can do more - we can innovate, invest, inspire and integrate our capabilities to transform the future.

Join us in shaping a new era in space and find a career that's built for you.   

Space Protection Programs (SPP) is seeking a Software Systems Test Engineer to join our flight software qualification efforts. In this role, you will bridge the gap between software development and full-system mission readiness. You will collaborate across software teams to define comprehensive test cases, manage requirement verification matrices, and execute rigorous qualification testing. Your work will directly ensure the safety, reliability, and mission success of our flight vehicles. 

The selected candidate will assist development efforts spanning the full software lifecycle including architecture, design, implementation, integration, verification, and system bring-up. This individual is expected to operate with a high degree of technical ownership and execution leadership, guiding teams through complex software and hardware integration challenges while supporting Agile program execution.  

This position requires technical understanding in embedded software verification and validation, system integration, and software qualification, as well as the ability to communicate effectively across multidisciplinary engineering teams and program stakeholders.  

The ideal candidate is comfortable operating in dynamic mission environments, balancing technical execution, integration priorities, and evolving program needs while mentoring less experienced engineers and driving execution toward delivery milestones.  

In this role you will:   

• Collaborate Across Teams: Partner with software developers and systems engineers to define, document, and review comprehensive system test cases. 
• Verify Requirements: Trace, manage, and execute the verification and validation (V&V) matrix to map flight software requirements directly to test procedures. 
• Qualify Flight Software: Design, build, and execute automated qualification test suites on Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) simulators and flight-like hardware. 
• Leverage Test Frameworks: Write, maintain, and upgrade scalable automated test scripts using Python or other scripting tools. 
• Isolate & Debug Defects: Identify, reproduce, and log complex system-level bugs, working closely with developers to pinpoint root causes. 
• Analyze Telemetry Data: Review system logs and real-time telemetry stream data to verify vehicle performance during test flights and simulations. 
• Contribute to CI/CD Pipelines: Integrate automated test suites into continuous integration pipelines to catch regression bugs early in the build cycle. 
• Contribute to Compliance Documentation: Generate formal test plans, verification reports, and safety-critical compliance artifacts required for final flight readiness reviews. 

Applicants selected will be subject to a government security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information.

Basic Qualifications

• Professional experience in software testing, systems integration, or software development 
• Proficiency in writing and maintaining automation scripts using Python or C++
• Hands-on experience creating test plans, defining test cases, and developing testing matrices from engineering requirements 
• Comfortable operating within Agile Scrum development environments 
• Active Secret Security Clearance

Desired Skills

• Experience with software integration, debugging, and troubleshooting across hardware/software interfaces  
• Knowledge of embedded systems architectures and experience testing and integrating embedded systems  
• Hands-on experience configuring and operating HIL test benches (e.g., SPACE, National Instruments, Speedgoat). 
• Demonstrated experience using Agile methodologies in the development, integration, and test of complex software systems  
• Proficiency using hardware diagnostic tools such as oscilloscopes, digital multimeters, logic analyzers, and protocol analyzers 
• Experience utilizing environmental or vehicle physics simulators (e.g., MATLAB, Simulink, STK) to feed mock data into software. 
• Experience with process improvement initiatives and execution optimization  
• Experience supporting programs across the full lifecycle from concept development through operations and sustainment  
• Comfortable working in fast-paced, dynamic, and highly collaborative technical environments  
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to influence technical direction and build consensus across engineering teams
• Active Top Secret Security Clearance