Systems Integration Engineer
The job description
Tech stack. Interface control documents, integration test benches, requirements tools (DOORS/Jama), MBSE basics, Python/MATLAB, configuration management
About the role
You will join the systems integration team of an aerospace company responsible for making separately designed subsystems work as one vehicle. The team owns interfaces, integration sequencing, and system-level testing from first mate through flight. This role matters because integration is where programs succeed or fail: your interface discipline and test planning catch the incompatibilities that subsystem teams never see, before they become flight anomalies. You will be the person who knows how the whole vehicle fits together when subsystem teams know only their own pieces, and that system-level perspective is your superpower. Your integration planning will sequence the build-up so interfaces are verified at the lowest possible assembly level, catching problems when they are cheap to fix rather than at final integration when they are expensive. You will develop a nose for interface risk, asking the questions that reveal undocumented assumptions: connector pinouts, grounding schemes, software message timing, thermal interface conductances. Your anomaly investigations will be methodical and blameless, focused on understanding system behavior rather than assigning fault to a subsystem.
What you will achieve
- Deliver integration test campaigns covering all critical interfaces with 100 percent of planned test objectives executed before flight
- Cut integration defects by 40 percent through interface control rigor: complete ICDs, change control, and verification cross-reference matrices
- Own the integration sequence: build-up plans from component to subsystem to vehicle level with entry and exit criteria
- Drive anomaly resolution across subsystem boundaries with structured fault isolation and joint corrective actions
- Ship integrated vehicles with complete as-built configuration records and open-item closure before delivery or launch
- Accelerate anomaly resolution by maintaining a living fault tree and interface database that speeds root cause isolation
What you will bring
Must-haves
- 2 to 5 years of experience in aerospace systems integration, V&V, or multidisciplinary test roles
- Strong systems thinking: you trace problems across mechanical, electrical, software, and thermal boundaries
- Proficiency with interface control documentation and requirements traceability tools
- Experience planning and executing integration test campaigns: test procedures, data review, and anomaly triage
- Working knowledge of configuration management and as-built documentation practices
- Familiarity with multiple aerospace subsystems sufficient to ask the right questions of each team
- Clear communication across teams with competing priorities and schedules
Nice-to-haves
- Experience with hardware-in-the-loop or flat-sat integration environments
- Knowledge of MBSE approaches to interface management
- Exposure to launch site or flight line integration operations
- Background in a subsystem specialty (avionics, propulsion, or structures) before moving to integration
- Familiarity with digital twin concepts for integration risk reduction
SpaceX
Boeing
Lockheed Martin
Blue Origin
Northrop Grumman
Rocket Lab