Senior Utilities Systems Engineer

The Giant Magellan Telescope is the most powerful ground-based telescope ever engineered. It was designed to push the boundaries of human knowledge and discover the unknown. With unmatched image quality, seven of the world’s largest mirrors will launch our view into the universe to uncover the cosmic mysteries of dark matter, investigate the origins of chemical elements, and search for signs of life on distant exoplanets for the first time.

The 30-meter class telescope is under construction at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile’s Atacama Desert, one of the best locations on Earth to view the heavens. From this unrivaled vantage into the southern sky, the Giant Magellan Telescope will produce the sharpest and most detailed images ever taken of our universe.

When complete in the early 2030s, the Giant Magellan Telescope will be the largest public-private funded science project in history. The endeavor was founded by an international consortium of 15 research institutions representing Australia, Brazil, Chile, Israel, South Korea, Taiwan, and the United States, and is managed by the GMTO Corporation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Pasadena, California. Our culture is impactful, inclusive, and fearlessly innovative. We solve the most difficult engineering challenges and scientific questions with talented individuals who share a passion for revolutionizing humanity’s knowledge of the universe.

We invite you to join our team and leave your mark on astronomy’s future and beyond.

The Universe Awaits™

Systems Engineering

Project Systems Engineer

Reporting to the Project Systems Engineer, the successful candidate will contribute to the Systems Engineering (SE) organization by working with the team to write and maintain system level requirements, coordinating interfaces between subsystems, process change requests, and manage technical budgets. System Level requirements are updated periodically by Systems Engineering to ensure that the higher-level science requirements are achievable and that the telescope meets its functional and performance requirements. Subsystem requirements are maintained by the various subsystems and instrument payloads.  The Senior Utilities Systems Engineer will be responsible for maintaining alignment and consistency between utilities technical budgets as well as the subsystem and system level utilities requirements. Requirements that currently need the most attention include Utility allocations for Power, Fluids, and Communications. In addition, the Senior Utilities Systems Engineer will work with the Subsystem and Instrument Payload teams to define and document interfaces in Interface Control Documents (ICD), especially as they pertain to Utilities. Finally, the Senior Utilities Systems Engineer will help to process Change Requests and assess their associated cost, schedule, and technical impacts to the project.

The Senior Utilities Systems Engineer will be responsible for developing and maintaining Utilities budgets and requirements and how budget allocations are distributed throughout the telescope. Budget maintenance will include regular detailed technical audits and recommending adjustments to allocations as needed. This includes optimizing these budgets for performance and conducting trade studies to support decisions on setting the allocations for the respective subsystems and instrument payloads.  The Senior Utilities Systems Engineer will also make recommendations on the design of the utilities, especially as they relate to areas where the design can be optimized for space, weight, and routing.

In addition, the candidate will contribute significantly to the development of Verification and Validations (V&V) Plans for all Utilities.  This includes working with the Project Systems Engineer in developing processes for verifying requirements from the subsystems to the system level, and then validating that the telescope functions and performs as is intended. This effort also includes working with the Assembly, Integration, Verification and Commissioning (AIVC) manager to develop a plan for how system level requirements are verified for Utilities. The Senior Utilities Systems Engineer will develop strategies for how verification artifacts are generated and then linked with their respective requirements, develop a process for their final acceptance, how to disposition waivers, and work with subsystem contractors to review their deliverables to ensure that their requirements have been met before final acceptance. V&V work will include validating that Utility budgets have been properly flowed down to the subsystems and instrument payloads.

• Lead the Utilities management for the GMT Observatory with deep understanding of System-level Utilities propagation within the Enclosure, Telescope Mount, Support Buildings, and Instrument Payload Subsystems
• Develop Utilities System and Subsystem Level requirements and ICDS
• Write technical documents in support of trade studies and analyses
• Manage Utility budgets (Power, Fluids, and Fiber Communication)
• Coordinate interface of utilities work between the Enclosure, Telescope subsystem, and AIVC teams including capacities, flows, physical routing, and scheduling
• Manage and update the one-line diagram for Utilities for the Observatory
• Participate in the design and review of utilities budgets, physical interfaces, and monitoring for all payload subsystems and the supplier subsystems (Enclosure and Mount)
• Assist in the development of Verification and Validation plans and processes

• BS degree in Electrical, Mechanical, Systems Engineering, or equivalent technical discipline
• A minimum of 8 years of experience working with ground-based telescopes, spacecraft, or equivalent industries that have complex utility systems
• Direct experience in evaluating, analyzing, budgeting, design, and routing of power, coolant, and communication for technical and/or industrial payloads and/or facilities
• Knowledge of design and regulatory standards and current practices in industrial power, electronics, communications, fluids/coolants, and safety
• Experience working on verification of requirements and interfaces
• Coordination of management and technical issues between multiple subsystem teams to ensure system level capability and performance objectives are achieved

• A minimum of 10 years of experience working with ground-based telescopes, spacecraft, or equivalent industries that have complex utility systems
• Experience using CAD for utilities routing
• Proficiency in IBM Engineering Requirements Management DOORS Next or equivalent software for managing requirements and interfaces.
• Ability to travel to GMTO member locations, vendor premises and the GMT site in Chile when necessary to accomplish goals.

Open plan engineering office. Travel as needed by the project.

No physical requirements

No direct reports

• Medical insurance
• Vision insurance
• Dental insurance
• Disability insurance
• 401(k)

$170,000- $220,000

The salary for this role will be set based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to, internal equity, experience, education, and training.

To apply send your resume or CV and a cover letter to careers@gmto.org.

If your skills and experience are a match for the position or if we need additional information, we will contact you. If we do not see a suitable match between your qualifications and the position, we will keep your information on file in the event future positions become available that are more suitable to your qualifications.

We are an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran, you have the right to request an accommodation if you are unable or limited in your ability to use or access our career center as a result of your disability. To request an accommodation, contact a Giant Magellan Telescope Corporation Human Resources Representative.