Senior Software Engineer, Ground & Control Services

BlackSky • Seattle, VA

3d • Hybrid

About The Position

BlackSky is a real-time intelligence company that owns and operates the world's most advanced space-based intelligence platform. We provide customers with satellite imagery, automated analytics, and high-frequency monitoring of strategic locations, economic assets, and events globally. Our platform is trusted by demanding allied military, intelligence organizations, and commercial companies to deliver foresight into critical matters affecting national security and the economy. BlackSky's data enables governments and businesses to see, understand, and anticipate change as it happens, providing them with a strategic advantage. The Ground & Control team is seeking a passionate and driven Software Engineer to join their group, which is responsible for building the autonomous software that controls and monitors BlackSky’s satellite constellation. This includes high-speed tasking, ground and space telemetry, health monitoring, and low-latency communication with ground stations worldwide. In this role, you will develop software that bridges the gap between hardware-level interfaces and cloud-deployed microservices. You will contribute to mission-critical systems that ensure our satellites are safe, responsive, and efficient, operating 24/7 with minimal human intervention. Success in this role requires a strong sense of initiative and ownership, deep curiosity for complex systems, and the discipline to trace and validate requirements while thoughtfully challenging them. You understand the importance of safety, precision, and testability, especially in autonomous systems where small errors can have significant consequences. You are comfortable applying modern software development practices and navigating both low-level and cloud-based technologies. Most importantly, you know how to collaborate effectively in a team environment, communicate clearly, and contribute to a shared mission with humility and focus. While the locations listed in the job posting are ideal, candidates near the Seattle, WA office are highly desired. Remote candidates in certain states may also be considered.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
• A minimum of six (6) years of professional software development experience.
• Proficiency in one or more programming languages (e.g. Go, Python, C++).
• Experience developing and deploying microservices in both cloud environments (e.g. AWS, GCS, Azure) and on-premise Kubernetes-based environments.
• Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, and modern version control systems (e.g. Git).
• Strong problem-solving skills and an ability to understand complex systems end to end.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills in a cross-functional team environment.
• Some of the programs this role supports may require being a US-citizen.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree (or higher) in a related technical field.
• At least eight years of professional software development experience.
• Exposure to infrastructure-as-code tools (e.g. Terraform, Ansible) and container orchestration (e.g. Kubernetes, Nomad).
• Understanding of system safety, fault tolerance, and recovery strategies.
• Comfort working in high-availability, mission-critical software environments.
• Prior experience with satellite operations, ground stations, or other aerospace-related domains (e.g. X-Band, UHF, or telemetry).
• Active secret or higher U.S. security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and maintain software that enables autonomous satellite operations and real-time tasking.
• Develop and integrate services that interface with ground station infrastructure and satellite communication protocols.
• Build software solutions to support satellite tasking and monitoring.
• Collaborate with operations, communication engineers, flight software engineers, mission planning engineers, and other software teams to understand and refine technical requirements.
• Write clean, maintainable code with strong emphasis on safety, test coverage, and reliability.
• Participate in design reviews, code reviews, and team planning discussions.
• Support on-call rotations and troubleshooting of live system operations as needed.
• Anticipated 10-15% travel required to customer site.
• Other job-related duties as assigned.

Benefits

• 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

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior