Spacecraft Operations Engineer

• Job Location: England
• Type: Permanent
• Posted: 10/10/2018

As a member of the Spacecraft Operations Team, the Spacecraft Operations Engineer will report to the Spacecraft Operations Manager and shall support the safe operations of the existing fleet and, where operations duties allow, support the procurement and development activities for future missions and projects.

Your tasks will include but will not be limited to:
• Support the 24-hour operation of in-orbit satellites, including:
 Taking system level responsibility for one or more spacecraft within the fleet;
 Performing mission planning activities for one or more spacecraft, tasking Spacecraft Controllers and assisting in live operations as necessary;
 Performing day-to-day monitoring of spacecraft performance, health status and telemetry trending as required;
 Generating regular, periodic operations reports;
 Participating in regular operations meetings with colleagues and ad hoc meetings and teleconferences as required;
 Participating in anomaly investigation (logging, analysis reporting etc.);
 Development of ANDs, GRDs, mimics and off-line tools;
 Participating in formal training of and by other members of the operations team;
 Assisting with development, testing and implementation of automated procedure execution;
 Performing other off-line analytical tasks, as required.
• Support operations development for future missions and projects, including:
 Providing support and advice to the procurement team as required;
 Reviewing of documentation produced by the spacecraft manufacturers, including spacecraft handbooks, design documents, operations procedures, ground-space interfaces etc.;
 Validating and optimising flight procedures using spacecraft simulators, including test preparation, execution, reporting and issue tracking;
 Providing specialist advice on the development and management of operational databases;
 Preparing for and participating in the system verification tests (SVTs) including generating procedures and test reports;
 Preparing and participating in any required simulations campaigns;
 Logging, investigating and reporting on anomalies experienced during test and simulations campaigns;
 Participating in LEOP and commissioning phase operations.
• Supporting development and procurement of ground control systems as required, including requirements specification and testing.
• Participating in a scheduled on-call rota, occasional shift work for critical operations and occasional UK and foreign travel.
• University degree (or equivalent) in a relevant discipline;
• At least five years of experience in the field of spacecraft operations;
• Detailed knowledge of:
 Satellite subsystems;
 RF communications principles;
 Telemetry, telecommand and ranging standards/protocols.
• Development, validation and use of flight operations procedures;
• Management and use of dynamic spacecraft simulators and spacecraft operational databases;
• A proven ability to work unsupervised for extended periods;
• Attention to detail and a methodical and considered approach;
• Good working knowledge of standard office software products.
• Conversant with a variety of analytical tools (e.g. AGI STK, Matlab, Excel etc.);
• Experience of preparation and delivery of training courses;
• The ability to adapt to a rapidly changing environment and work calmly and correctly under stress;
• Excellent technical writing, communication and presentation skills, in particular in the area of formal technical documentation, e.g. design documentation, test procedures, test reports, meeting minutes etc.;
• Experience in the operation of geostationary satellites;
• Experience in the use of VBA and Python;
• Familiarity with systems engineering processes and life-cycles.

Capital International Staffing Ltd is acting as an Employment Business in relation to this vacancy.