Senior Operations Specialist (Solar Stratospheric Aircraft Mission Planning)

ICEYE; Comunidad Valenciana; On-site; EUR 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

ICEYE Oy in Valencia, Spain, is seeking a Senior Operations Specialist for HAPS Mission Planning to shape flight operations of its solar-powered, high-endurance aircraft.

You will build and maintain the operational weather picture, identify optimal launch windows, and develop mission plans integrating weather, airspace, energy, and aircraft performance. Collaboration with flight crews and engineering teams is essential as the program scales.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in UAS or aircraft testing/operations.
• Solid meteorology knowledge and ability to interpret forecasts and weather data.
• Proven experience planning flights or missions under weather and airspace constraints.
• Understanding of aircraft performance and how weather affects flight safety.
• Excellent communication to work within flight crews during long-endurance ops.
• Experience with data analysis tooling (Python/C++) is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain the meteorological picture before and during flight.
• Identify launch, flight and recovery windows and communicate with crew.
• Develop and maintain the mission plan with weather, airspace, and energy constraints.
• Assess debris and ground impact zones and replan as needed.
• Support flight test campaigns and ground control station activities.
• Analyze flight data and translate findings into improvements.
• Develop and maintain procedures, checklists and docs for operations.
• Improve telemetry dashboards and energy/thermal estimation tools.

Skills

5+ years of experience in UAS or aircr

Meteorology knowledge and forecast-

Flight/mission planning under weather/

Aircraft performance and weather vs.安全

Strong communication within flight cre

English language proficiency

Tools

Python

C/C++

Job description

ROLE HIGHLIGHTS

• Role: Senior Operations Specialist (Solar Stratospheric Aircraft Mission Planning)

• Department: HAPS

• Location: Valencia, Spain

• Working type: On site, with limited remote working

• Employment is subject to applicable security screening (incl. SUPO, where required)

THE MISSION OF THE SENIOR OPERATIONS SPECIALIST (HAPS MISSION PLANNING)

As Senior Operations Specialist (HAPS Mission Planning), you will shape where, when and how ICEYE's stratospheric, solar-powered electric aircraft flies. You will build and maintain the operational weather picture before and during each flight, identify the right windows to launch, fly and recover, and turn weather, airspace, aircraft performance and energy constraints into a safe and achievable mission plan that you keep up to date as conditions evolve.

The role is deliberately broad. Beyond mission planning, you will contribute across the Operations team: preparing and executing flight test campaigns, supporting ground control station operations, assessing flight results and feeding them back into the aircraft's development, and helping build the procedures and tools of an operations capability that will scale as the program grows.

WHO ARE WE?

ICEYE delivers space-based intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities to governments and allied nations. This includes sovereign and turnkey ISR missions leveraging ICEYE's world-leading synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite technology, as well as access to data from the world's largest SAR satellite constellation. These capabilities enable partners to detect and respond to critical changes anywhere on Earth with unprecedented speed and accuracy, day or night and in any weather, supported by ultra high-resolution imagery and high-frequency revisits.

As a trusted partner for defense, intelligence, security, and maritime domain awareness, ICEYE's near real-time data creates a tactical advantage for mission-critical operations. ICEYE operates internationally with offices in Finland, Poland, Spain, Japan, the UAE, Greece, Germany, and the US. The company has more than 900 employees, inspired by the shared vision of improving life on Earth by becoming the global source of truth in Earth Observation.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Flight operations

• Build and maintain the operational meteorological picture before and during the flight, using the available tools (forecast models, radiosondes, lidar and aircraft data), drift planning, and identify weather and terrain-related hazards relevant to the flight profile.

• Identify suitable launch, flight and recovery windows and communicate them to the flight crew.

• Develop and maintain the mission plan (route, altitude, speed profile and timing), customer mission goals, integrating weather, airspace, aircraft performance, aircraft health and energy constraints.

• Continuously assess predicted cut-down and debris impact zones to keep the planned trajectory within the permitted ground impact area.

• Maintain readiness for degraded operations for a return-to-home mission profile in case re-planning of a return is necessary or in case of the plane entering a degraded operational mode due to a mechanical or electrical servicing need.

• Monitor aircraft progress against the plan, update it when required, and coordinate mission planning and meteorological decisions with the flight crew and engineering teams.

Wider operations support

• Contribute to the planning, preparation and execution of flight test campaigns, including site preparation, pre-flight checks, launch and recovery activities.

• Take on other crew positions or ground control station duties as operational needs require, building versatility across the Operations team.

• Analyse flight data after each flight, report results and translate findings into improvements for the aircraft, its systems and operating procedures.

• Develop and maintain operational procedures, checklists, emergency procedures and operations documentation.

• Develop and improve monitoring, analysis and planning tools used by the flight crew, such as telemetry dashboards and energy or thermal estimation tools.

• Support aircraft integration, ground testing and simulation activities, and contribute to the training and qualification of crew members.

• Support safety and risk assessments for operations and, when needed, coordination with aviation authorities and external partners.

REQUIREMENTS

Must have skills

• 5+ years of relevant experience in UAS or aircraft testing and operations.

• Good knowledge of meteorology (wind profiles, convection, turbulence, icing, thermal activity, etc.) and the ability to interpret forecast models, synoptic charts and upper-air data.

• Experience in flight or mission planning, including route, altitude and timing under weather and airspace constraints.

• Understanding of aircraft performance and of how weather affects flight safety and endurance.

• Clear communication and the ability to work as part of a flight crew, including during long-endurance operations.

• Programming or scripting skills for data analysis and tooling (e.g. Python; C/C++) a plus.

• Ability to drive large vehicles or convoys (within limits of B license).

• Good command of the English language, both oral and written.

Nice to have skills

• Aviation meteorology qualification, or experience as a forecaster or weather briefer for flight operations.

• Hands-on experience with radiosonde launches, lidar or other atmospheric measurement systems.

• Experience with airspace management and coordination with ATC.

• Experience with trajectory, cut-down or debris impact modelling.

• Experience with solar-powered, electric or long-endurance aircraft, or with high-altitude platforms and balloons.

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