Expert Solution Architect Engineer (Space Programs)

As an Expert Systems/Solution Architect Engineer at Mercury, you will play a pivotal role in designing scalable, open architectures for spaceborne and strategic radiation-hardened EO/IR and RF sensing systems. You will define how payload data is acquired, conditioned, digitized, processed, fused, stored, recorded, and transmitted in constrained mission environments. In this highly visible role, you will lead cross‑functional teams, serve as the primary technical liaison with customers, and architect next‑generation sensing solutions that shape Mercury’s future product strategy. The position requires a strong investigative mindset, a polished customer‑first approach, and the ability to engage seamlessly in multifaceted customer environments. Success also depends on being an adaptable presenter, a thoughtful technical leader capable of managing strategic pursuits, and a skilled contributor to white papers, proposals, and formal customer requests. Your expertise will help drive innovation across the business and support sustained enterprise growth.

In addition to core architectural responsibilities, this role will lead the Advanced Concepts Group Space Strategic Initiative, focusing on market evaluations and alignment with Mercury’s strategic operating plans. This includes assessing operational footprints, breaking down organizational silos, building collaborative partnerships, and standardizing offerings across business units. The role prioritizes scalability, adherence to open standards, expanded stakeholder engagement, and direct interaction with end customers to foster innovation and long‑term growth.

* An Active Top Secret Clearance is Required *

Job Responsibilities:

• Architect and evaluate open-standards-based EO/IR and RF payload-processing modules and subsystems.
• Define end-to-end data-path architectures, interfaces, requirements, and performance targets.
• Lead customer engagements and translate mission needs into hardware and software requirements.
• Design AI/ML-enabled on-orbit processing for target identification, data prioritization, feature extraction, sensor fusion, and selective data reduction.
• Address system-level constraints involving data rates, gain, noise, latency, throughput, synchronization, storage, power, thermal performance, radiation, and communications bandwidth.
• Assess technical risks, qualification requirements, costs, schedules, and long-term supportability.
• Mitigate Single Event Effects through component selection, circuit design, fault-tolerant architectures, and software controls.
• Lead trade studies involving heterogeneous processing, mixed-signal integration, and chip-scale packaging
• Monitor advances in radiation-hardened sensors, RF components, converters, processors, SSDRs, AI/ML, and data-reduction technologies.
• Advance EO/IR, RF, ADC, and DAC architectures for GEOINT, SIGINT, COMINT, ELINT, and electronic warfare systems across L, S, C, X, Ku, Ka, and W bands.
• Support white papers, proposals, RFIs, RFPs, RFQs, customer responses, and technical presentations.
• Provide technical support for space, naval, munitions, intelligence, and defense programs.
• Support space-related mergers and acquisitions by evaluating technical and strategic risks and opportunities.
• Establish partnerships with semiconductor manufacturers, research institutions, government agencies, universities, laboratories, and defense contractors.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field.
• A minimum of at least 12 years of systems engineering or architecture experience in spaceborne, radiation-hardened, RF, sensing, payload-processing, data-recording, OR embedded-computing systems.
• Expertise in requirements development, systems engineering, verification, validation, qualification, and deployment.
• Experience leading cross-functional teams and technically directing complex programs.
• Strong customer-facing, investigative, problem-solving, communication, presentation, and technical-writing skills.
• Experience preparing technical publications, white papers, bids, and proposals.
• Ability to align differentiated EO/IR and RF edge processing solutions with customer and mission requirements.
• Active U.S. Top Secret clearance; TS/SCI eligibility preferred. Clearances may be granted only to U.S. citizens.
• Travel: Ability to travel roughly 25% to customer and Mercury sites is required. Reasonable accommodations may be provided for individuals with disabilities.