Controls Software Architect, Steward Observatory

Lead System Modeling, Simulation, & Performance Analysis:

• Lead the architecture, design, development, validation, and continuous improvement of advanced software models, simulations, and control system frameworks supporting space telescope pointing, guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) systems.
• Develop high-fidelity system and subsystem models using first-principles analysis, physics-based methods, and empirical data to evaluate system behavior, predict performance, and support mission-critical engineering decisions.
• Lead development of integrated control loop simulators and digital engineering environments to assess spacecraft performance, including jitter, line-of-sight stability, structural dynamics, image quality, and other mission-level performance metrics.
• Define model assumptions, verification and validation strategies, data quality requirements, and model maturation plans throughout the system life cycle.
• Present complex modeling approaches, simulation results, technical recommendations, and performance assessments to program leadership, customers, sponsors, and multidisciplinary engineering teams.

Lead System Architecture & Requirements Engineering:

• Provide technical leadership in software-enabled systems architecture development and performance analysis for advanced spaceflight systems.
• Lead the development, decomposition, and verification of system requirements related to spacecraft control systems, image quality, stability, and mission performance.
• Develop software tools and analytical methods to evaluate architectural trade studies, system interfaces, and performance allocations while ensuring traceability between requirements, models, and verification activities.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary engineering teams to integrate software models with mechanical, electrical, optical, and systems engineering analyses, influencing design decisions across multiple programs.

Technical Leadership, Functional Excellence, & Engineering Standards:

• Serve as a senior technical leader within the Space Telescope Program (STP) Functional Team by establishing software engineering best practices, modeling standards, simulation methodologies, and peer review processes across multiple projects.
• Lead technical reviews of architecture, software, controls, and simulation products to ensure engineering rigor, quality, and consistency.
• Mentor engineers and researchers in advanced modeling techniques, software development practices, and systems engineering methodologies.
• Contribute to organizational design guides, engineering standards, reusable software frameworks, and lessons learned that advance institutional capabilities and support long-term strategic objectives.
• Represent the organization as a recognized subject matter expert in software-enabled modeling, simulation, and control systems for complex aerospace and scientific instrumentation programs.