Senior Software System Architect – Space Missions

SWISSto12 is one of the world’s fastest-growing aerospace companies, evolving from its pioneering use of 3D printing technologies for high-performance Radio Frequency (RF) products and applications to recently announcing the manufacture of entire geostationary telecom satellites, called HummingSat, that define a new category in space.

HummingSat is the world’s first commercial telecom GEO SmallSat developed in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA). Its uniquely compact size combined with highly capable telecom payloads allows telecommunications operators to deploy a cost-efficient, compact, and agile asset without sacrificing performance or security. HummingSat has been selected by Intelsat to build the I-45 satellite, by Inmarsat to build three I-8 satellites, and recently by Astrum Mobile to build the NEASTAR-1 satellite.

SWISSto12 is also a leading provider of Radio-Frequency (RF) products and sub-systems for satellite communication and remote sensing applications. The company’s patented 3D printing technologies and associated product designs are unique to deliver lightweight, compact, highly performing, and competitive RF products.

Responsibilities

• Mission Architecture & Ownership
  • Serve as the accountable technical owner for the end-to-end mission software architecture, ensuring that payload, spacecraft, ground-control, gateway, user-terminal network management, and customer-facing software work together to deliver mission capabilities, performance, resilience, security, and operability.
  • Translate mission objectives and operational concepts into allocated system interfaces, software, network operations, test and verification requirements.
  • Make and document mission-level architectural decisions, manage technical trade-offs, and maintain traceability from requirements through verification.
    
    
• Interface Architecture
  • Own the maturity, consistency, traceability, and closure of mission-level Interface Requirements Documents, Interface Control Documents, software interface specifications, API contracts, and data schemas across organizational boundaries.
  • Drive definition and validation of the space-to-ground interfaces, spacecraft components software interfaces, APIs, data models, timing, sequencing, error handling, cybersecurity, and operational constraints.
  • Establish interface ownership, decision forums, baselines, change control, and clear acceptance criteria for all parties.
    
    
• Integrated Verification & Validation
  • Establish and own the Integrated Validation & Verification strategy for the complete mission software chain, covering flight software, payload, network, ground, gateway, and operational software, including interfaces, data flows, deployment, resilience, cybersecurity, and end-to-end mission behavior.
  • Define verification methods, environments, models, simulators, test data, responsibilities, evidence, and entry and exit criteria from subsystem testing through CDR and AIT.
  • Develop an incremental integration roadmap that retires cross-system risks before flight software reaches AIT.
  • Lead end-to-end software test campaigns, failure-mode testing, operational rehearsals, anomaly investigations, and closure of verification findings.
    
    
• Mission Integration & Readiness
  • Lead architecture and interface readiness for PDR, CDR, test readiness reviews, AIT, launch, commissioning, and routine operations.
  • Maintain the mission-level software integration risk register, identify boundary gaps early, and drive mitigations to closure with accountable owners and dates.
  • Ensure procedures, monitoring, automation, data delivery, and operational products accurately implement the approved architecture.

Requirements

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Systems Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Telecommunications, or a related field.
• 12+ years of experience architecting software-intensive space or mission-critical systems, with demonstrated end-to-end integration across spacecraft or payload software, communications networks, ground systems, operational platforms, and customer-facing services.
• Demonstrated ownership of complex architectures and interfaces spanning hardware, embedded software, network management, and ground applications.
• Broad knowledge of the complete space-mission software stack, including embedded and flight software, real-time operating systems, spacecraft middleware and data buses, mission control and ground-segment applications, telemetry and telecommand processing, distributed services, REST APIs and data models, network management and communications protocols, cybersecurity, DevSecOps and CI/CD, simulators and digital twins, hardware- and software-in-the-loop environments, automated testing, and model-based systems and software engineering.
• Experience developing and baselining IRDs, ICDs, requirements, verification matrices, and integrated test plans.
• Experience leading technical reviews and integration readiness through PDR, CDR, AIT, launch, and commissioning.
• Proven ability to make mission-level decisions and drive closure across multidisciplinary teams without relying on direct organizational authority.
  
  

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with optical communications, relay missions, or software-defined payloads.
• Hands-on familiarity with spacecraft avionics, OBC integration, CAN bus, and mission control or gateway systems.
• Experience building hardware-in-the-loop, software-in-the-loop, simulator-based, or distributed end-to-end verification environments.
• Knowledge of CCSDS standards, telemetry and telecommand, mission databases, ground station networks, and operational automation.
• Experience introducing a new payload capability into an established spacecraft product line.
  
  

Leadership & Collaboration

• Takes clear ownership of the complete chain, identifies gaps, and drives decisions and actions through closure.
• Communicates complex cross-system dependencies clearly to technical teams, leadership, suppliers, and customers.
• Makes progress with incomplete information while preserving rigor, traceability, and risk visibility.
• Challenges local optimization constructively and prioritizes mission-level outcomes.

Benefits

Further details to be shared by our recruitment team.

More about SWISSto12:SWISSto12 has successfully established contracts with Intelsat, Inmarsat, Astrum Mobile and ESA for HummingSat as well as contracts for their RF product line in Europe, and the US with prominent partners and customers such as Thales, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, SES and the ESA. SWISSto12 is a spin off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), is privately owned and backed by prominent Swiss and European Investors. SWISSto12 is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, and operates a US and European-subsidiariesy in Foster City California. The company is well funded for its near and mid-term developments and backed by a solid customer revenue stream.