Head of AOCS

The role

Lead the end to end development of AOCS across all missions, from concept and design through to in-orbit operations Define and maintain robust pointing, stabilisation, and orbit control architectures aligned with payload and communications performance requirements Own system-level AOCS design decisions, balancing performance, robustness, and operational complexity across avionics, propulsion, power, structures, and thermal domains Lead the selection, sizing, and integration of AOCS sensors and actuators (e.g. star trackers, IMUs, sun sensors, magnetometers, reaction wheels) Drive cross-functional collaboration with Payload, Communications, Flight Software, and Operations teams, particularly around mode transitions and safe-mode strategies Build, lead, and mentor a high-performing, geographically distributed AOCS team, establishing standardised workflows and engineering processes Ensure rigorous verification and validation of AOCS designs at both subsystem and system level Support recruitment, development and retention of top AOCS talent as the organisation scales.

What we expect

• 10+ years of experience in satellite design or related engineering roles
• 5+ years of experience leading engineering teams with a track record of delivering flight hardware on schedule
• Proven end to end responsibility for AOCS on at least two medium to large spacecraft programmes that have successfully reached orbit and achieved long mission lifetimes (GEO experience strongly preferred)
• Strong understanding of real world AOCS performance, including lessons learned from in orbit anomalies or near misses
• Hands on experience designing, tuning, and validating AOCS control laws on flight hardware
• Deep expertise in spacecraft dynamics, estimation, and control applied to operational systems
• Demonstrated experience integrating AOCS sensors and actuators, and resolving real world challenges such as misalignment, noise, saturation and timing delays
• Track record of debugging and recovering AOCS issues during system level testing or in flight operations
• Experience supporting high accuracy pointing payloads (e.g. optical, RF, intersatellite links)
• Proven experience delivering AOCS flight software implementations