Associate Staff 3/4 - Orbital Dynamics

Job Overview

This role combines deep orbital analysis with end-to-end space-system development. Your work will shape mission concepts, system-level trades, and operational decisions across the full system lifecycle. You will collaborate with specialists in embedded software and firmware, estimation and controls, optics and optomechanics, and electro-optical sensors. Your initial responsibilities include:

• Develop and validate models for orbital mechanics, trajectory propagation, perturbation analysis, orbit determination, and estimation using real and simulated data.
• Design missions, plan maneuvers, and assess performance to inform system-level trades and decisions.
• Translate orbital dynamics analyses into requirements, interfaces, and actionable recommendations for multidisciplinary teams.
• Build, maintain, and improve analysis tools and simulation frameworks used across design, test, and operations.
• Own analyses from problem formulation through validation, and communicate assumptions, methods, results, and system-level implications clearly to technical and non-technical audiences.

During your first year, you will take increasing ownership of orbital analyses, contribute directly to system-level decisions, and extend the group’s established orbital simulation capabilities.

Lincoln Laboratory expects and supports technical growth throughout your career. As program needs evolve, you will develop expertise in new technical areas through collaboration with colleagues, technical research, and, when appropriate, formal education. As your expertise grows, you will have opportunities to influence the group’s technical direction.

This is a full-time, on-site position in Lexington, MA, enabling close collaboration across disciplines and access to specialized facilities and secure technical environments.

Minimum Qualifications

Candidates will be considered for the appropriate level based on their education, experience, demonstrated technical capabilities, leadership responsibilities, and the scope and complexity of their prior work. 

Level 3 – Associate Staff 

• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM discipline or other relevant technical field and typically 2+ years of relevant experience; or Master’s degree and typically 0+ years of relevant experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience. 
• Solid technical depth in a primary engineering, research, or other technical domain, with the ability to apply knowledge independently. 
• Demonstrated ability to solve complex technical problems and manage components of project work. 
• Experience contributing to technical documentation, analyses, reports, presentations, or project deliverables. 
• Ability to collaborate across project teams and communicate technical information clearly to appropriate audiences. 
• Emerging ability to guide less experienced colleagues and contribute to team capability development. 

Level 4 – Associate Staff 

• Bachelor’s degree in a STEM discipline or other relevant technical field and typically 4+ years of relevant experience; or Master’s degree and typically 2+ years of relevant experience; a PhD may be considered; or an equivalent combination of education and experience. 
• Strong technical depth in a primary domain with emerging breadth across related engineering, research, technical disciplines, or mission areas. 
• Demonstrated ability to solve complex technical problems and lead components of projects or technical workstreams. 
• Experience managing milestones, dependencies, risks, and deliverables for assigned project areas. 
• Ability to communicate complex information to varied audiences and collaborate with project teams, sponsors, and internal partners. 
• Demonstrated ability to mentor others, review work, and contribute to team technical capability. 

Additional Minimum Qualifications

• A strong foundation in orbital mechanics and astrodynamics, demonstrated through coursework, research, or professional experience.
• Experience developing scientific or engineering software in one or more of the following: Python, Rust, C/C++, or MATLAB.