Associate / Junior Systems Engineer (Satellite Ground Systems)

Location: Aurora, Colorado, United States; Sterling, Virginia, United States

Salary: $100,000–$160,000 USD annually

Company

hirify.global delivers technical and mission expertise for national security, defense, and other complex technology challenges.

What you will do

• Decompose customer requirements, operational concepts, and system workflows into functional requirements, use cases, sequence diagrams, and interface control documentation.
• Maintain behavioral and structural architecture models using SysML tools and link model elements to requirements and software tickets.
• Collaborate with agile development teams through sprint planning, stand-ups, and backlog refinement, helping define acceptance criteria.
• Document software-facing interface protocols, message structures, and data schemas for ground segment communications.
• Support verification and validation by drafting test steps, mapping test cases to requirements, and executing automated verification runs with software testers.
• Participate in technical exchange meetings and working groups and contribute technical data to customer demonstrations and review packages.

Requirements

• Active or current Top Secret clearance with SCI access and polygraph is required.
• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM field with 2+ years of professional engineering experience, or a Master’s degree with 0–1+ years of experience.
• Foundational knowledge of satellite systems, ground segments, Command and Control, or mission operations workflows.
• Academic or professional exposure to Model-Based Systems Engineering and SysML diagramming.
• Familiarity with JSON/XML, HTTP/REST, messaging queues, and agile collaboration tools including Jira and Confluence.
• Understanding of test planning, requirements verification, and the software development lifecycle.

Nice to have

• Familiarity with Docker or Kubernetes and microservice architectures.
• Experience with automated testing tools or Python and Bash scripting.
• Understanding of satellite mission threads and space-to-ground telemetry and command flow.
• Interest in developing advanced MBSE modeling capabilities.

Culture & Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage.
• Health Savings Account with company contribution.
• Paid time off, paid holidays, and paid parental leave.
• 401(k) with company match.
• Training and development opportunities, award programs, and company-sponsored events.
• Focus on employee well-being, professional growth, and work-life balance.