Vehicles as a whole
Space Jobs for Systems Engineers
, SpaceJobs.Now lists 1,175 open roles for systems engineers on 107 space industry employers, including Muon Space, Anduril and Hubble Network; typical pay across them is $130k to $247k a year (median $153k), topped by $1.5M a year advertised at Voyager Technologies.
Payload Integration Engineer - Level 4 (opens the job details)
Sophia Space · Flight Software · Pasadena, CA· 4mo agoDetails
$127,000–$193,000/yr
Measured from 737 distinct posted rates, across 71 employers, each as a year's pay (an hourly rate × 2,080 hours). 391 of the 1,175 listings open here post no pay at all.
Space companies hire systems engineers to hold a vehicle or mission together: its requirements, its interfaces and the proof that it all works as one. Each listing here is re-verified on the employer's own job board once an hour.
Live roles for systems engineers
Updated 30 Oct 2026, 23:03 UTCListed here: Sophia Space roles. See every employer
Systems engineers
1 openSystems engineering roles across vehicles, subsystems and ground systems.
Payload Integration Engineer - Level 4 (opens the job details)
Sophia Space · Flight Software · Pasadena, CA· 4mo agoDetails
$127,000–$193,000/yr
Before you apply
Space hardware is built, tested and flown in person, so many roles name a factory, a test site, a launch site or a control room, and each listing states its location. US roles that touch export-controlled technology (ITAR or EAR) can ask that you be a U.S. person, and some ask for a security clearance. A real employer never charges you to apply, never interviews you only by chat app and never asks you to buy equipment.
Pay by specialty
Every specialty gets its typical band from its own open roles, computed by the same method as the rest of the site (the 25th percentile of what roles pay (the middle of each posted range, as a year's pay: an hourly rate counts at 2,080 hours, 40 a week for 52 weeks) to the 90th-percentile posted top). A specialty is listed once three or more distinct rates have been posted.
| Specialty | Open roles | Typical pay | Highest rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Requirements and verification | 48 | $114k–$200k/yr | $239k/yr |
| Vehicle and mission systems | 247 | $136k–$253k/yr | $424k/yr |
| Systems engineers | 880 | $125k–$248k/yr | $1.5M/yr |
What the roles ask for
Drawn from the requirement lines of 211 out of 1,175 open roles for systems engineers, the same lines each role's pop-up quotes from its posting. Each role is counted once, at the lowest degree it will accept.
- Name years of experience173
- Name a security clearance96
- Name u.S. person status (ITAR or EAR)22
- Set a residency or work-authorization condition13
- Require programming (Python, C++, MATLAB and similar)9
- Ask for a certification2
- Ask for a professional license1
Where a posting states years of experience, the median ask is 5 years.
Who hires systems engineers in the space industry
Sorted by the expected value of an application (acceptance odds times posted pay). A referral agreement, if an employer has one, can raise it in this order but never changes the salary it offers.
How each employer checks you
For every employer currently hiring systems engineers: its process as its own hiring guide describes it, each line with its source. The complete steps sit on that employer's page. Sorted by the expected value of an application (acceptance odds times posted pay). A referral agreement, if an employer has one, can raise it in this order but never changes the salary it offers.
- Assessment
- Amazon's interview loop. How to apply
- Interview
- Interview
- Assessment
- No general test published. How to apply
- Interview
- None published
- Assessment
- Booz Allen's technical assessment and interviews. How to apply
- Interview
- Interview
- Assessment
- Thales interviews. How to apply
- Interview
- Interview
- Assessment
- Airbus interviews and role tests. How to apply
- Interview
- Interview
- Assessment
- ESA's pre-screening and panel interview. How to apply
- Interview
- Interview
- Credentials
- You complete a basic medical screening for the ESA Medical Officer and a basic background screening run by an external party; in a second stage ESA contacts your referees and verifies your diploma. Source
- Assessment
- Lockheed Martin's interviews. How to apply
- Interview
- Interview
- Assessment
- The recruiter screening and team interviews. How to apply
- Interview
- Interview
- Assessment
- No general test published. How to apply
- Interview
- None published
Where these roles are posted
The US states with the most open roles for systems engineers, and the roles posted for a single country. A place name leads to its own page, and a country's count lists the matching roles.
Students and recent graduates: 39 open space internships for systems engineers.
