Space Surveillance Technical Lead

Your mission:
We are looking for a Space Surveillance Technical Lead who thrives at the intersection of technology, people leadership, and customer success. In this hybrid technical + management role, you will lead a small engineering team, manage key customer projects, and contribute directly to the development of advanced space systems across flight dynamics, SSA/SST, and mission operations.

You’ll act as both a hands-on engineer and a strategic project leader, guiding software development, steering technical discussions with satellite operators, and ensuring customer satisfaction across commercial and institutional missions.

This is a high-impact role with broad ownership. You’ll contribute to technical delivery, customer success, and strategic initiatives, including proposals and projects for space sustainability, SSA/SST, and mission operations.

Your tasks and responsibilities:
Technical Leadership (50%)

• Lead the design, development, and operation of space systems, including:

• Orbit determination and propagation

• Maneuver planning and trajectory optimization

• SSA/SST processing, catalog maintenance, and sensor data integration

• Architect, implement, and review production-grade software using:

• Python, Java, FORTRAN

• Orekit, or similar orbit mechanics libraries

• Conduct verification and validation (V&V) with real mission datasets.

Project & Team Leadership (50%)

• Lead a high-performing engineering team (2–6 people), including mentoring, coordinating workloads, and guiding technical decisions.

• Drive end-to-end project delivery, ensuring technical quality, timelines, and customer success.

• Work directly with satellite operators and institutional partners to:

• Capture and refine mission requirements

• Lead high-level technical discussions

• Translate operational needs into actionable system features

• Serve as the primary technical point of contact for key accounts, building long-term customer relationships.

• Coordinate cross-functional efforts for proposals, strategic initiatives, and roadmap development.

Your profile:
Must-have:

• M.Sc. or higher in Aerospace/Space Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, or another relevant technical field.

• Approx. 5 years of experience in the space engineering domain, including proven experience in coordinating or leading technical projects in the space domain (flight dynamics, SSA/SST, mission operations, or ground segment software).

• Proven ability to drive full lifecycle software development:

• Requirements analysis and refinement

• Architecture definition

• System and algorithm design

• Implementation planning

• Testing, integration, V&V

• Deployment and operational follow-up

• Strong background in technical project management, including:

• Prioritization and backlog management

• Cross-team coordination (engineering, product, operations)

• Tracking deliverables, risks, and milestones

• Efficient communication with technical and non-technical stakeholders

• Hands-on experience with software engineering in Python, Fortran, Java, or similar, and familiarity with modern development practices (CI/CD, testing, DevOps workflows).

• Ability to work directly with customers to:

• Lead technical discussions

• Clarify mission requirements

• Ensure delivery quality and operational readiness

• Experience providing guidance to small engineering teams, including mentoring and task coordination.

• Professional experience in international, distributed teams and valid EU work authorization.

Nice-to-have:

• Knowledge of cloud-native architectures and deployment frameworks (Docker, Kubernetes, AWS/Azure/GCP).

• Familiarity with:

• Orbit determination libraries (Orekit, GMAT, or similar)

• SSA/SST processing pipelines

• Sensor fusion workflows or catalog maintenance

• Experience in proposal writing, project scoping, or supporting business development efforts with technical input.

• Background collaborating with space agencies (ESA, DLR, etc.) or institutional missions.

• Awareness of ground segment operations, automated mission planning, or mission control workflows.

Why us?:
• With a lean hierarchy and small working groups, you define your own way of work including flexible work hours.
• Work on groundbreaking space sustainability challenges with a team of top-tier engineers and scientists.
• Enjoy technical freedom. Influence system architecture, research methodologies, and data integration approaches.
• Grow continuously with access to training budgets, industry conferences, and networking opportunities.
• Be part of a strong engineering culture, with regular knowledge-sharing sessions, technical deep dives, and innovation sprints.
• Great team spirit, with company-wide events such as monthly all-hands lunches, and social activities like laser tag, dinners, and team-building outings.