Spire
Senior Software Engineer - Space Reliability
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Senior Software Engineer - Space Reliability
Overview
Spire is revolutionising constellation operations by transitioning from a model relying on operators and manual escalations, to a fully autonomous, self-healing, and data-intelligent system. This critical team is building the future of satellite operations—and this role sits at its core.
About the Role
Spire’s legacy model is built on trained operators monitoring dashboards, escalating to specialists, and relying on institutional knowledge confined to key experts. This approach is unscalable in modern space operations. Our vision is to replace it with Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) principles for constellations, embracing:
- Autonomous fault handling
- AI-driven anomaly detection
- Low-toil, high-quality data continuous improvements
You’ll be a key engineer bringing this vision to life. This role demands technical excellence in designing, building, and maintaining an entirely new autonomous operational paradigm for space assets.
What You Will Work On
Autonomous Operations
- Design and implement fault detection, isolation, and automated recovery systems for both satellites and ground stations
- Eliminate manual processes where possible—if a human repeatedly performs the same task, it should eventually become automated
- Develop advanced space situational awareness systems to enable the entire fleet to know its state in real time
- Establish scalable operational automation for end-to-end mission execution
Telemetry & Data Platform
- Architect a flexible data platform that ingests, stores, and surfaces telemetry from both space-borne and ground assets
- Create analytics and interactive visualisations that translate raw data into operational insights
- Build and deploy ML and AI models for:
- Anomaly detection
- Failure prediction
- Constellation performance optimisation
- Work closely across the entire data stack, from ingestion pipelines and storage all the way to query and visualisation
Reliability Engineering
- Define, track, and optimise Service Level Objectives (SLOs) and reliability metrics for both space and ground assets
- Construct monitoring and alerting systems that focus solely on meaningful incidents, filtering out noise where possible
- Define processes for configuration control and controlled software rollouts to both on-orbit and ground-based systems
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Mission Software
- Build real-time dashboards and intuitive operator tooling to instantly convey mission state
- Work directly with satellite operators and maintenance teams to identify pain points and turn them into software-driven remedies
- Develop systems for fully automated mission execution, including:
- Command scheduling
- Planning at scale
- Deployments at planetary scale
Basic Qualifications
- 5+ years of professional experience in software engineering, Site Reliability Engineering (SRE), or DevOps roles
- Strong Python skills across:
- Backend services
- Data pipelines
- Automation (not merely scripting)
- Practical experience applying data analysis to solve complex operational or technical problems
- Ability to work comfortably across any layer—pipeline design, SQL, to query optimisation
- Solid Linux fundamentals, including:
- Bash scripting
- Basic administration
- Experience with containerised environments (Kubernetes, Docker) in both development and production
- Ability to communicate effectively with cross-functional teams, including:
- Engineers
- Operations personnel
- Mission teams
Preferred Qualifications
- Familiarity with data backends, including:
- PostgreSQL
- Redis
- Elasticsearch
- Amazon S3
- Hands-on experience with Databricks or modern data Lakehouse toolchains
- Strong experience building or operating monitoring/alerting systems, such as:
- Grafana
- Prometheus
- Nagios
- Proficiency in Infrastructure as Code, such as:
- Terraform
- Ansible
- Experience in applying AI/ML for:
- Real-time anomaly detection
- Proactive system monitoring
- Familiarity with Python-based visualisation libraries
- Export-controlled technology experience: not mandatory but beneficial awareness of data handling for sensitive applications
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Important Notes
- Hybrid work model: Candidates must be able to commit a minimum of three business days/week in office
- Security clearance requirement: Access to export-regulated software may be needed. Spire will arrange necessary licensing for qualified candidates.
Global Perks
- Managed by Me (NYSP): Name your satellite program
- Launch attendance: Option to fly and observe satellite launches
- Generous time off: Competitive leave policies
- Education assistance: tuition reimbursement or certification programs
- Employee Assistance Program (EAP): confidential resources for mental wellbeing
- Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP): equity rewards
- Family/medical leave: inclusive coverage for family needs
- Fitness reimbursement: annual stipend for wellness initiatives
- Referral rewards program: bonuses for recruiting top talent
- Healthy workspace: complimentary snacks and beverages
About Spire
Spire Global improves life on Earth by transforming space data into actionable insight. Our multi-purpose satellite constellation, combined with our proprietary ground infrastructure, provides:
- Cutting-edge maritime tracking
- Aviation visibility
- Advanced weather monitoring
- Real-time global coverage for every terrestrial location
Equality & Inclusion
Spire values diversity and is committed to equal employment opportunity for all applicants regardless of:
- Race
- Colour
- Ancestry
- Religion
- Sex
- National origin
- Sexual orientation
- Age
- Marital status
- Disability
- Gender identity
- Veteran status
All offered candidates are subject to security clearance processes, including background checks and employment verification.
Learn more about Spire's policies via:
Note: Application communications may originate from @spire.com, @recruiting.spire.com, or via Candidate.fyi (our scheduling tool).*
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