Senior Software Engineer, Ground & Control Services

Senior Software Engineer, Ground & Control Services

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.

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. While the locations listed in the job posting are ideal, we would love candidates near Seattle, WA office. We may also consider remote candidates in certain states.

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 software solutions 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 cover