Satellite Operations Engineer

ABOUT XPLORE

The new technology frontier is rapidly expanding – and Xplore is pushing the boundaries and accelerating growth with new capabilities to transform industries with insights from space. Xplore is building a first-of-its-kind multi-sensor low Earth orbit satellite constellation designed to deliver a new class of innovative and affordable data products for Earth observation, space domain awareness, and astronomy.

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Xplore is currently recruiting innovative space hardware, software, sensors, processing and data technology professionals to be part of an exciting and rapidly growing company. Xplore offers market competitive compensation and benefits for our employees who enjoy working in a fast-paced, intellectually challenging, fun, value-based collaborative environment.

Xplore is a venture-backed space technology startup based in Redmond, WA. We provide proprietary sensor-captured data from space that enables our customer’s insights, intelligence, inspiration, and discovery of our planet and the solar system for commercial, government, defense, NGO, and research applications. We’re doing something that few other companies are even thinking about – creating the next model of space data infrastructure.

Xplore is an equal opportunity employer; employment with Xplore is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Xplore participates in E-Verify. In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire. All persons hired must be a current U.S. citizen or current lawful permanent resident of the U.S.

LOCATION

Redmond, WA

POSITION

Satellite Operations Engineer

If you have successfully operated commercial or other small satellites on orbit, you may have just the kind of experience we are looking for.

As Xplore's Satellite Operations Engineer, you will work closely with spacecraft, ground and payload engineers to develop, write, test and execute procedures used to safely and reliably operate Xplore’s spacecraft from separation from the launch vehicle through their multi-year operational life-time.

This role reports to the Chief Information Officer. Work will be performaed at Xplore's Redmond Washington offices.

Xplore’s unique multi-sensor, multi-mission spacecraft offers exciting challenges for the Satellite Operations Engineer to create an agile, flexible and upgradable operational capability designed to efficiently serve diverse customer applications.

Responsibilities will include:

• Develop and document the overall CONOPS plan for Xplore’s spacecraft and planned constellation.
• Develop, write, test and execute operational procedures that monitor spacecraft health and performance from separation from the launch vehicle through to normal operations.
• Integrate procedure with the Major Tom satellite control software
• Work with payload engineers to optimize where possible operational procedures to maximum sensor/instrument uptime.
• Investigate anomalies and work with the engineering teams to systematically and expeditiously resolve them.
• Automate manual processes through scripting and software tools.
• Continuously look for areas for improvement with the objective of delivering more uptime and lower costs

Requirements

Required skills and experience:

• Must be a current U.S. citizen or current lawful permanent resident of the U.S.
• Bachelor of Science from an accredited university in Engineering, ideally Aerospace, Systems, or Electrical Engineering
• 3+ years of experience relevant to this role
• Demonstrated experience with systems engineering for a spacecraft
• Demonstrated experience with several of the following: CONOPS development, spacecraft functional analyses, requirements decomposition and definition, modeling and simulation, trade studies, risk management, reliability engineering, orbital mechanics, launch and space environments, fault tolerant systems, spacecraft assembly and test, and technical budget management

Desired skills and experience:

• Successfully operated a small satellite on orbit, with experience in developing procedures.
• Basic understanding of satellite subsystems and payloads, with working knowledge of spacecraft guidance, navigation, and control.
• Detailed familiarity with ground systems, and especially knowledge of commercial gateway services.
• Understanding of orbital dynamics and capability to model and iterate various orbital configurations (using STK or other software).
• Familiarity with data analysis methods.
• Knowledge of commend-line software such as Linux systems.
• Programming experience in C/C++ or python.

Top Priorities to be completed during the first six months:

• Draft the satellite operations CONOPS plan for the first satellites.
• Outline of the Satellite Operations documentation structure.
• Draft initial set of procedures for the first 3-6 months of each spacecraft’s life.
• Use the flat-sat to develop and valid key procedures
• Work with Major Tom engineers to integrate and test first level procedures.
• Provide input to key space, ground and payload engineers and business leads with the objective of improving overall performance and cost efficiency.

Salary

The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $80,000 - $120,000 per year. Xplore has different base pay ranges for different work locations within the United States, which allows us to pay employees competitively and consistently in different geographic markets. Individual base pay depends on various factors, in addition to primary work location, such as complexity and responsibility of role, job duties/requirements, and relevant experience and skills.

Benefits

Stock Option Plan

The company offers an equity incentive plan for qualified full-time employees.

EEO/ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

Xplore is an equal opportunity employer; employment with Xplore is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

This employer participates in E-Verify. In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire. All persons hired will be required to be a U.S. citizen, a lawful permanent resident of the U.S., or 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.

Health Care Plan
Employees (and their families) can be covered by medical, dental, vision, and basic life insurance. The HSA qualified plan is for full-time employees working 30 hours or more per week.

Paid Time Off (Vacation, Sick & Public Holidays)
Full time employees earn PTO at a rate of 1.33 days per month. There are a minimum of 13 paid holidays each year for full-time employees.

Stock Option Plan

The company offers an equity incentive plan for qualified full-time employees.

EEO/ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

Xplore is an equal opportunity employer; employment with Xplore is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

This employer participates in E-Verify. In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire. All persons hired will be required to be a U.S. citizen, a lawful permanent resident of the U.S., or 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.

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