Mission Planning Software Engineer

Job description

Team & Reporting Line: Imaging Operations/Mission Planning Unit, Reporting to the Image Operations Lead.

Our Mission

At constellr, we use thermal intelligence from space to understand what is happening on Earth - where, when and at scale. Our satellite constellation delivers high-resolution land surface temperature data, giving governments, defence organisations, commercial operators and global institutions the intelligence they need to monitor change, assess risk and make better-informed decisions.

From national security and critical infrastructure to agriculture and climate resilience, constellr turns temperature into actionable intelligence for a changing world.

Your Role

As our Mission Planning Software Engineer, you will shape the software systems that enable automated, scalable mission planning for our satellite constellation. Working at the intersection of space operations and software engineering, you will transform mission objectives and operational constraints into reliable planning systems that power daily satellite activity. You will collaborate across operations and product teams to define how missions are planned and executed at scale, supporting the evolution from manual workflows to a unified, automated platform that directly drives satellite command and imaging execution.

Key responsibilities

• Build core mission planning services and algorithms that power mission planning applications for a growing satellite constellation
• Shape the architecture and design of mission planning systems to ensure scalability, reliability, and long-term operability
• Run, monitor, and maintain mission planning systems in live production environments
• Define engineering standards for reliability, CI/CD, infrastructure-as-code, observability, safety, and operational compliance
• Collaborate across Flight Operations, Flight Dynamics, Payload, Satellite Operations, and Product leadership to turn mission needs into technical direction and system design
• Drive adoption of CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure-as-code, and robust deployment practices across mission-critical systems
• Translate mission requests into executable satellite telecommands, including interaction with the telecommand database
• Align mission plans with onboard scheduling and execution constraints to ensure feasible satellite operations

Required

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, or a related technical field
• 3–5+ years of experience in software engineering, space systems engineering, satellite operations software, or ground segment development
• Strong experience building production-grade distributed systems, backend services, or mission-critical software
• Experience designing or working with mission planning, scheduling, automation, or orchestration systems in complex operational environments
• Strong software engineering skills in Python, Java, SQL, and containerised application development.
• Proven experience developing reliable, scalable software for production environments with a strong focus on correctness, robustness, and maintainability
• Familiarity with Linux environments and operating services in production (deployment, debugging, performance tuning)
• Experience with infrastructure components such as AWS, CI/CD pipelines, containerised deployments, and service orchestration
• Ability to design and debug complex systems involving multiple services, data flows, and external operational dependencies
• Strong communication skills and ability to collaborate effectively with Imaging Operations, Flight Operations, product and engineering teams
• High level of ownership, autonomy, and attention to detail in mission- or safety-critical contexts
• Comfort working in a fast-paced environment where systems evolve quickly, and operational reliability is essential

Nice to Have :

• Prior exposure to satellite operations environments or ground segment toolchains; particularly satellite tasking, commanding, and on-board schedule (plan) generation.
• Experience with real-time systems or high-reliability distributed systems.
• Experience with data systems and observability tooling (e.g., PostgreSQL, time-series databases, Grafana, logging/monitoring stacks).
• Experience designing and consuming RESTful APIs, and Django for server-side web application development.
• Hands-on experience with infrastructure as code (Terraform, Terramate) and automated configuration management using Ansible.
• Ability to build full-stack web applications with Next.js, JavaScript, HTML, and CSS.
• Experience managing cloud infrastructure on AWS.
• Theoretical and applied background in AI planning and optimisation, including PDDL formulation, constraint satisfaction, Markov decision processes, and combinatorial optimisation algorithms.
• Practical experience integrating automated planning and optimisation algorithms into real-world software systems.
• Experience in event-driven software architecture design and implementation.
• Hands-on experience with container orchestration using Kubernetes.

Why join constellr?

• High-Impact National Security Mission: Be part of an ambitious mission to launch the world’s first commercial thermal infrared constellation, delivering sovereign-grade "behavioural" intelligence from space to close critical blind spots for defence, intelligence, and maritime surveillance agencies.
• Fast-Paced "New Space" Innovation: Work at the leading edge of a rapidly evolving defence sector. By leveraging modern, agile New Space methodologies, you will help design, build, and deploy dual-use thermal payloads into operational orbit at a speed and scale that traditional aerospace models simply cannot match.
• Broad Interdisciplinary Exposure: Accelerate your professional growth by collaborating daily with a diverse, international cohort of astrophysicists, software developers, and defence-system engineers.
• Inclusive & Scientific Culture: Join a high-trust team deeply committed to diversity, inclusion, and scientific excellence, where academic curiosity is paired with high autonomy and a flat hierarchy.
• Financial Upside & Well-being: Benefit from a Virtual Share Option Plan (VSOP) for permanent employees, giving you a true stake in the company's growth, alongside highly flexible hybrid working models.