System Architect – Space Mission Lead

About the role

Clearspace is seeking a System Architect to lead the technical development of its pioneering space missions from its Luxembourg office. The role is a senior leadership position responsible for the overall technical success of spacecraft, ground and launch segments and in‑orbit operations.

Key responsibilities

• Lead multidisciplinary technical teams to deliver end‑to‑end mission development, including space, ground, launch and in‑orbit operations.
• Manage the technical schedule and baseline, ensuring on‑time delivery and assessing impacts of changes.
• Maintain the technical risk register and cost assessments.
• Define and analyse overall mission architectures and coordinate domain experts.
• Control interfaces between subsystems, launch vehicle and ground segment.
• Oversee engineering activities for ground segment compatibility with the spacecraft.
• Lead interactions with customers, partners and subcontractors and monitor subcontractor work.
• Provide expertise for anomaly and failure reviews and support in‑orbit operations (LEOP, IOT).
• Support the Spacecraft Program Manager in technical negotiations and contribute to strategic direction and proposal writing.

Required profile

• 10+ years of experience in the spacecraft industry, with at least 5 years in technical leadership roles.
• Proven track record delivering complex space development programmes.
• Experience with LEO, MEO or GEO spacecraft system definition and design.
• Strong ability to interact with institutional (UKSA, ESA) and commercial customers.
• Highly organized, capable of tracking multiple critical activities simultaneously.

Required skills

• Spacecraft system‑level design and analysis
• Ground‑segment design and implementation
• Avionics/electronics engineering
• Electrical power systems
• Attitude and orbit control engineering
• Propulsion system expertise
• Thermal and mechanical analysis
• Fault detection, isolation and recovery (FDIR)
• Spacecraft assembly, integration and test (AIT)
• Launch and early orbit phase (LEOP) and in‑orbit operations
• Manufacturing processes for space hardware
• Launcher‑spacecraft interface engineering
• System requirements decomposition, trade studies and error‑budget development