Senior AI&T Engineer - Space Systems

At Axient Systems we are building sovereign Dutch space capability. From Delft, at the heart of the Dutch aerospace ecosystem, we develop advanced satellite systems for the Netherlands Ministry of Defence and other government and commercial customers. Our work spans mission integration, earth observation, secure communications, and space systems engineering. We are responsible for mission integration on PAMI-1, the satellite that will give the Netherlands its own optical space capability.

We are looking for a Senior AI&T Engineer to own assembly, integration, and test as a discipline at Axient.

The Role

You will become the owner of AI&T at Axient: the approach, the standards, and the judgement about whether hardware is ready for the next step. The role has two sides to it from the start.

The campaign. Our current mission's AI&T campaign runs at a partner facility. Part of the campaign is our partner's to lead; part is Axient's responsibility, and there you work at the centre of the campaign, alongside experienced campaign specialists. How much you take on depends on what you bring: if you arrive with deep campaign experience, there is room to do considerably more. Either way, you leave that campaign knowing the platform, the partner, and the people.

The capability. Alongside the campaign you build AI&T as a discipline at Axient: the model philosophy, the integration strategy, the standards for procedures and test conduct, and the in-house test environment. That work starts while the campaign is still running, so the two overlap from early on. Axient is a young organisation and this discipline is yours to shape, which means what you set now becomes how we do it.

Most physical integration and test happens at partners and suppliers, in the Netherlands, Europe, and the United States. You define the verification and test approach, review and approve what suppliers propose, and are present when it matters: at readiness reviews, during critical test runs, and when something fails. In Delft we run software- and hardware-in-the-loop testing, and in time possibly a flatsat. A campaign that runs under our responsibility is yours from plan to execution: you set the approach and the standards, and you are at the hardware when they are put to the test.

You are the person who says hardware is ready, or that it is not. That judgement needs to hold up when the schedule is under pressure.

You work closely with systems engineering, which owns the requirements and the verification matrix, and with the programme manager, who owns schedule and cost. AI&T is where those two meet the hardware.

What You Will Own

• The AI&T approach at Axient: test philosophy and strategy including engineering, qualification, and acceptance testing as well as the use of engineering and STMs for risk mitigation
• Axient's part of the current mission's AI&T campaign, alongside our partner and our campaign specialists
• Definition of V&V requirements, and the verification close-out against them
• Acceptance of subsystems before integration, at engineering model (EM) and flight model (FM) level
• EM and flatsat activities: procedure creation and execution, result collection, and compliance evidence
• FM activities: satellite-level procedures, execution, and participation in the environmental test campaign
• Definition and procurement of mechanical and electrical ground support equipment
• AIT plans, test specifications, and test procedures, at system level and at supplier level
• Environmental and functional qualification campaigns: vibration, shock, thermal, TVAC, and EMC
• Optical alignment, calibration, and performance verification, together with the payload team
• Review of supplier AI&T documentation, and holding suppliers to it
• Test Readiness Reviews and Test Review Boards, as chair or as participant
• Investigation and disposition of non-conformances, anomalies, and test failures
• Contamination control, ESD, and handling requirements across the integration flow
• Realistic integration and test durations in the programme schedule, and the argument behind them
• The AI&T discipline itself as we grow: standards, documentation, and people

Essential Qualifications

• Engineering degree in aerospace, mechanical, electrical, optomechatronics, precision engineering, or a comparable discipline
• 8+ years in assembly, integration, and test of complex hardware, at least part of it at system level
• Full ownership of an integration and test campaign, from planning (including logistics) through to delivery
• Hands-on experience with environmental testing: vibration, shock, thermal, TVAC, or equivalent qualification testing
• Spacecraft AI&T experience, at platform, payload, or full mission level
• Experience defining and procuring GSE
• Willing and able to judge supplier work, and to reject it
• Working knowledge of cleanroom practice, contamination control, and ESD
• Understanding of electrical test equipment, test procedures, data acquisition, and instrumentation
• Fluent English
• Comfortable in a multidisciplinary, transatlantic team
• On-site work in Delft, limited hybrid working possible
• Able to spend extended periods on site at partner facilities. This is not occasional travel: during a campaign you are where the hardware is, for as long as it takes

Desirable Qualifications

• Experience with optical instruments and opto-mechatronics
• Familiarity with ECSS, in particular the verification and testing standards
• Scripting for test automation and data analysis (Python, MATLAB/Simulink)
• Experience building an AI&T capability from a limited starting point
• Defence sector experience
• Working proficiency in Dutch

What We Offer

A senior role with real ownership of a discipline, alongside engineers, project managers, and domain specialists. In an organisation this size your standards become the organisation's standards, and you will see hardware you qualified go to orbit.

A market-aligned salary and benefits reflecting the weight of the role. Room to grow as the Dutch organisation scales.

Interested?

Apply via the vacancy on LinkedIn or the registration form on our website.

A positive outcome of a security screening (VGB-B) is a condition for employment. You can read more information about this on the website of the MIVD.

In your application, include a short description of one integration or test campaign you owned: what was tested and at what level, what your mandate actually was, and one thing that went wrong and how you handled this. Applications without this will not be reviewed.