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

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 

• This position requires the ability 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