Satellite Network Operations Engineer

Astranis•San Francisco, CA

2d•$130,000 - $175,000

About The Position

Astranis builds and operates advanced satellites for high orbits, providing dedicated, secure networks to commercial and government customers worldwide. The company designs, builds, and operates its satellites from its Northern California headquarters. The Satellite Network Operations Engineer provides end-to-end operations support for satellite networks, including ground equipment and satellite payloads. The role works with internal stakeholders, engineering teams, external partners, and customers to address operational challenges and design and implement solutions. Responsibilities include supporting network deployment, maintenance, troubleshooting, anomaly resolution, monitoring, automation, customer requirements, and in-field ground-system integration.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Information Technology, Computer Networking, Computer Science, Aerospace Engineering, Physics, or a related field, or at least 2 years of professional experience in telecommunications, networking, or space systems engineering.
0–2 years of hands-on technical experience; examples include internships, academic research, engineering student design teams such as CubeSat, rocketry, or robotics, or laboratory work.
Familiarity with RF concepts such as signal-to-noise ratio (SNR, C/N), link budgets, modulation and coding schemes, and basic radio hardware components.
Understanding of core networking concepts, including switching and routing, LAN/WAN, TCP/IP versus UDP, and the OSI stack.
Strong programming fundamentals and practical experience with scripting languages such as Bash or Python.
Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills.
Effective oral and written communication skills.
Ability to multitask and effectively manage time.
Must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or other protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), to comply with U.S. Government space technology export regulations.

Nice To Haves

Prior experience in satellite mission operations, ground station operations, or network operations centers (MOC/NOC).
Hands-on laboratory or project experience with RF test equipment such as spectrum analyzers, signal generators, or VNAs, or with Software-Defined Radios (SDRs/GNU Radio).
Knowledge of RF terminals or antennas, satellite payloads, and VSAT hub systems such as Hughes, iDirect/Newtec, or Gilat, including modulators and demodulators.
Familiarity with satellite communication waveforms and standards such as DVB-S2/DVB-S2X and TDMA/SCPC return links.
Hands-on experience with Linux-based servers, Cisco and Juniper routers or switches, and FortiGate firewalls.
Working knowledge of TCP/IP, BGP, OSPF, ICMP, DHCP, VLANs, NAT, and SNMP.
Working knowledge of virtualization using KVM and similar VM infrastructure.

Responsibilities

Design, create, test, and execute operating procedures for network deployment, maintenance, and troubleshooting.
Investigate anomalies and service degradations, work with satellite operations and engineering teams to resolve issues quickly, and perform root-cause analysis.
Coordinate with engineering teams to develop monitoring and alerting tools and processes.
Automate manual processes using scripting and software tools.
Analyze new customer requirements and design maintainable, scalable, and secure solutions.
Support in-field deployment of ground systems and integration with customer networks.