Space Systems Engineer, Space Operations

Planet•San Francisco, CA

12d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Space Operations team is crucial to Planet's success, responsible for maintaining and optimizing the health and productivity of the world's largest Earth Observation satellite constellation. Our team spans North America and Berlin. Given the scale of our fleet, automation is at the heart of our operations. You'll develop and maintain critical software, transforming large datasets into actionable metrics. As a Space Systems Engineer, you'll support daily satellite operations, analyze data, triage and resolve anomalies, run on-orbit experiments, test and deploy software both on the ground and in orbit, and commission satellites. We are looking for a data-driven self-starter with effective communication skills that collaborates well within a technical team and adapts quickly to changing tasks and contexts. You'll work closely with hardware and software experts across teams to debug anomalies, enhance or create services, and provide operational insights to shape our next-generation satellites. This is a full-time, hybrid role which will require you to work from our San Francisco office 3 days per week.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in engineering, computer science, or equivalent
2+ years of relevant work experience
Experience in software development, particularly in Python or similar languages
Familiarity with the space environment and its challenges
Data-driven mindset with experience in statistical analysis
Proactive approach to engineering and problem-solving
Effective interpersonal and collaboration skills within a technical team

Nice To Haves

Experience and understanding of spacecraft propulsion and guidance, navigation, and control systems
Experience with hardware-in-the-loop testing infrastructures
Experience with Agile software development
Experience in DevOps tools and practices (e.g., Git, GitLab, Docker, Jenkins, Bash, Linux, CI/CD, Sentry, Datadog)
Practical experience in data analysis for problem-solving
Familiarity with automation and optimization tools
Contributions to open-source software projects

Responsibilities

Conduct daily fleet checks and support On-Call shifts
Test and deploy flight software upgrades, debug satellite anomalies, and perform on-orbit experiments
Develop and maintain real-time, mission-critical software solutions for satellite operations
Write scripts to aggregate satellite data and generate system monitoring metrics
Analyze data to identify issues and inefficiencies in the full stack of services and propose solutions
Create and maintain operational procedures
Drive improvements to fleet capacity and productivity through process enhancements
Provide feedback to launch, manufacturing, and spacecraft engineering teams based on on-orbit performance, technical demonstrations, and forecasting models
Shape operational strategies for next-generation spacecraft