Vice President, System Architecture and Mission Assurance

Meet Slingshot 

At Slingshot Aerospace, we’re on a mission to make space safer and more secure for everyone. Our work directly impacts global security, disaster response, climate monitoring, and the critical infrastructure that connects our world. We’re a team of builders, thinkers, and problem-solvers who believe that the next generation of space operations will be powered by better data and smarter software. 

What You’ll Be Launching 

Slingshot Aerospace delivers operational intelligence and autonomy for the space domain. Through Space Operations Intelligence & Autonomy (SOIA), Slingshot integrates sensing, data fusion, analytics, AI-driven decision support, and mission workflows to help government, defense, civil, and commercial operators understand activity in space and take action with speed and confidence. 

We are seeking a Vice President of Systems Architecture & Mission Assurance to strengthen and scale the systems architecture, assurance strategy, and technical governance that support Slingshot's mission-critical software, AI/ML, data, sensor, and autonomy capabilities. Building on Slingshot's existing technical and operational foundations, this leader will mature the architecture and evidence-based engineering practices that keep Slingshot's platforms reliable, secure, interoperable, auditable, and ready for expanded operational use in high-consequence environments. 

This is a senior technical executive role for a systems thinker who can align product, engineering, AI/ML, security, program execution, and customer mission needs. The VP will help evolve and unify Slingshot's core capabilities - including Slingshot Portal, TALOS AI, Agatha AI, Beacon, Seradata, Digital Space Twin, the Developer Suite, the Data Catalog, and the Slingshot Global Sensor Network - as a cohesive mission system. The role will also expand Slingshot's mission assurance practices across software and hardware-enabled capabilities, including sensor systems such as Varda, Horus, and Argus as they integrate into customer solutions. 

Why This Role Matters 

Space operations are becoming more dynamic, contested, and time-sensitive. Slingshot's customers already rely on the company for intelligence, decision support, and operational insight in complex space environments. As customer missions become more demanding, this role will help extend that foundation with even greater architectural discipline, mission assurance rigor, and operational confidence. 

As Slingshot expands AI-enabled space operations, maneuver decision support, anomaly detection, coordination workflows, and autonomous mission capabilities, the Vice President of Systems Architecture & Mission Assurance will help ensure Slingshot systems continue to scale with disciplined rigor: clear requirements, traceable architectures, robust verification and validation, transparent AI/ML assurance, and resilient operating models. This leader will help Slingshot extend its mission-critical operational capabilities for customers who depend on trusted performance. 

Your Mission (Should you choose to accept it) 

• Enterprise and Mission Systems Architecture 
  • Own the end-to-end systems architecture for Slingshot's mission software and data ecosystem, ensuring that products, platforms, services, APIs, data pipelines, AI/ML models, and customer workflows operate as a coherent and scalable mission architecture. 
  • Define architecture principles, technical standards, integration patterns, and design review processes across Slingshot Portal, the Data Catalog, Analytics, AI, Developer Suite, Beacon, Digital Space Twin, Seradata, and related mission applications. 
  • Ensure Slingshot's architecture supports secure deployment models, classified and unclassified environments, interoperability with customer mission systems, and integration of proprietary, customer, government, and third-party data sources. 
  • Partner with product and engineering leaders to align architecture roadmaps with customer mission needs, contract deliverables, platform scalability, and long-term product strategy. 

• Mission Assurance and High-Assurance Engineering 
  • Strengthen, scale, and lead Slingshot's mission assurance function for software-intensive and hardware-enabled space operations capabilities. 
  • Mature repeatable assurance processes for requirements management, design control, safety and risk analysis, verification and validation, configuration management, technical review governance, issue disposition, and operational readiness. 
  • Expand certification-ready evidence frameworks and safety cases for mission-critical capabilities, with tailored application of relevant standards and practices such as NASA software engineering and software assurance guidance, aerospace design assurance practices, automotive systems safety, cybersecurity, and customer-specific mission assurance requirements. 
  • Lead independent technical assessment of high-consequence features, including autonomous decision support, conjunction assessment, anomaly detection, maneuver planning, and mission workflow automation. 

