Principal Orbit Operations Engineer

Responsibilities

• Define the ground segment architecture and technical roadmap across command and telemetry, ground station networking, data infrastructure, and automation.
• Make build, buy, and extend decisions for command and control infrastructure, mission planning, fleet management, ground networks, and GSaaS providers.
• Design automated contact scheduling, fleet-wide telemetry and alerting, and routine operations for constellation scale.
• Define engineering practices across the ground/flight boundary, including interface documentation, simulation, and hardware-in-the-loop test infrastructure.
• Lead ground segment work through launch campaigns, commissioning, sustained operations, and major anomalies.
• Build link protection, key management, and access control into the ground segment.
• Improve the reliability and observability of mission-critical ground systems.
• Write, deploy, operate, and troubleshoot software spanning software, networks, and hardware.
• Mentor engineers, review designs and code, make architectural decisions, and support hiring for the ground software team.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field, or equivalent experience.
• 10+ years of experience developing ground systems software, including services, APIs, and applications.
• Experience setting technical direction for a ground segment or comparable real-time infrastructure.
• Experience taking satellites or a comparable hardware fleet through launch, commissioning, and sustained operations.
• Experience deploying and operating software on AWS, including container orchestration with Kubernetes and CI/CD systems.
• Strong understanding of networking protocols, routing, VPNs, and secure connectivity.
• Knowledge of satellite ground systems, including ground station networking, antenna interfaces, and RF subsystems.
• Experience building services around relational or time-series databases and real-time data.
• Strong programming and scripting skills in Python, C++, and/or Rust.
• Familiarity with Linux environments and command-line tools.
• Experience building software for multi-satellite constellation operations is preferred.
• Candidates do not need to meet 100% of the listed qualifications, and unconventional backgrounds are welcomed.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage with 100% of each base policy covered by Reflect.
• Access to HSA, FSA, and 401K plans.
• Unlimited paid time off, with two weeks per year encouraged.
• Healthy lunches provided daily.