---
title: 'Mission Manager / Systems Engineer II at Lodestar'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/mission-manager-systems-engineer-ii-lodestar-los-angeles-gb9neeetz16j'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-11-11'
---

# Mission Manager / Systems Engineer II at Lodestar

- **Company:** Lodestar
- **Location:** Los Angeles, CA
- **Posted:** 2026-11-06
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-11
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.eu.greenhouse.io/lodestarspace/jobs/5020049101

## Job description

## About Lodestar

Lodestar is the software-first space prime for the hardware abundant era. We believe the next generation of space systems will be defined not by launch, fuel, and batteries, but by software, compute, and autonomous effects.

Space is becoming an increasingly contested warfighting domain, with growing threats to the satellites and critical infrastructure underpinning modern life. Maintaining Western strategic advantage will require a new generation of space capabilities built for the speed, complexity and scale of future conflict.

Lodestar is addressing this challenge by building superintelligent spacecraft capable of operating autonomously in orbit. Combining our capabilities in advanced adversarial tracking & characterisation, onboard edge compute and autonomous effect delivery, our technology enables spacecraft to execute complex rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO), detect and classify objects, predict intent and respond to orbital threats - even in denied environments. By integrating sensing, reasoning and action into a single autonomous system, we aim to deliver decisive situational awareness and space superiority for defence and commercial operators.

Backed by elite deep-tech venture capital, international space agencies and government stakeholders, Lodestar is rapidly expanding its footprint across the U.S. Space Force, the Department of War, and major commercial satellite operators. We are a lean, high-autonomy team of engineers and operators building the space defense infrastructure of tomorrow.

Join us.

## About the Job

At Lodestar, as a Mission Manager / Systems Engineer II, you will own the success of a defence space mission from concept through to flight. You will be the single point of accountability between our engineering teams, our spacecraft and payload partners, and our government customers, making sure that what we build is what the mission needs.

You will not be expected to build every model yourself, but you will be expected to understand them, challenge them and shape the technical decisions they drive. This role suits someone with an engineering foundation who wants to use it to steer a whole mission rather than own a single subsystem.

## What You'll Do

- Own the mission end to end: requirements, interfaces, schedule, risk and readiness, through to on-orbit operations
- Lead the definition of core mission requirements across the spacecraft bus and payload, including performance at range, pointing and tracking, and end-to-end timelines and latency, working with engineering to set targets that are ambitious and achievable
- Drive the early first-order analysis that proves out the mission's key requirements: commission, review and challenge the models with our engineers, and make the call when a requirement needs to change
- Own the Interface Control Documents (ICDs) between the payload's operating modes and the host spacecraft's guidance, navigation and control (GNC) system, negotiating them with partner engineering teams
- Work with government stakeholders and end users to define the key evaluation and wargaming scenarios the system will be judged against, and make sure they are reflected in requirements and test plans
- Be the primary technical point of contact for customers and partners: lead technical interchange meetings and design reviews, and manage deliverables, milestones and risks
- Track verification with Lodestar's autonomy, simulation and test teams through simulation and hardware-in-the-loop testing
- Support proposals and new mission concepts with CONOPS, requirements and statements of work

## Basic Qualifications

- 2+ years of experience in mission management, program management or systems engineering in space, aerospace or defense
- Bachelor's degree in a technical field, or equivalent technical experience; Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical or Systems Engineering, or Physics strongly preferred
- Experience owning requirements and Interface Control Documents with external partners or customers
- Enough technical depth to follow engineering analysis, ask the right questions and influence design decisions
- Proven ability to run schedules, risks and deliverables on a complex technical programs
- Clear written and verbal communication, with the ability to represent Lodestar to customers and partners
- Active Secret or Top Secret clearance is preferred; if you don't hold one, you must be eligible and willing to obtain and maintain a US security clearance
- Able to work onsite in El Segundo, CA, travel up to 20% to customer, partner and test sites, and sprint to key mission milestones

## Preferred Skills & Experience

- Government contract execution end to end: deliverable (CDRL) tracking, milestone acceptance, and the invoicing cycle through Wide Area Workflow (WAWF), ensuring each milestone package meets its acceptance criteria before submission
- Experience managing cost, schedule, and performance against the contract baseline — maintain the integrated master schedule, risk register, and funding status, and flag variances and funding limitations before they impact delivery
- Comfort operating in a fast-paced startup with high ownership and evolving requirements
- Experience with spacecraft integration, test and launch campaigns
- Hands-on engineering background in spacecraft systems, GNC, payloads or mission analysis
- Experience with precision pointing, acquisition and tracking systems or other high-performance payloads
- Experience with rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO) or space domain awareness missions
- Comfort building system-level diagrams, sanity-checking performance with quick first-order calculations in Python, MATLAB or a spreadsheet

ITAR Requirements

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

## Compensation & Benefits

Our full band structure for this role:

- (P2) Developing: $115,000 - $174,000 / year
- Meaningful equity incentives as part of our employee option pool
- Flexible PTO with generous paid vacation, holidays, and sick leave
- Comprehensive medical, dental & vision coverage
- 401(k) retirement plan with company match
- Based in Los Angeles

Additional Information

Compensation bands are determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data. Individual level and base pay is determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on job-related skills, education, experience, technical capabilities and internal equity. In addition to base salary, for full-time hires, you may also be eligible for long-term incentives, in the form of stock options, and access to medical, vision and dental coverage, as well as access to a 401(k) retirement plan.

