Constellation Operations Engineer

About Us:

BlackSky is a real-time intelligence company. We own and operate the world's most advanced space-based intelligence platform and provide customers satellite imagery, automated analytics and high-frequency monitoring of strategic locations, economic assets and events from around the globe. BlackSky is trusted by the most demanding allied military and intelligence organizations and commercial companies to deliver foresight into critical matters that affect national security and the economy. BlackSky's data enables governments and businesses to see, understand and anticipate change as it happens, giving them the ultimate strategic advantage so they can act quickly. Our global team works with cutting-edge technology to make a difference around the world and prides itself on being people-first, customer-focused and fun.

As a part of our Constellation Operations Engineering team, your responsibilities are expected to be wide ranging, spanning many different aspects of the constellation architecture including satellite systems, ground stations, and ground software. Specifically, you will train to operate the satellites while providing recommendations on operations procedure and process improvement from previous space industry experience. In this role, you will help ensure successful on-orbit satellite commissioning by serving on-console during launch and early operations activities. Your efforts to review telemetry and spacecraft logs will lead to anomaly investigation and resolution, as well as execution of routine maintenance across the constellation. You will conduct testing on virtual ground assets to prove concepts of operation and safety of commands before tasking satellites on orbit. With basic Python skills, you will begin contributing to a growing repository of software tools designed to streamline operations, reduce human-error and optimize constellation performance. This role reports to the Manager, Constellation Operations and will work in our Seattle, WA office with a flexibility for hybrid schedule.

Responsibilities:

• Rapidly learn our Constellation architecture, including spacecraft bus, flight software, ground network and ground control software throughout BlackSky's training and qualification program.
• Participate in technical efforts for on-orbit operations, including launch and early operations (LEOP), routine maintenance, and anomaly response.
• Investigate anomalies through telemetry trending and review, as well as execute Bench Testing and Maintenance tickets as assigned in Jira.
• Perform daily backroom support activities, including constellation data review, system log review, imaging performance and ground automation performance.
• Participate in operations software tooling development in Python. This includes data trending tools, automated constellation performance review, key performance metrics measurement and analysis, among other things.
• Plan and execute bespoke customer requests and on-orbit testing to validate, refine, and operationalize future capabilities.
• Support launch readiness activities as assigned.
• This position requires a rotational on-call support, as well as occasional short-duration 24/7 support, including launch activities and on-console anomaly support when required.
• Other job-related duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s in Aerospace, Mechanical or Electrical Engineering, or Computer Science or equivalent.
• A minimum of two (2) years of experience in a technical engineering field.
• Experience in an operations environment (aerospace, gas/oil, nuclear, energy, manufacturing, etc.).
• Familiarity with satellite systems and the space environment.
• Possess strong team and inter-team cooperation and organization skills.
• A strong sense of self-motivation and ability to work concurrent tasks.
• Comfort working in mission-critical environments and making risk-based decisions.
• The program this role supports requires being a US-born citizen.

Preferred Qualifications:

• At least three (3) years of experience in space operations environment (satellites, launch vehicles, ground stations).
• Subject matter expertise in one or more spacecraft subsystems.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with a strong understanding of audience.
• Experience working with systems in automation.
• Linux familiarity.
• Prior experience with Jira, Confluence, GitHub and STK or similar tools.

Life at BlackSky for full-time benefits eligible employees includes:

• Medical, dental, vision, disability, group term life and AD&D, voluntary life and AD&D insurance
  • BlackSky pays 100% of employee-only premiums for medical, dental and vision and contributes $100/month for out-of-pocket expenses!
• 15 days of PTO, 11 Company holidays, four Floating Holidays (pro-rated based on hire date), one day of paid volunteerism leave per year, parental leave and more
• 401(k) pre-tax and Roth deferral options with employer match
• Flexible Spending Accounts
• Employee Stock Purchase Program
• Employee Assistance and Travel Assistance Programs
• Employer matching donations
• Professional development
• Mac or PC? Your choice!
• Awesome swag

While we may consider more junior candidates, the anticipated salary range for candidates at the posted level in Seattle, WA is $85,000-$110,000 per year. The final compensation package offered to a successful candidate will be dependent on specific background and education. BlackSky is a multi-state employer and this pay scale may not reflect salary ranges in other states or locations outside of Seattle, WA.