In the US, by state
- California356
- Colorado248
- Virginia72
- Washington70
- Texas54
- Florida50
- Alabama49
- Pennsylvania31
- Arizona30
- Maryland24
- Nevada11
Space industry jobs by US state
In the US, by metro area
What our research measures about systems & test work
Read from the open postings on 2026-10-29 by our space industry research, rebuilt every day. Every figure opens the row of the report it comes from.
- Who is hiring779 open roles (9.6% of the space roles we read) at 44 employers, 169 of them posted in the last 30 days.
- Where the jobs are5.8% of these roles are remote; the rest are on-site or hybrid.
- Who can apply78.2% of the postings are open only to US persons or US citizens, and 23.8% name a security clearance.
- Skills and toolsThe skills its postings name most: Python (55%), MATLAB (25%) and C or C++ (20%).
- Degrees and experience2.4% of the postings take a high school diploma or an associate's degree, 29.9% name a master's or PhD, and they ask for a median of 4 years of experience at the least.
- Pay transparency46.7% of the postings state their pay, at a median $133,000 a year.
- Internships and entry level59 open roles are for someone starting out (7.6% of its open roles).
- Shifts, weekends and travel20.2% of the postings ask for weekend work, 18.9% for overtime or extended hours, and 2.2% name an evening, night or rotating shift.
- What applications askThe application forms for this work ask your citizenship or U.S. person status (83.3% of them), about a security clearance (44.1% of them), your GPA (21.7% of them), SAT, ACT or GRE scores (19.0% of them), your salary expectations (34.0% of them) and whether you have worked or interviewed at the company before (37.3% of them).
Experienced in Systems, Integration & Test?
Space employers come to us looking for a particular skill, location or credential. Leave your details one time, at no cost, and we put you forward when a role matches, never without your yes.
systems & test alerts
systems & test openings, sent to your inbox
Once a week, the systems & test openings that appeared across every space company we follow, each with its posted salary. No cost, and one click stops it.
Only job openings, never promotions. Stop it from any email.
Frequently asked questions
How much do systems engineers earn in the space industry?
Going by the 737 distinct salaries currently posted for roles for systems engineers (each put on a full-time year), the typical range is $130k–$247k/yr and the median is $153k/yr. The top posted figure is $1.5M/yr, at Voyager Technologies. 391 of the 1,175 open roles for systems engineers state no pay, so check each listing.
What do systems engineering roles ask for?
Usually an engineering degree and years in a hardware discipline before systems work, with experience in requirements, verification or model-based tools for some roles. Every posting spells out its exact requirements and work site, so read each one. Of the 211 open roles for systems engineers whose requirements we read, 11 a master's, 182 at least a bachelor's and 18 name no degree.
What does a systems engineer do at a space company?
A systems engineer at a space company owns how the parts of a vehicle or mission fit: the architecture and interfaces, the mass, power and data budgets, the requirements and their verification, and the trades between subsystems, working across every engineering team.
How do space companies hire systems engineers?
Each employer runs its own hiring, and each listing says what it asks for: the degree or the hands-on experience, the location, and for export-controlled work in the US, often U.S. person status. Of the employers hiring systems engineers now, European Space Agency (ESA) says it checks credentials such as degrees. The section on how each employer checks you quotes each guide with its source.
Are these jobs real?
Every role here is read from a space employer's own careers page or job board (Muon Space, Anduril, Hubble Network and Umbra among them), and each employer's page here covers who they are and how they hire. A real employer never charges you to apply, never asks you to buy equipment and never interviews you only by chat app.
More work by profession
Space jobs for test engineers
Integration and test, environmental testing and hot-fire test.
Space jobs for GNC engineers
Guidance, navigation and control, flight dynamics and trajectory.
Space jobs for manufacturing engineers
Production, process, additive, composites and fabrication engineering.
Space jobs for RF engineers
Antennas, phased arrays, communications systems and payloads.
Space jobs for quality engineers
Quality engineering, inspection, NDT and mission assurance.
Space jobs for electrical engineers
Avionics, power systems, circuit boards, FPGAs and harnesses.
Space jobs for mission operations engineers
Launch operations, mission control and satellite operations.
Space jobs by profession
Every profession space companies hire, with live counts and pay.
Systems, Integration & Test
Every open systems & test role across space employers, with live pay.