Space Infrastructure Engineer
About the role
As a Space Infrastructure Engineer, you'll develop and maintain the software systems that autonomously operate our satellites, and help scale that infrastructure as our fleet grows. You'll work across the full stack — from ground-segment automation to the interfaces that connect it to space-segment operations — and rotate into Flight Director and Satellite Controller duties, including commissioning support and on-call rotation. You'll also be a direct point of contact for customers during mission deployment and execution.
What You'll Do:
- Develop and maintain the software systems that autonomously operate our satellites, improving the reliability and scalability of our space infrastructure
- Build tools, systems, and software libraries that let other teams integrate with and operate on our satellite platform
- Scale our satellite operations software to support a growing, increasingly heterogeneous fleet
- Configure and automate operations tooling for each program — procedures, dashboards, sub-schedules, resolvers, and auto-pilot plans
- Support test campaigns, from functional testing through Day-in-the-Life (DITL) validation, prior to and during launch
- Partner with product teams to drive continuous improvements from operational and integration feedback
- Serve as a rotating Flight Director and Satellite Controller, overseeing incident response and the health and safety of the fleet
- Interface directly with customers for mission deployment and execution once satellites are launched
What You'll Bring
- Proven experience developing software, with strong automation skills
- Ability to work across the full software and hardware stack — ground-based automation, space-based automation, and the interfaces between them
- Proficiency in Python and Git
- Demonstrated scripting experience, ideally in Python, for automation and mission performance
- A strong background in satellite operations and complex systems management
- Willingness and enthusiasm to train as a satellite controller and Flight Director, including commissioning support and on-call rotation
- A pragmatic mindset that balances long-term reliability with short- and medium-term fixes
- Strong ownership and autonomy, with a track record of delivering results
- Openness to learning and tackling unfamiliar challenges in a fast-paced, constrained environment
Nice to Have
- Experience with Airbus satellite platforms (e.g., the Arrow-150 bus) in avionics, ADCS, or propulsion
- Experience with low-Earth-orbit satellite operations
- Experience with satellite constellation management
- Experience managing or interfacing directly with customers
- Experience with satellite testing, AIT, or verification & validation of complex systems
- Arabic language skills, or willingness to learn
Orbitworks' mission is to make space simple for organizations that want to deploy physical and virtual missions to space. Building on Loft Orbital's heritage, Orbitworks will be the first commercial firm in the United Arab Emirates to mass-manufacture satellites. Orbitworks aims to manufacture tens of satellites annually and operates out of a 50,000-square-foot facility in Abu Dhabi.