Mission Operations Ground Software Engineering Lead

Description

The company builds high-mobility spacecraft platforms for national security, civil, and commercial missions, and moves quickly with frequent iteration.

The team is hiring a lead to own the software that supports spacecraft testing, mission operations, and real-time ground communications.

The role suits an experienced software engineer who works across distributed systems, mission operations, infrastructure, and real-time data processing.

You will help build the software platforms and operator tools behind spacecraft integration, command and telemetry flows, and mission readiness across the vehicle lifecycle.

You will work with flight software, AI&T, mission operations, avionics, and systems engineering teams to build scalable, reliable ground software for integration and on-orbit operations.

Responsibilities

• Lead design, development, and deployment of ground software, including payload data pipelines, telemetry processing, event handling, dashboards, tooling, and automated monitoring.
• Own large parts of the ground segment architecture and set its long-term technical direction.
• Build tools and automation that improve reliability, operator efficiency, and observability across satellite missions.
• Work with operators, mission design and analysis, and systems engineering to map operational workflows into software.
• Lead the integration of new spacecraft, subsystems, and communication interfaces into the ground system.
• Build scalable microservices, APIs, and data pipelines for real-time and offline mission operations.
• Keep the system resilient, secure, and fast through testing, code review, CI/CD, and operational practices.
• Support anomaly investigations by building diagnostic tools, analyzing telemetry flows, and finding root causes in the ground architecture.
• Mentor junior and mid-level engineers and help shape engineering standards and practices.

Requirements

• A bachelor's degree in computer science, electrical or aerospace engineering, software engineering, or a related technical field.
• 5+ years of software engineering experience, including production work on complex systems.
• Strong proficiency in at least one of Python, Go, C++, or Java.
• Experience building distributed systems, APIs, or microservices.
• Familiarity with cloud platforms, Docker containers, and Kubernetes orchestration.
• Understanding of satellite operations, telemetry and command systems, or communication protocols.
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and code quality practices.
• Nice to have: experience with spacecraft ground systems, mission control software, or telemetry and command frameworks.
• Nice to have: experience with message bus or streaming technologies such as Kafka, MQTT, or Redis Streams.
• Nice to have: knowledge of CCSDS standards for telemetry, command, SM&C, and file delivery.
• Nice to have: experience building operational UIs, dashboards, or visualization tools.
• Nice to have: contributions to architecture decisions, scaling strategies, and infrastructure automation.
• Nice to have: experience supporting real-time or mission-critical operations.
• Nice to have: familiarity with RF systems, link-layer protocols, or satellite network configurations.

Conditions

Base salary is $140,000-$165,000.

The range is an estimate. The actual offer may depend on experience, education or training, critical skills, and business needs. Equity grants are included in most full-time offers and count toward total compensation.

To meet U.S. government space technology export rules, including ITAR, you must be a U.S. citizen, a lawful permanent resident, a protected individual under 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Equal-opportunity statement omitted.

Benefits

• Competitive salary, equity, and comprehensive benefits, including medical, dental, vision, generous leave, HSA, and 401(k) matching.