Mission Operations Vehicle Engineer

Umbra • Santa Barbara, CA

5h

About The Position

We’re looking for a Mission Operations Vehicle Engineer to join our fast-paced Mission Operations team. You’ll work directly on the front lines of on-orbit spacecraft operations - monitoring, commanding, and helping maintain the health and safety of Umbra’s growing constellation of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites. For this position we are looking for a special emphasis on scripting and tool development, as well data analysis skills for analyzing spacecraft performance. Our aim is to hire this position to work in either our Santa Barbara/Goleta, CA office, Arlington, VA office, or Reston, VA office (coming soon). This position offers a flexible work schedule, however during periods of system testing, anomaly resolution, or post-launch, it may be necessary to work off-hours shifts.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience in a related STEM field (such as aerospace, systems engineering, physics, or computer science).
• 2+ years of experience in spacecraft systems engineering or satellite mission operations.
• Strong understanding of spacecraft subsystems (e.g., ADCS, power, comms, thermal).
• Comfortable with: a scripting language such as MATLAB or Python; orbit analysis or mission design tools such as STK, GMAT, or Free Flyer; and version control software such as Git.
• Excellent communications skills, ability and desire to work collaboratively in a team environment, and willingness to learn new skills and technology.
• Willing to support, as needed, on-call shift assignments and odd hours near launches, such as overnights and/or weekends.

Nice To Haves

• Experience working with radar or remote sensing satellites.
• Familiarity with mission operations software, ground control systems, or command scripting.
• Exposure to low Earth orbit (LEO) mission dynamics and constraints.
• Excitement to share knowledge and experience across the engineering team.
• Comfortable working in a dynamic and fast-paced development environment.
• Comfortable working on high-level tasks independently.

Responsibilities

• Support daily spacecraft operations, including planning, monitoring, and anomaly resolution.
• Participate in on-call rotations to monitor satellite health and respond to alerts.
• Monitor, evaluate, and help improve radar satellite imagery and other products.
• Analyze satellite telemetry and generate state-of-health reports.
• Develop and maintain tools and scripts for automation, telemetry analysis, and mission planning.
• Collaborate with systems engineering, flight software, and ground teams to improve satellite operations processes.
• Contribute to documentation, training, and process development as we scale the constellation.

Benefits

• Flexible Time Off, Sick, Family & Medical Leave
• Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, LTD, STD (employer funded)
• Vol Life, Critical Illness, Accidental, Hospital Indemnity, Pet Insurance (employee funded)
• 401k with 3% non-elective company contribution
• Stock Options
• Free Parking
• Free lunch daily in office

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 101-250 employees