Lead Engineer, Mission Planning

Lead 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.

The Mission Planning Engineering Team at BlackSky is responsible for the core algorithms and models used to optimize satellite image collection while respecting hardware and software constraints inherent in the system. As the Lead Mission Planning Engineer, you will be responsible for authoring new requirements, models and algorithms while leading other Mission Planning engineers in feature design and supervising the introduction of new Mission Planning features commensurate with Customer needs and Business imperatives. This includes design considerations for Customer tasking requests, satellite power, communications and data handling, and satellite agility to maximize Constellation performance. The Lead Engineer will run a dedicated Integrated Product Team (IPT) of cross-functional engineers and software developers to ensure on-time and in-scope delivery of required planning features.

The ideal candidate will have a strong background in software requirements definition, project management, software architecture, and planning/optimization algorithms. This role offers a clear path toward functional management for candidates who demonstrate strong technical leadership, communication skills, and a strategic mindset. As the role evolves, there will be opportunities to take on expanded responsibilities, including providing functional leadership over Mission Planning engineers, supporting technical mentorship, leading annual reviews, and guiding professional development.

While the locations listed in the job posting are ideal, we would love candidates near either our Herndon, VA or Seattle, WA offices. We may also consider remote candidates in certain states.

Responsibilities:

• In coordination with the PMO and Systems Engineering team, write and manage Jira tickets to guide work efforts, deadlines and priorities.
• Engage in weekly team and 1:1 meetings as needed to ensure alignment on changes to priority or deadlines to Mission Planning imperatives.
• Engage stakeholders as the primary Mission Planning technical leader for technical impact and staffing needs for new feature requests. This will involve:
  
  
  
  • Learning the BlackSky Mission Planning and ground segment architecture through independent learning, team and cross-team training/interviews, stakeholder engagement and design participation.
  • Act as primary author or otherwise delegate and supervise authorship for new Mission Planning feature sets.
  • Lead kick-off meetings and cross-team IPTs in support of feature design, development and test.
  • Represent the Mission Planning team "up and out" - engaging frequently with Company Leadership, Systems Engineering, cross-team Leadership (Mission Management SW development Lead), Product and Sales on the state of Mission Planning features to resolve priority and resource conflicts.
  
  
  
  
• Manage directly or supervise technical documentation regarding Mission Planner design work, including requirements documentation (decomposition from business level imperatives or systems level requirements), Jira ticket progress and status (in coordination with the PMO), internal stakeholder design documentation (e.g. PowerPoint presentations or White Papers explaining the planning logic or changes needed to fulfil certain customer requirements or contractual obligations).
• Drive progress in Mission Planning Prototype development through strong, focused priorities and strong technical leadership to enable rapid transition from prototype to Production software requirements.
• Drive success criteria and testing to validate the utility and accuracy of prototype code before it becomes formal system requirements flowed to the Software development teams.
• Understand Customer needs, "nice-to-haves" and hard requirements to assist in decomposing those requirements into manageable scope, actionable inputs, and ticketed work for the Mission Planning engineers to utilize in writing software requirements or prototypes. Mission Planning engineers will individually decompose these requirements and author software specific requirements, subsequently leading IPTs or Feature meetings to collaborate with the software developers in implementing Production code.
• Understand user stories and expected customer experience for incoming feature requests.
• Author or supervise architected solutions which address user needs. With firm understanding of existing system functionality, and with integrated knowledge of what is in the "realm of possible", coordinate with stakeholders to design architectures which meet customer needs while also integrating into existing Mission Planner software with minimal commercial impact.
• Other relevant duties assigned.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelors or Master Degree in Aerospace Engineering, Systems Engineering or equivalent. (Each additional degree (MS or PhD) may substitute for two years of experience).
• Minimum of eight years of relevant experience in aerospace, maritime, autonomous vehicle, drone or comparable planning/optimization problem space.
• Strong demonstrable leadership in software requirements management, design and implementation.
• Strong experience in developing software architecture.
• Strong experience integrating new feature designs into an existing software architecture.
• Deep expertise in one or more satellite subsystems, including but not limited to: ADCS, CDH, GNC, Structure, Thermal, Propulsion, Communications or Payloads.
• Experience with Python or Golang either writing prototype or production code, testing or tooling applications.
• This position requires U.S. citizenship.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Prior space mission experience, including Mission Planning, Launch and Early Operations, Customer Fulfilment or comparable realms of space mission execution.
• Familiarity with Julia programming language in prototype applications.
• Prior experience in functional management including technical mentorship and professional development.

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 to $180,000 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