Lodestar is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Lodestar is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.

## About Lodestar

## Core Business
- **Primary Industry**: Defense and Space Manufacturing
- **Target Customers**: Government and allied defense agencies (B2G); specifically US and allied space asset operators
- **Mission**: To deter conflict in space by providing credible, sovereign orbital defense capabilities through autonomous AI software and satellite platforms.

## Products & Services
- **Mithril AI (Autonomous AI Fighter-Pilot)**: Software that runs on orbital bodyguard satellites, enabling real-time space situational awareness, threat detection, classification, and autonomous response. Designed for on-orbit SDA, inspection, and effect delivery.
- **Orbital Defence as a Service**: End-to-end protection stack for high-value satellites, from detection and intelligence to active response, delivered via a fleet of bodyguard satellites.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly available (private company)
- **Key Metric**: Total funding of approximately $3.55M (as of early 2026), comprising a $2.5M Pre-Seed round led by Lunar Ventures and Inflection, plus grants from the UK Space Agency ($1M) and European Space Agency.
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Lunar Ventures, Inflection, UK Space Agency, European Space Agency, Charlie Songhurst, Zehan Wang
- **Growth Signals**: 
  - 14 employees with 8 active job postings (indicating rapid scaling)
  - First satellite payload scheduled for launch in early 2027
  - Government contracts and briefings with Pentagon and UK defense stakeholders
  - Growing European defense budgets (e.g., Germany’s €30-35B by 2030)

## Competitive Advantages
- **Purpose-built for defense**: Unlike competitors that repurpose commercial tech, Lodestar designs from the ground up for resilience, responsiveness, and sovereignty in contested orbits.
- **End-to-end protection stack**: The only company offering a unified system from detection to autonomous response, rather than point solutions.
- **AI-first approach**: The core asset is the AI model, not the satellite hardware, allowing rapid adaptation to evolving threats without long hardware cycles.
- **Government trust**: Early backing from UK Space Agency and ESA, plus direct engagement with Pentagon-level customers.

## Strategic Focus
- Launch first on-orbit payload to gather proximity data and validate AI models in space
- Expand partnerships with allied defense agencies and prime contractors
- Scale the team (especially engineering and avionics) to accelerate product development
- Win additional government contracts for operational bodyguard satellite systems

## Why Work Here
- **Mission-driven culture**: Work on one of the most pressing national security challenges – space defense – with a clear, unapologetic mission to deter conflict.
- **Cutting-edge technology**: Tackle hard problems in AI, computer vision, on-board autonomy, and spacecraft systems.
- **Small team, big impact**: 14-person team with flat structure; engineers have direct ownership of critical systems.
- **Growth opportunity**: Rapidly scaling with 8 open roles; chance to shape the company’s technical direction.
- **Locations**: Offices in Los Angeles (HQ) and London, UK; hybrid/remote flexibility likely (based on speculative applications accepted from US and UK).
- **Notable perks**: Work with former engineers from MBDA, Orbex, Airbus Defence & Space, and Imperial College London rocketry teams.

## Sources
1. [Lodestar Space Website](https://www.lodestar.space/)
2. [LinkedIn Company Page](https://www.linkedin.com/company/lodestarspace)
3. [CB Insights Profile](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/lodestar-3)
4. [UKspace Member Profile](https://www.ukspace.org/start-up-member/lodestar-space/)
5. [Resilience Media Interview](https://resiliencemedia.co/lodestar-is-building-satellite-bodyguards/)
6. [Greenhouse Careers Page](https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/lodestarspace)

## Other roles at Lodestar

- [Payload Systems Engineer (I)](https://feeny.ai/job/payload-systems-engineer-i-lodestar-los-angeles-er1wj7bsd3sd) — Los Angeles, CA
- [Software Engineer - State Estimation & Prediction (III)](https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-state-estimation-prediction-iii-lodestar-los-angeles-x94pk8tr5jsg) — Los Angeles, CA
- [Software Engineer - Simulations (III)](https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-simulations-iii-lodestar-los-angeles-nqya82tma539) — Los Angeles, CA
- [Head of Capture and Proposal Operations](https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-capture-and-proposal-operations-lodestar-los-angeles-81ha6p7n0ymq) — Los Angeles, CA
- [Avionics Hardware Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/avionics-hardware-engineer-lodestar-london-v88vfnycw44z) — London, United Kingdom
- [Software Engineer: Perception (II,III)](https://feeny.ai/job/software-engineer-perception-ii-iii-lodestar-los-angeles-qw1at44896kn) — Los Angeles, CA