Mission Control Engineer

Hidden Jobs; United States; Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work environment

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Job summary

Hidden Jobs is seeking a mission operations engineer to lead the design and scaling of an Earth observation satellite constellation. The role blends mission planning software development with potential real-time spacecraft operations to deliver reliable commanding and scheduling on orbit.

You will design core planning services, shape the system architecture for scalability, and translate mission requests into executable commands while ensuring safety and observability in production environments.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Computer Science, or related technical discipline.
• 2+ years (3+ preferred) in satellite operations, ground segment development, or mission control systems.
• Experience with monitoring and data infrastructure tools.
• Ability to write reliable, production-grade software for 24/7 environments.

Responsibilities

• Design and build core mission planning services and algorithms for constellation planning.
• Architect mission planning systems for scalability, reliability, and long-term operability.
• Translate mission requests into executable satellite telecommands within onboard scheduling constraints.
• Define CI/CD, IaC, observability, safety, and operational compliance standards.
• Collaborate across flight operations, flight dynamics, payload, and product leadership to align technical direction.
• Monitor spacecraft health, perform real-time commanding and telemetry analysis, and handle off-nominal conditions.
• Investigate anomalies, perform root cause analysis, and support commissioning of new satellites.

Skills

Strong communication

Production-grade software

Shift work readiness

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree

Tools

Grafana

InfluxDB

PostgreSQL

Job description

Role overview

Take a central role in operating and scaling an Earth observation satellite constellation as part of the flight operations team. The position blends mission planning software development with optional real-time spacecraft operations, building mission control capabilities that turn mission needs into reliable commanding and scheduling on orbit.

Responsibilities

• Design and build core mission planning services and algorithms that power constellation planning applications
• Shape the architecture of mission planning systems for scalability, reliability, and long-term operability, and run them in production
• Translate mission requests into executable satellite telecommands while respecting onboard scheduling constraints
• Define engineering standards for CI/CD, infrastructure-as-code, observability, safety, and operational compliance
• Collaborate across flight operations, flight dynamics, payload, satellite operations, and product leadership to align technical direction
• Monitor and control spacecraft health, perform real-time commanding and telemetry analysis, and respond to off-nominal conditions
• Investigate anomalies, run root cause analysis, support commissioning of newly launched satellites, and contribute to on-call rotations

Requirements

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical discipline
• Two to three or more years of experience in satellite or spacecraft operations, ground segment development, or mission control systems
• Solid understanding of spacecraft subsystems such as AOCS and power
• Strong communication skills and willingness to work shifts or on-call when operational needs demand it
• Experience with monitoring and data infrastructure tools such as Grafana, InfluxDB, and PostgreSQL
• Ability to write reliable, production-grade software for 24/7 operational environments

Nice to have

• Experience with LEO Earth Observation missions and mission planning or ground station networks
• Familiarity with SCOS-2000 and Mission Information Base configuration
• Background in Launch and Early Orbit Phase or in-orbit commissioning
• Startup or fast-scaling environment experience, cloud infrastructure, distributed systems, or AI-assisted developer tooling

Benefits and work setup

• Work on a high-impact thermal intelligence mission supporting defence, government, and commercial users
• Hybrid working arrangements in an interdisciplinary, science-driven culture
• Virtual share option plan for permanent employees and a clear growth path into hands-on satellite operations