• AI/ML Assurance, Autonomy, and Decision Support 
  • Define the assurance approach for AI/ML-enabled space operations capabilities, including model validation, model monitoring, explainability, data provenance, bias and error analysis, operational boundaries, human-in-the-loop controls, and escalation paths. 
  • Oversee assurance strategies for TALOS AI, Agatha AI, and related autonomy workflows to ensure outputs are reliable, auditable, and appropriate for customer operational contexts. 
  • Partner with AI/ML, astrodynamics, product, security, and mission operations teams to translate autonomy concepts into disciplined, testable, and operationally trusted system designs. 
  • Establish governance for safe rollout of AI-enabled features, including readiness criteria, model release gates, scenario-based testing, and post-deployment performance monitoring. 
• Sensor, Data, and Fusion Architecture 
  • Define architectural patterns for ingesting, processing, fusing, and delivering data from the Slingshot Global Sensor Network, Seradata, customer sources, third-party data providers, and sensor hardware offerings such as Varda, Horus, and Argus. 
  • Ensure high-volume data pipelines and downstream analytics are designed for traceability, provenance, latency, accuracy, resiliency, auditability, and operational transparency. 
  • Partner with hardware, sensor operations, data engineering, and product teams to ensure sensor-derived intelligence is integrated into Slingshot applications in a way that supports mission workflows, customer trust, and scalable operations. 

• Model-Based Systems Engineering and Technical Governance 
  • Advance adoption of Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) and digital engineering practices appropriate for Slingshot's products and programs. 
  • Establish bi-directional traceability from customer needs and mission threads to requirements, architecture, data and model dependencies, verification evidence, operational procedures, and product releases. 
  • Formalize and scale technical governance forums, design review boards, architecture decision records, and assurance review gates that increase rigor without slowing execution. 
  • Evolve dashboards and metrics that give executive leadership visibility into architecture health, technical risk, assurance readiness, and mission-critical release status. 

• Executive Leadership and Cross-Functional Partnership 
  • Serve as a senior technical authority across engineering, product, AI/ML, security, program management, business development, and mission operations. 
  • Build and lead a high-performing team of systems architects, mission assurance engineers, verification and validation leaders, safety and risk specialists, and technical program leaders. 
  • Represent Slingshot's technical architecture and assurance posture with customers, partners, auditors, and government stakeholders. 
  • Mentor teams in systems thinking, high-assurance product development, technical decision-making, and mission-focused execution. 

Pre-flight Checklist 

• Master's degree in Systems Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related technical discipline, or equivalent practical experience. 
• 15+ years of progressive engineering leadership experience in systems architecture, systems engineering, mission assurance, software assurance, technical program leadership, or related disciplines. 
• Demonstrated experience architecting complex software-intensive systems in aerospace, defense, national security, autonomy, AI/ML, space operations, aviation, automotive, critical infrastructure, or similarly high-consequence environments. 
• Strong command of systems engineering lifecycle practices, including requirements development, architecture definition, interface management, integration, verification, validation, release readiness, and operational support. 
• Experience applying mission assurance, safety, reliability, software assurance, cybersecurity, or quality frameworks to complex technical systems. 
• Ability to work across executive, customer, and technical audiences and translate mission needs into actionable architecture and assurance strategies. 
• Demonstrated success building technical teams, leading cross-functional execution, and influencing product and engineering roadmaps. 
• Active U.S. Secret Security Clearance or higher required

Bonus Cargo 

• Active U.S. Top Secret / SCI clearance
• MBA or other advanced business degree is desirable to strengthen focus on business value. 
• Experience with space domain awareness, satellite operations, conjunction assessment, astrodynamics, space mission operations, or space battle management. 
• Experience with AI/ML validation, model assurance, explainable AI, autonomy governance, simulation-based testing, or safety cases for AI-enabled decision support. 
• Familiarity with relevant standards and frameworks such as NASA NPR 7150.2, NASA-STD-8739.8, NPR 7123.1, DO-178C, DO-254, DO-330, UL 4600, ISO 26262, MIL-STD practices, or equivalent high-assurance engineering frameworks. 
• Experience with MBSE and digital engineering tools and methods, including SysML or equivalent model-based approaches. 
• Experience in secure government environments, accredited systems, DevSecOps, cloud-native mission systems, APIs, data platforms, and scalable product architectures. 
• PMP, INCOSE CSEP/ESEP, PE, or comparable technical or program leadership credentials. 
• Familiarity with Slingshot's product ecosystem or comparable SDA, space traffic coordination, mission planning, or operational intelligence systems. 

We're building a constellation here, not looking for identical satellites. Every member of the team brings different capabilities to the same mission. If your orbit intersects with ours and you're mission-ready, send it. 

Location: Remote, US

Salary: $225,000-$315,000

Classification: Full time Exempt (learned professional exemption)