Advanced Mission Concepts Engineer (Staff)

About the role

Impulse Space is hiring a Staff Advanced Mission Concepts Engineer in its Mission Management team, based in Redondo Beach. The engineer bridges high-level customer ambitions with the engineering reality of orbital transfer vehicles, owning the physics-based feasibility of future missions and partnering with Business Development and Engineering to shape mission concepts and define system-level requirements. The role involves direct customer engagement and occasional travel.

Key responsibilities

• Apply first-principles engineering and first-order systems sizing to iterate quickly on mission concepts and architecture feasibility
• Define mission architectures, including CONOPS, trajectory requirements and system-level trade studies
• Partner with engineering leads so designs are grounded in realistic hardware constraints
• Act as technical lead during capture phases, co-authoring concepts with Business Development
• Run iterative feasibility assessments to identify and bound technical risks before mission commitment
• Serve as the technical interface for customers, translating high-level ambitions into executable mission requirements
• Lead complex trade studies balancing competing requirements with subject matter experts

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree in a technical field
• 8+ years of aerospace engineering experience focused on systems engineering, mission analysis or advanced concept design
• Ability to turn complex physics and orbital constraints into clear trade-offs for executives
• Preferred: Master's or PhD in Aerospace or Systems Engineering, active TS/SCI clearance or willingness to obtain one, customer-facing technical advisory or sales engineering experience, hands-on spacecraft assembly or integration experience, broad space industry knowledge, and proven ability in a fast-paced startup environment

Required skills

• Proficiency with mission analysis tools such as STK, GMAT and FreeFlyer
• Scripting in Python and MATLAB
• Functional understanding of spacecraft systems and payload accommodations
• Preferred: CAD tools used in mission-level fit checks

What we offer

• Stated pay range of $175,000 - $205,000 per year
• Possible long-term incentives in the form of stock options for full-time hires
• Medical, vision and dental coverage and a 401(k) retirement plan