Principal Systems Architect

Principal Satellite Ground Segment Architect

About Us:

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.

We are seeking an experienced principal-level Satellite Ground Segment Architect with the primary responsibility to design, implement, and maintain the organization’s current and future architecture. This position reports within the office of the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and reports to the Senior Director of System Solutions. As an individual contributor, this architect will routinely collaborate across a diverse set of technical and business leaders within the CTO office and across BlackSky offices. The ideal candidate will have a combination of expertise across a broad set of technical areas including satellites, Electro-Optical payloads, ground systems, space communications, software development, customer solutions, program scheduling and costing, and industry partnerships.

The candidate must be a proven self-starter, highly organized, and have an ability to balance competing priorities in resource constrained environments. While we would prefer a candidate local to one of our offices (Herndon, VA or Seattle, WA) we will be open to strong remote candidates in select states.

Responsibilities:

• Design, develop and maintain, BlackSky’s ground segment architecture spanning ground subsystems (which include mission planning software, ground hardware infrastructure, image processing software, and computer vision algorithms):
  • Provide an architectural framework for end-to-end ground system development, maintenance, and enhancement efforts.
  • Communicate with internal and external groups to determine functional requirements and translate those requirements to engineering specifications for implementation within the BlackSky architecture.
  • Understand the interactions between systems, applications, and services within the architecture and evaluate the impact of changes or additions.
  • Ensure the accuracy and completeness of architecture documentation.
  • Work closely with developers, engineers, and the product team to develop road maps for system capabilities, align development plans, and ensure effective capability integration across space and ground subsystems.
• Conduct data analysis from complex space and ground systems, apply knowledge of statistics, software scripting, modeling and simulation, and advanced mathematics to recognize patterns, identify opportunities, and propose solutions to customer and business objectives and decisions.
  • Lead the evaluation, development, and recommendation of capabilities, products, and requirements to provide cost-effective solutions that meet business, technology, and customer requirements.
• Collaborate with business managers and technical groups to address important customer issues and find innovative solutions to difficult problems.
• Other responsibilities as needed.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field or equivalent experience.
• At least 15 years of relevant experience with five (5) years’ experience in the remote sensing industry.
• Strong knowledge of satellite ground system architectures and design of satellite ground systems. 
• Demonstrated experience defining and documenting system Concepts of Operations, functional requirements, and performance requirements.
• Must be a US-born citizen.
• Experience architecting complex software systems.
• Able to decompose complex problems into pieces and components.
• Familiarity with Software Engineering best practices and process including agile development.
• Knowledge of software enterprise design patterns.
• Experience designing Software APIs, system integrations and Data Models.
• Familiarity with software life cycle from product concept through operations and maintenance and toolchains used to manage this process (JIRA, Git, etc.).
• Effective communication skills to represent architectural and engineering concepts and decisions across varied stakeholders including Engineering, Sales, Customers, Product Management.
• Experience developing Concepts of Operations and derived engineering requirements based on complex Customer and Mission requirements.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Familiarity with the geospatial domain and systems that leverage GIS data, especially from satellite systems and remote sensing.
• Experience with component(s) of the ground segment for satellite systems including mission planning, ground stations, order management, image production, or AI/ML or analogous systems.
• Former software engineering and software architecture experience for production systems, especially Satellite or product based SAAS.
• Master’s degree in engineering.
• Experience with geographic information systems (GIS) applications to create, edit, and analyze geospatial data.
• Experience with Cloud-based computing architectures and virtual machine environments.
• Experience designing, developing, and evaluating predictive models and advanced algorithms that lead to optimal value extraction from the data.

Life at BlackSky for full-time US benefits eligible employees includes:

• 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

The anticipated base salary range for candidates in Seattle, WA is $180,000-220,000 per year. The final compensation package offered to a successful candidate will be dependent on specific background and education. BlackSky is a multi-state employer, and this pay scale may not reflect salary ranges in other states or locations outside of Seattle, WA.

BlackSky is committed to hiring and retaining a diverse workforce. We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer All Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

EEO/AAP/ Pay Transparency Statements:

https://www.dol.gov/ofccp/regs/compliance/posters/pdf/eeopost.pdf

https://www.dol.gov/ofccp/regs/compliance/posters/pdf/OFCCP_EEO_Supplement_Final_JRF_QA_508c.pdf