Senior Engineer - Mission Planning

Senior Engineer, Mission Planning

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.

BlackSky is looking for a strong, self-starting and eager engineer to join our Mission Planning Engineering team.  This integrated product team is working to develop and maintain optimized autonomous operations for the BlackSky constellation. The Mission Planning Team works closely with the Mission Management SW Development team: Mission Planners own requirements documentation, initial scope and design documentation, and will lead SW feature development efforts by writing prototype code and/or written system level requirements which are executable by the SW development team. Strong candidates will have deep mission planning algorithm design experience, specifically for satellite or aerial imaging applications. Prior experience with different types of image planning logic, such as point targets, strip mapping, or pushbroom scanning or equivalent experience with time assignment problems is essential. The candidate should have solid experience in developing both prototype code and software system requirements.  

In this role, you will develop and track system level requirements, schedules, and technical implementation for a wide variety of mission planning products and see them through to operation on orbit. Opportunities will exist for prototype code development in Python or Go, as well as internal tooling development for measuring KPIs, troubleshooting performance problems, and identifying and correcting inefficiencies in planning algorithms. While the primary responsibility of this hire will be to define system level and software requirements and prototype code, a strong background in production level software or embedded systems experience in spacecraft or autonomous vehicles will be valuable. 

We have offices in Herndon, VA and Seattle, WA but are open to remote candidates.

Responsibilities:

• Contribute to mission planning integrated product team, interfacing with mission planning, ground software, and operations and product engineers to plan and execute autonomous constellation operations software features.
• Model, implement, and test concepts of operation for autonomous planning of various constellation activities including imaging, system calibration, propulsion, or other critical activities. This may involve leveraging heritage or building novel algorithms, as well developing new problem formulations to optimize image capture planning while respecting various other constraints and activities.
• Model satellite subsystems (communications, power, attitude) using methods that are compatible with existing and future ground and control software algorithms as needed to support Mission Planning functions.
• Support ongoing constellation operations and customer fulfillment efforts as a mission planning subject matter expert.
• Translate product concepts to engineering requirements and facilitate review and discussion among engineering, product and software stakeholders.
• Occasional 24/7 support expected during Launch and Early Operations or Anomaly Response in support of debugging and fixing mission planning algorithms.
• Other relevant duties assigned.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree or higher in one of the following fields: aerospace or mechanical engineering, systems engineering, computer science or equivalent.
• At least six (6) years of relevant professional experience.
• Experience with automation of complex systems (satellite, vehicle fleets, drones, shipping/delivery logistics etc.).
• Experience with planning or optimization algorithms and fluency with inputs/outputs/constraints to such systems.
• Experience writing technical requirements and driving to implementation.
• Experience with project management or software product development.
• Working knowledge of Go or Python.
• Knowledge of software design, maintenance, and implementation including data structures, data retrieval and storage, algorithm efficiency, and maintainable scalable code.
• Demonstrated initiative to identify and solve problems or inefficiencies in your current field of expertise.
• Possess strong team and inter-team cooperation and organization skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with a strong understanding of audience.
• Ability to sustain a workload consisting of several concurrent, independent activities.
• This program this role supports requires US citizenship.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Expertise in satellite or aerial imagery mission planning algorithms, specifically prior experience with point target, strip mapping, pushbroom, whiskbroom, wide area capture or stereo capture planning.
• Fluent in satellite first principals such as orbital mechanics, attitude dynamics, and satellite systems.
• Demonstrated experience with modelling/simulation projects.
• Strong familiarity with orbital mechanics, attitude dynamics, and satellite systems.
• Experience with planning algorithms and fluency with inputs/outputs/constraints to such systems.
• Expertise with integer or linear program solvers.
• Experience with embedded systems pertaining to satellites or other autonomous vehicles.

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 $120,000-145,000 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 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/ 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