Senior Propulsion Systems Engineer
About the job
ispace is seeking a highly motivated and talented Senior Propulsion Systems Engineer to join the System Design Group under the Global Design division, responsible for the design and development of lunar landers and other transportation and/or communication/navigation platforms.
The ideal candidate will have in-depth experience on Propulsion design, implementation, integration, V&V and operations, good technical knowledge of multiple spacecraft subsystems and experience in the system engineering disciplines for spacecraft design. This is a unique opportunity to join a truly fascinating project, the first stage of ispace’s plans to perform resource prospecting on the moon.
In this position, you will be assigned to one or more of ispace's projects, and join a small, international team of engineers working towards the detailed design and qualification of our first missions. Candidates with demonstrated "hands-on" experience in some engineering domains, interdisciplinary experience and in-depth understanding of propulsion subsystems .
Teamwork is valued, and depending on the strengths of each member of the systems engineering team, the responsibilities listed below will be assigned accordingly. ## Key responsibilities - Support the definition of a “product baseline”, creating standard requirements, system architecture, ICDs, design and analysis goals, test plans and operations concepts. - Perform system level trade-offs, coordinating inputs from various disciplines within the team, to evaluate any proposed changes of the design baseline to satisfy the need of each individual mission. - Take ownership of the technical budgets, such as mass, propellant budget, pointing/landing accuracy for spacecraft performance. - Ensure internal interfaces between various spacecraft subsystems are maintained. - Contribute to requirements management ensuring all requirements are closed-out at the planned project landmarks. - Contribute to risk assessments during the spacecraft development and support the Project Manager in defining risk mitigation plans - Support Propulsion/AIT/Flight&Test Operations Groups and subsystem leads in defining test plans (i.e. ) and specifications which will successfully verify the spacecraft design. - Coordinate efforts between relevant subsystems and Operations Team in defining a spacecraft operational concept. - Contribute to the maintenance of our Model-Based Systems Engineering tools, esp. developing Propulsion-related models. ## Required skills - Bachelor or Masters degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Aerospace Engineering or equivalent - 5+ years of experience in at least two of the following: design, implementation, integration, V&V or operations of Propulsion subsystem - Experience with programming languages such as Matlab, Python, or equivalent - Self-motivated and comfortable making key decisions within a fast-paced environment - High sense of accountability and ownership - Excellent presentation skills, both verbally and written.
Enthusiastic attitude and team player - Working level in English ## Preferred skills - Experience with design, analysis or testing of at least one other subsystem: Structure, Thermal, Avionics, GNC, Communications, on-board software. - Experience with requirement decomposition (mission all the way to unit level) - Experience performing FMECA, reliability analysis, and/or hazard analysis - Experience with system level testing such as hardware-in-the-loop testing, waterflow testing, etc. - Experience with spacecraft operations - Working level Japanese We will prioritize candidates currently in Japan with valid working visa.
For overseas candidates, please note that you choose to proceed, this role requires relocation to Japan upon acceptance of the position. Compensation will be provided in JPY and aligned with local market benchmarks in Japan, based on the role’s level, scope, and prevailing industry standards.
From ispace's job posting, checked 7 Nov 2026. The employer's own page is the final word on requirements and availability.
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About ispace
Lunar landers and rovers, with teams in Japan, the United States and Luxembourg.
Pay on its listings: 17.9% of its open jobs state an hourly rate
How it pays: Paid as an employee of ispace, under the employment terms each posting states.
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