About the Role

The Systems Design Lead is responsible for leading the concept development, system design, assembly, integration, and testing (AIT), and project management for UTAT’s CubeSat missions.

Your role involves managing system-level requirements, architecture, performance budgets, and risk analyses to ensure technical excellence across all teams. You will also play a pivotal role in defining project roadmaps, design milestones, and conducting major design reviews.

Collaboration with technical leads and team members to foster a culture of mentorship and knowledge sharing is key. Your leadership will be instrumental in steering UTAT’s ambitious aerospace projects from conceptualisation to realisation, all the while embodying UTAT's commitment to the personal growth and development of our teammates.

For all these reasons strong communication skills, a demonstrated propensity towards interdisciplinary work, and a love for space are highly encouraged for this role.

Team Structure

The Systems Design Lead sits at the center of the FINCH mission and interacts closely with all of its leads since all design and AIT work must flow through the Systems Design Lead. Notably, the Systems Design Lead works with the Science Lead and Mission Operations Lead to derive and negotiate system-level requirements. They also work closely with the Director of Space Systems to maintain and improve the health of the team and ensure the right talent joins the FINCH leadership team.

This setup makes the role very flexible, since the day-to-day activities will vary depending on the satellite interface in question, the design decisions that need to be made, and the problems that the team will encounter. This is both a challenge and an opportunity, as the Systems Design Lead must be comfortable seeking and defining where to apply effort to benefit the team, but can leverage this to make the role suit their strengths. Over the course of the mission, as the design nears the integration stage, the role shifts focus from design towards assembly, integration, and testing.

Responsibilities

Technical

• Develop, negotiate, and maintain system-level requirements from scientific objectives, concept of operations, and launch interface control documents
• Design and maintain engineering artifacts like , , and
• Lead system-level and make final calls on recommendations
• Provide feedback and advice on technical matters, using your high-level vantage point to consider all systems’ interests simultaneously
• Oversee the design of the satellite alongside concurrent development and execution of AIT plans
• Foster collaborative, proactive, implementation-focused systems engineering which cascades out to the rest of the FINCH teams
• Establish and propogate systems-level thinking throughout the team, which involves:
  • Holistic Perspective: Looking at the system and its interfaces as a whole rather than in isolation to identify underlying patterns and behaviours
  • Interconnections: Recognising that changes in one part of the system can affect other parts, often in unexpected ways
  • Dynamic Behavior: Acknowledging that systems evolve over time and that their behaviour can change based on internal and external influences
  • Long-term Thinking: Considering the long-term impacts of decisions and actions, particularly on the mission timeline
  • Problem-Solving: Using a systems approach to address complex problems, which often require collaborative and interdisciplinary solutions
• Learn from the wisdom of the other technical leads and independently to consistently develop your understanding of each of the systems that make up FINCH

Non-Technical