Paul Stevens

Lead Architect, Strategic Programmes at Viasat

Greater Guildford Area, United Kingdom

About

Experienced professional, with 15 years’ experience in space project management, mission systems engineering and technical leadership. Over the past decade I have held engineering and project management roles on several European and British flagship programmes including Galileo FOC/Batch 3, Lunar Pathfinder, LCNS Moonlight and several Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) programmes. Throughout this time, I have gained a wealth of experience in technical leadership, bid management, large-scale programme management, and a deep understanding of the space project delivery life cycle, from Phase 0 to Phase E. I have also demonstrated successful management of international supply chains and delivery teams, collaboration with institutional and commercial partners to architect and deliver complex end-to-end systems, and effective stakeholder management of internal leadership teams and external entities such as ESA, JPL, NASA, MOD, and the European Commission. I am a strategic thinker who can strike a balance between technical capability and commercial awareness to influence large programme teams and drive operational efficiency. I am able to take a wide view, simplify complexity and use this perspective to creatively solve problems and identify opportunities.

Experience

  • Lead Architect, Strategic Programmes at Viasat
    Nov 2025 - Present · 8 mos

  • Senior Project Manager at Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL)
    Apr 2023 - Nov 2025 · 2 yrs 8 mos

    • Management of the UK Optical Centre of Competence (a joint SSTL and Airbus initiative), responsible for establishing and implementing the trans-national operational framework agreement for this initiative and the construction/commissioning of world-class optical payload manufacturing facilities in Guildford. • Project Management of the TRUTHS Space Segment (Phase B2/C0) and Ground Segment (Phase B1) projects, and other Non-Mission-Projects and T&M contracts with Airbus and General Atomics. • Programme Management of all optical payload projects within SSTL, including ESA Harmony TIRI Phase B1 and InCubed Precision. • Bid management of optical mission and non-mission prospects.

  • Principal Space Systems Engineer at In-Space Missions Limited
    Mar 2022 - Apr 2023 · 1 yr 2 mos

    • Principal Engineer within the Chief Engineering Office, responsible for establishing business quality management and engineering processes and supporting business development opportunities. • Mission Lead for the AZALEA programme, responsible for technical strategy and end-to-end system architecture of a dual-purpose (military and civil/commercial) IOC ISR cluster of satellites, featuring EO, RF and SAR sensors, Software-Defined Radio and Edge-Processing payloads capable of ML/AI Application hosting and autonomous on-board object detection, recognition and detection. • Derivation of user requirements, mission, and system requirements, ISR use cases, operational concept, WBS, WPDs and DRDs for programme milestones. • Coordination of engineering teams (>80 engineers) across In-space Missions and BAE Systems (Integrated Project Team). • Technical leadership and technical proposal coordination for commercial and MOD (ISTARI) mission ITT proposal submissions. Technical Assurance for other In-Space Missions (review of milestone documentation and ad-hoc project support).

  • Senior Systems Engineer at Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL)
    Jun 2012 - Mar 2022 · 9 yrs 10 mos

    SSTL Lunar Engineering Manager (Mar 2020 – Mar 2022), responsible for: o Technical strategy and delivery across the lunar business line, reporting directly to the Engineering Director. o Driving business use-case creation and customer negotiations alongside engineering management duties for the Lunar Pathfinder mission (an in-orbit service demonstrator for communications relay services between Earth and Moon). o Generation of user requirements and Service Level Agreements, and mission requirements for Lunar Pathfinder. o Definition of user requirements, use cases, mission and system level requirements, CONOPS, trade-off and system analyses, and the baseline technical solution for the LCNS Moonlight end-to-end system. o Generation of Systems Engineering, PA/QA, Technology Development, and Implementation Plans for the follow-on Phase B2/C/D/E1 activities. o Leadership of international industrial consortium, and management of stakeholder/user relationships. o Technical interface to ESA, JPL, NASA and other commercial/institutional customers for coordination of partnership agreements, launch procurement and service delivery. Galileo Technical Lead, Project Deputy & Functional Manager (Jul 2012 – Mar 2020), responsible for: o Representing the Galileo Programme at customer and business reviews. o Manufacture, integration (to satellite & ground systems) and system verification of all FOC/B3 Payloads. o In-orbit Commissioning and in-service engineering support to the Galileo FOC fleet. o Technical coordination of all Galileo Milestone reviews, including IPSR, EQSRs, KO, PDRs, CDRs, QARs, ARs, TRR/TRBs, FRRs, IOCRs and Management Reviews. o Timely assessment, analysis and resolution of Payload non-compliances and in-orbit anomalies/safe modes; and the presentation of these analyses at NRBs, ARBs and ESA Inspector General’s Office. o Writing of technical and commercial documentation, stakeholder management, and resource management of GNSS Signals engineering team.

  • Young Graduate Trainee at European Space Agency - ESA
    Jun 2011 - Jun 2012 · 1 yr 1 mo

    Systems Engineer supporting the ESA/SNSB REXUS/BEXUS sounding rocket and stratospheric balloon experiment programme, including evaluation and down-selection of experiment proposals, coordinating experimentation manufacture and vehicle integration, launch campaigns and project reporting.