Ground and Control Services, Software Engineering Manager

BlackSky • Seattle, WA

35d • Hybrid

About The Position

BlackSky is a real-time intelligence company that operates a satellite intelligence platform, providing customers with satellite imagery, automated analytics, and high-frequency monitoring. The Ground & Control Services (GCS) team is seeking an Engineering Manager to lead the group responsible for building autonomous systems that control and monitor BlackSky’s satellite constellation. This team manages high-speed tasking, ground and space telemetry, health monitoring, and low-latency communication with ground stations worldwide. The manager will guide engineers in designing, building, and operating software that connects hardware interfaces with cloud-deployed microservices, ensuring satellites remain healthy, safe, and responsive 24/7. The role involves providing technical direction, establishing engineering processes, and fostering a culture of curiosity, safety, and ownership. Collaboration with mission operations, spacecraft engineering, product teams, and program leadership is key to meeting commercial production goals and program-driven requirements, balancing reliability with rapid iteration, and supporting operational readiness. The position reports to the Director, Ground Apps and Services and is preferred to be in the Seattle, WA area.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
• A minimum of eight (8) years of professional experience in software engineering, including experience building or operating complex distributed, autonomous, or mission‑critical systems.
• At least two (2) years of experience leading engineering teams as a people manager or technical lead with formal leadership responsibilities.
• Strong technical background in one or more programming languages (e.g., Go, Python, C++), with the ability to provide architectural guidance and review complex designs.
• Experience developing and deploying microservices in cloud environments (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure) and on-premises Kubernetes‑based systems.
• Solid understanding of CI/CD pipelines, automated testing strategies, version control, and operational best practices.
• Demonstrated ability to manage priorities, coordinate across teams, and deliver results in fast‑paced environments with operational dependencies.
• Excellent communication, collaboration, and conflict‑resolution skills, especially in cross‑functional settings.
• Some programs this role supports may require the candidate to be a U.S. citizen.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree (or higher) in a relevant technical field.
• Ten or more years of professional engineering experience, including leadership of teams responsible for high-availability or mission-critical software.
• Experience managing teams working with infrastructure‑as‑code tools (e.g., Terraform, Ansible), container orchestration (e.g., Kubernetes, Nomad), or distributed systems.
• Knowledge of system safety, fault tolerance, redundancy, and recovery strategies in autonomous or operationally sensitive environments.
• Background in satellite operations, ground stations, or aerospace domains (e.g., X‑Band, UHF, telemetry), or experience supporting secure customer programs.
• Prior experience aligning engineering execution with both commercial production SLAs and program‑specific requirements, deliverables, or milestones.

Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor, and grow the Ground & Control Services engineering team responsible for autonomous satellite operations, real‑time tasking, and ground‑to‑space communications.
• Work with leadership to drive prioritization and planning across GCS projects with dynamically changing commercial and program objectives, ensuring engineering efforts stay aligned with business goals, customer commitments, and mission operations.
• Partner with operations, communication engineering, flight software, mission planning, product, and program leadership to clarify requirements, align priorities, and maintain a strong end‑to‑end understanding of system behavior.
• Provide technical direction and architectural guidance for systems interfacing with ground stations, satellite communication protocols, and mission‑critical operational workflows.
• Establish and continuously improve engineering processes including design reviews, code reviews, testing practices, system safety considerations, and operational readiness.
• Foster a healthy on-call culture and ensure effective support of live operational systems, including incident response, root‑cause analysis, and long‑term corrective actions.
• Drive roadmap planning, resource allocation, and execution across multiple projects, balancing rapid iteration with long‑term reliability and availability.
• Hire, onboard, coach, and evaluate engineers, emphasizing skill development, collaboration, and accountability.
• Perform other leadership tasks as required to ensure the success of the team and mission.
• Other responsibilities 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
• 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: Manager