BlackSky is committed to hiring and retaining a diverse workforce. We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer All Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. #LI-hybrid

EEO/AAP/ Pay Transparency Statements: https://www.dol.gov/ofccp/regs/compliance/posters/pdf/eeopost.pdf
https://www.dol.gov/ofccp/regs/compliance/posters/pdf/OFCCP_EEO_Supplement_Final_JRF_QA_508c.pdf

Staff Engineer, Constellation Operations

About Us:

BlackSky is a real-time intelligence company. We own and operate the world's most advanced space-based intelligence platform and provide customers satellite imagery, automated analytics and high-frequency monitoring of strategic locations, economic assets and events from around the globe. BlackSky is trusted by the most demanding allied military and intelligence organizations and commercial companies to deliver foresight into critical matters that affect national security and the economy. BlackSky's data enables governments and businesses to see, understand and anticipate change as it happens, giving them the ultimate strategic advantage so they can act quickly. Our global team works with cutting-edge technology to make a difference around the world and prides itself on being people-first, customer-focused and fun.

As a part of our Constellation Operations Engineering team, your responsibilities are expected to be wide ranging, spanning many different aspects of the constellation architecture including satellite systems, ground stations, and ground software. Specifically, you will train to operate the satellites while providing recommendations on operations procedure and process improvement from previous space industry experience. In this role, you will help ensure successful on-orbit satellite commissioning by serving on-console during launch and early operations activities. Your efforts to review telemetry and spacecraft logs will lead to anomaly investigation and resolution, as well as execution of routine maintenance across the constellation. You will conduct testing on virtual ground assets to prove concepts of operation and safety of commands before tasking satellites on orbit. With basic Python skills, you will begin contributing to a growing repository of software tools designed to streamline operations, reduce human-error and optimize constellation performance. This position reports to the Manager, Constellation Operations and will support our Seattle, WA office with a flexibility for hybrid schedule.

Responsibilities:

• Rapidly learn our Constellation architecture, including spacecraft bus, flight software, ground network and ground control software throughout BlackSky's training and qualification program.
• Participate in technical efforts for on-orbit operations, including launch and early operations (LEOP), routine maintenance, and anomaly response.
• Investigate anomalies through telemetry trending and review, as well as execute Bench Testing and Maintenance tickets as assigned in Jira.
• Perform daily spacecraft health trending activities, including constellation data review, system log review, imaging performance and ground automation performance.
• Design, manage, and lead operations software tooling development in Python. This includes data trending tools, automated constellation performance review, key performance metrics measurement and analysis, among other things.
• Lead operational testing for Flight Software and Ground software before deployment to mission critical systems.
• Lead complex evolutions and anomaly responses on console in the Mission Operations Center.
• Support planning and execution of future maintenance activities on the satellite constellation.
• This position requires a rotational on-call support, as well as occasional short-duration 24/7 support, including launch activities and on-console anomaly support when required.
• Support launch and early operations support activities as assigned.
• Other job-related duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Aerospace, Mechanical or Electrical Engineering, or Computer Science or equivalent experience (four additional years of experience).
• At least 10 years of experience in a relevant technical engineering field. 
• Python proficiency.
• Linux familiarity. 
• Experience in an operations environment (aerospace, gas/oil, nuclear, energy, manufacturing, etc). 
• Familiarity with satellite systems and the space environment. 
• Possess strong team and inter-team cooperation and organization skills.
• A strong sense of self-motivation and ability to work concurrent, independent tasks. 
• Comfort working in mission-critical environments and making risk-based decisions. 
• The program this role supports requires being a US-born citizen.

Preferred Qualifications:

• 12 or more years of experience in space operations environment (satellites, launch vehicles, ground stations).
• Masters degree in a technical field.
• Experience in technical training and operational procedure development.
• Subject matter expertise in one or more spacecraft subsystems.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with a strong understanding of audience.
• Experience working with systems in automation.
• Prior experience with Jira, Confluence, GitHub and STK or similar tools.

Life at BlackSky for full-time benefits eligible employees includes:

• Medical, dental, vision, disability, group term life and AD&D, voluntary life and AD&D insurance
  • BlackSky pays 100% of employee-only premiums for medical, dental and vision and contributes $100/month for out-of-pocket expenses!
• 15 days of PTO, 11 Company holidays, four Floating Holidays (pro-rated based on hire date), one day of paid volunteerism leave per year, parental leave and more
• 401(k) pre-tax and Roth deferral options with employer match
• Flexible Spending Accounts
• Employee Stock Purchase Program
• Employee Assistance and Travel Assistance Programs
• Employer matching donations
• Professional development
• Mac or PC? Your choice!
• Awesome swag

While we may consider more junior candidates, the anticipated salary range for candidates at the posted level in Seattle, WA is $145,000-$175,000 per year. The final compensation package offered to a successful candidate will be dependent on specific background and education. BlackSky is a multi-state employer and this pay scale may not reflect salary ranges in other states or locations outside of Seattle, WA.

BlackSky is committed to hiring and retaining a diverse workforce. We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer All Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. #LI-hybrid

EEO/AAP/ Pay Transparency Statements: https://www.dol.gov/ofccp/regs/compliance/posters/pdf/eeopost.pdf
https://www.dol.gov/ofccp/regs/compliance/posters/pdf/OFCCP_EEO_Supplement_Final_JRF_QA_508c.pdf

Senior Software Engineer, Ground & Control Services

About Us:

BlackSky is a real-time intelligence company. We own and operate the world's most advanced space-based intelligence platform and provide customers satellite imagery, automated analytics and high-frequency monitoring of strategic locations, economic assets and events from around the globe. BlackSky is trusted by the most demanding allied military and intelligence organizations and commercial companies to deliver foresight into critical matters that affect national security and the economy. BlackSky's data enables governments and businesses to see, understand and anticipate change as it happens, giving them the ultimate strategic advantage so they can act quickly. Our global team works with cutting-edge technology to make a difference around the world and prides itself on being people-first, customer-focused and fun.

The Ground & Control team is looking for a passionate and driven Software Engineer to join our team, the group responsible for building the autonomous software that controls and monitors BlackSky’s satellite constellation. This includes high-speed tasking, ground and space telemetry, health monitoring, and low-latency communication with ground stations worldwide. In this role, you’ll develop software that bridges the gap between hardware-level interfaces and cloud-deployed microservices. You’ll contribute to mission-critical systems that keep our satellites safe, responsive, and efficient; operating 24/7 with minimal human intervention.

Success in this role means having a strong sense of initiative and ownership, a deep curiosity for how complex systems work, and the discipline to trace and validate requirements while thoughtfully challenging them when needed. You understand the importance of safety, precision, and testability, especially in autonomous systems where small errors can have big consequences. You’re comfortable applying modern software development practices and navigating both low-level and cloud-based technologies. Most importantly, you know how to collaborate in a team environment, communicate clearly, and contribute to a shared mission with humility and focus. While the locations listed in the job posting are ideal, we would love candidates near Seattle, WA office. We may also consider remote candidates in certain states.

Responsibilities:

• Design, implement, and maintain software that enables autonomous satellite operations and real-time tasking.
• Develop and integrate services that interface with ground station infrastructure and satellite communication protocols.
• Build cloud-native microservices to support satellite tasking and monitoring.
• Collaborate with operations, communication engineers, flight software engineers, mission planning engineers, and other software teams to understand and refine technical requirements.
• Write clean, maintainable code with strong emphasis on safety, test coverage, and reliability.
• Participate in design reviews, code reviews, and team planning discussions.
• Support on-call rotations and troubleshooting of live system operations as needed.
• Support Launch and Early Operations of new satellites.
• 10-15% travel required.
• Other job-related duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
• A minimum of six (6) years of professional software development experience.
• Proficiency in one or more programming languages (e.g. Go, Python, C++).
• Experience developing and deploying microservices in cloud environments (e.g. AWS, GCS, Azure).
• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and modern version control systems (e.g. Git).
• Strong problem-solving skills and an ability to understand complex systems end to end.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills in a cross-functional team environment.
• Prior experience with satellite operations, ground stations, or others aerospace-related domains (e.g. X-Band, UHF, or telemetry). 
• The program this role supports requires being a US-born citizen.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s degree (or higher) in a related technical field.
• Ten (10) years of professional software development experience.
• Exposure to infrastructure-as-code tools (e.g. Terraform, Ansible) and container orchestration (e.g. Kubernetes, Nomad).
• Understanding of system safety, fault tolerance, and recovery strategies.
• Comfort working in high-availability, mission-critical software environments.

Life at BlackSky for full-time benefits-eligible employees includes:

• Medical, dental, vision, disability, group term life and AD&D, voluntary life and AD&D insurance
  • BlackSky pays 100% of employee-only premiums for medical, dental and vision and contributes $100/month for out-of-pocket expenses!
• 15 days of PTO, 11 Company holidays, four Floating Holidays (pro-rated based on hire date), one day of paid volunteerism leave per year, parental leave and more
• 401(k) pre-tax and Roth deferral options with employer match
• Flexible Spending Accounts
• Employee Stock Purchase Program
• Employee Assistance and Travel Assistance Programs
• Employer matching donations
• Professional development
• Mac or PC? Your choice!
• Awesome swag

The anticipated salary range for candidates in Seattle, WA is $140,000-155,000 per year. The final compensation package offered to a successful candidate will be dependent on specific background and education. BlackSky is a multi-state employer, and this pay scale may not reflect salary ranges in other states or locations outside of Seattle, WA.

BlackSky is committed to hiring and retaining a diverse workforce. We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer All Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

EEO/AAP/ Pay Transparency Statements: https://www.dol.gov/ofccp/regs/compliance/posters/pdf/eeopost.pdf
https://www.dol.gov/ofccp/regs/compliance/posters/pdf/OFCCP_EEO_Supplement_Final_JRF_QA_508c.pdf