Principal Engineer - Mission Operations Systems Engineer
BAE Systems · Broomfield, CO
$118,095–$200,762from the description
Jul 9, 2026
Broomfield, CO
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A mid-to-senior systems engineering role focused on satellite mission operations, from pre-launch readiness through the full on-orbit lifecycle. Day-to-day work involves developing and testing operational products such as command scripts and procedures, supporting launch and commissioning events, monitoring satellite health, and contributing to anomaly resolution. Suits engineers with hands-on spacecraft or ground system operations experience and an active Top Secret clearance.
Senior level · 6+ years · National · Bachelor's required · TS/SCI clearance · Full-time
Advertised as Principal, but the requirements read as Senior.
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
Why we read it this way (9)
The job title is 'Principal Engineer - Mission Operations Systems Engineer,' but the actual requirements (6+ years, BS degree, team-level scope) align with a Senior-level role rather than a true Principal/org-wide authority. Advertised seniority reflects the title; assessed seniority reflects the requirements.
Location is not explicitly stated in the posting. BAE Systems' Systems Operations & Sustainment work is associated with multiple campuses; no specific city or CBSA could be confirmed from the text alone.
The role is classified as Computer Systems Analysts (15-1211) because the primary work is mission operations systems engineering — developing, verifying, and validating operations products, procedures, and tools for satellite ground systems — rather than pure software development or network/systems administration. 15-1299 is noted as a plausible alternative given the specialized space/satellite domain.
A current, active Top Secret clearance is explicitly required, with the ability to obtain and maintain TS/SCI — treated as a TS/SCI gate.
Mission operations experience is listed as a required area but broken into several sub-domains (on-console ops, commissioning, command & control, product development, etc.); the requirement is that candidates have experience in one or more of these areas.
Atlassian tools (Jira, Confluence), requirements management tools (Jama or DOORS), MBSE, simulators/test benches/flatsats, and ground systems experience all appear under the 'Preferred Education, Experience, & Skills' section.
The posting states the role is fully on-site five days per week; remote work is not offered.
Ignored 5 non-technology phrase(s) as skills (responsibilities/concepts, not named tools): mission operations, satellite operations, telemetry analysis, systems engineering, requirements management.
Requires a TS/SCI clearance — the cleared population is a small fraction of this occupation, so the real candidate pool is materially smaller than the estimate below, which does not model clearance.
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