Logistics Management Institute

Senior Space Mission Engineer

Logistics Management Institute$120K — $145K *
Aerospace & Defense
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Active TS/SCI security clearance
  • Bachelor's degree in a technical discipline (Aerospace Engineering, Physics, etc.)
  • Operational experience in military space missions
  • Strong understanding of military space capabilities
  • Experience in translating operational challenges into analytical approaches
  • Strong technical foundation to engage with engineering peers
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills
  • Ability to work independently in ambiguous environments

Responsibilities

  • Lead analytical studies for military space operations across varied mission areas
  • Translate broad operational challenges into structured analytical approaches
  • Conduct research into operational concepts and adversary capabilities
  • Develop defensible analytical frameworks beyond predefined analyses
  • Determine the appropriate analytical approach based on operational problems
  • Serve as a technical bridge among planners, engineers, and stakeholders
  • Communicate technical findings in an operational context

Benefits

  • Collaborative work environment in a mission-focused team
  • Opportunity to influence future capability development and enhancements
  • Engagement with diverse space mission areas
  • Exposure to high-level government operations and decision-making
  • Location in Colorado Springs, a hub for space operations
Full Job Description
Overview

LMI is seeking a Senior Space Mission engineer to support U.S. Space Command's Advanced Analytics Branch (J812). This role is centered on solving difficult operational problems at the intersection of military space operations, engineering, modeling & simulation, and software development.

We're looking for someone who can't walk away from an interesting problem until they truly understand it.

Some problems require modeling and simulation. Others require research into doctrine, adversary tactics, operational planning, or engineering principles before a single model is executed. Successful candidates naturally dive beneath the surface, challenge assumptions, and develop analytical approaches that help government leaders make better operational decisions.

This is not a role where you'll receive detailed task lists every morning. Our customers bring us difficult mission problems-not predefined requirements. Success comes from understanding the operational problem, determining the right analytical approach, and leading efforts that produce meaningful, actionable results.

This position is located on-site in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Responsibilities

Solve Complex Operational Problems
  • Lead analytical studies supporting military space operations across a diverse range of mission areas.
  • Translate broad operational challenges into structured analytical approaches that answer the questions decision-makers need answered.
  • Conduct independent research into operational concepts, doctrine, adversary capabilities, and emerging mission areas before developing analytical methodologies.
  • Develop defensible analytical frameworks rather than simply executing predefined analyses.
  • Determine the appropriate analytical approach based on the operational problem, whether through modeling & simulation, operational research, engineering analysis, software development, or other methodologies.

Bridge Operations and Engineering
  • Serve as the technical bridge between operational planners, modeling & simulation engineers, software developers, and government stakeholders.
  • Work comfortably with highly technical engineering teams while maintaining an operational perspective focused on mission outcomes.
  • Translate technical findings into operationally relevant recommendations for planners and senior leaders.
  • Communicate effectively with engineers, software developers, and operational planners while ensuring all efforts remain focused on solving the customer's mission problem.

Guide Future Capability Development
  • Translate customer workflows, operational challenges, and analytical needs into software enhancements and future capability concepts.
  • Partner with software developers to ensure new capabilities reflect real-world operational workflows.
  • Influence the evolution of analytical capabilities by serving as the operational voice between government users and development teams.
  • Identify capability gaps where new analytical methods or software would provide meaningful mission value.

Lead Technical Efforts
  • Lead small cross-functional teams supporting complex analytical studies.
  • Prepare technical reports, executive briefings, and decision-support products.
  • Present findings to government stakeholders and support analyses that routinely inform senior leader decision-making.
  • Build trusted relationships through technical excellence and consistent delivery of high-quality analytical work.

What Success Looks Like

Within your first year, you will have:
  • Led analytical efforts across multiple space mission areas.
  • Become a trusted technical advisor to government stakeholders.
  • Influenced the development of new analytical capabilities and software enhancements.
  • Produced studies that inform operational planning and senior leader decision-making.
  • Helped expand the influence of LMI and J812 through thoughtful, technically rigorous analysis.


Qualifications

Required Qualifications
  • Active TS/SCI security clearance.
  • Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Physics, Electrical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Applied Mathematics, or a closely related technical discipline.
  • Demonstrated operational experience supporting military space missions.
  • Strong understanding of how military space capabilities enable joint operations.
  • Experience translating operational challenges into analytical approaches or technical solutions.
  • Strong technical foundation with the ability to engage as a peer with aerospace engineers, RF engineers, physicists, and modeling & simulation specialists.
  • Working knowledge of technical concepts such as orbital mechanics, rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO), RF systems, electronic warfare, spacecraft maneuver, or communications engineering sufficient to understand engineering tradeoffs and translate them into operational insights.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
  • Demonstrated ability to operate independently with minimal direction in ambiguous environments.

Preferred Qualifications

Operational experience in one or more of the following areas:
  • Space Control Planning Teams (SCPT)
  • Combatant Command or Service Component operational planning
  • Space Electronic Warfare
  • Joint Targeting
  • Space-enabled fires integration
  • Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT)
  • Satellite Communications (SATCOM)
  • Space Domain Awareness (SDA)

Technical familiarity with one or more of the following:
  • Ground-based Electronic Warfare (EW), including RF fundamentals, electronic attack, electronic support, or electronic protection
  • RF communications, including link budget analysis, antenna theory, propagation, and dB/logarithmic calculations
  • GPS architecture, denial, degradation, and resilience
  • Orbital mechanics, rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO), and spacecraft maneuver concepts
  • Modeling & simulation tools such as STK, AFSIM, MATLAB, Python, or similar analytical environments
  • Agile software development, software requirements development, or product capability development


Job Locations

US-CO-Colorado Springs

About Logistics Management Institute

Logistics Management Institute (LMI) is a consulting firm dedicated to improving the management of government. LMI provides leaders with the objective analysis, tools, and programs they need to make informed decisions for their organizations. LMI is a not-for-profit organization that has been providing innovative solutions to complex problems since 1961. LMI serves clients in the federal government, state and local governments, and the private sector.
Learn more about Logistics Management Institute
Size
1,700 employees
Industry

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