About the position
BlackSky is a real-time intelligence company. We own and operate the world's most advanced space-based intelligence platform and provide customers satellite imagery, automated analytics and high-frequency monitoring of strategic locations, economic assets and events from around the globe. BlackSky is trusted by the most demanding allied military and intelligence organizations and commercial companies to deliver foresight into critical matters that affect national security and the economy. BlackSky's data enables governments and businesses to see, understand and anticipate change as it happens, giving them the ultimate strategic advantage so they can act quickly. Our global team works with cutting-edge technology to make a difference around the world and prides itself on being people-first, customer-focused and fun. The Ground & Control team is looking for a passionate and driven Software Engineer to join our team, the group 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’ll develop software that bridges the gap between hardware-level interfaces and cloud-deployed microservices. You’ll contribute to mission-critical systems that keep our satellites safe, responsive, and efficient; operating 24/7 with minimal human intervention. Success in this role means having a strong sense of initiative and ownership, a deep curiosity for how complex systems work, and the discipline to trace and validate requirements while thoughtfully challenging them when needed. You understand the importance of safety, precision, and testability, especially in autonomous systems where small errors can have big consequences. You’re comfortable applying modern software development practices and navigating both low-level and cloud-based technologies. Most importantly, you know how to collaborate in a team environment, communicate clearly, and contribute to a shared mission with humility and focus.
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 cloud-native microservices 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.
- Support Launch and Early Operations of new satellites.
- Other job-related duties as assigned.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
- A minimum of five years of professional software development experience.
- Proficiency in one or more programming languages (e.g. Go, Python, C++).
- Experience developing and deploying microservices in cloud environments (e.g. AWS, GCS, Azure).
- 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.
- This position requires U.S. citizenship.
Nice-to-haves
- Master’s degree (or higher) in a related technical field.
- Experience working with satellite ground systems or real-time control systems.
- 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.
- Prior experience with telemetry, satellite operations, or aerospace-related domains.
- Comfort working in high-availability, mission-critical software environments.
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.
