Staff Software Engineer - Orbit Determination & Control (AOCS)
ICEYE
Role highlights:
- Number of positions: 1
- Espoo, Finland
- Permanent
- Hybrid - 3 days in the office
- Last date to apply: 21st Sep, 2025
Who are we?
ICEYE is the global leader in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite operations for Earth Observation, persistent monitoring, and natural catastrophe solutions; owning and operating the world's largest SAR constellation. ICEYE is headquartered in Finland and operates from five international locations with more than 600 employees from nearly 60 countries, inspired by the shared vision of improving life on Earth by becoming the global source of truth in Earth Observation.
Our satellites acquire images of Earth at any time – even when it’s cloudy or dark – providing commercial and government partners with unmatched persistent monitoring capabilities. Information derived from our SAR images helps customers make data-driven decisions to address time-critical challenges in various sectors, such as maritime, disaster management, insurance, and finance.
Our team is a tight-knit group of experts across many disciplines (e.g., engineering, software development, radar technology, etc.). We’re innovative, driven people who strive for excellence in everything we do. Teamwork, curiosity, and having fun are core values at ICEYE, and contribute to Making the Impossible possible!!
Why should you work for us?
ICEYE is at the cutting edge of new technology and we are continuing to build and operate our commercial constellation of SAR satellites. Working with ICEYE, you will be part of making the impossible possible, whilst shaping the Earth Observation industry. You will work with varied, diverse and engaged colleagues to further the ICEYE mission. At ICEYE we realise that without great people we can not succeed, therefore you will be an integral, valued and appreciated colleague, with the ability to directly shape the vision and direction of the business.
We actively support Continuous Professional Development, and will provide access to a range of avenues to allow you to succeed, including courses, training and attendance at conferences. ICEYE is a place where your development, your growth and your success is a priority.
The Team & Role:
You are a senior software developer leading across all AOCS teams—setting the technical bar, driving cross-team delivery, and shipping software that solves Orbit Determination and Orbit Control (OD/OC) challenges. You will build and operate ICEYE’s automated orbit determination & control platform, keeping ICEYE and customer fleets precisely where they need to be.
Responsibilities
Lead end-to-end delivery: Own outcomes across teams. Drive design → build → deploy → operate for core AOCS services, ensuring mission goals for accuracy, latency, and availability are met.
Define measurable success: Establish SLOs (e.g., OD accuracy, manoeuvre latency, throughput), implement automated observability, and use metrics to guide decisions.
Design reliable interfaces: Define and evolve stable contracts used by flight dynamics, SATOPS, and analytics. Ensure clear versioning, adoption, and smooth deprecations.
Deliver iteratively: Translate mission goals into shippable milestones, with software landing in operations in days, not months.
Work across the program lifecycle: Contribute to launches, propulsion planning, conjunction risk assessment, and constellation management (repeat ground-track, orbital-tube control, formation flying). Integrate seamlessly with ground systems.
Raise the bar: Mentor senior engineers, lead design and code reviews, and improve testing, release, on-call, and incident-learning practices—with pragmatism.
Simplify systems: Champion event-driven architectures where they improve reliability, operability, and cost efficiency.
Leadership & Collaboration
- Provide org-level technical leadership: own critical production services and align multiple teams without formal authority.
- Influence cross-team design: get 3–5 teams behind a solution, unblock dependencies, and keep delivery moving.
- Mentor and guide peers while raising engineering standards.
Engineering Excellence
- Strong focus on testing, CI/CD, observability, and performance budgets.
- Experience designing, building, and running complex systems (real-time, distributed, safety-critical, or similarly “hard problems”).
- Pragmatic mindset: you build and operate what you ship.
Communication & Domain Knowledge
- Communicate complex ideas as clear choices and crisp decisions.
- No prior space background required — if OD/OC or Flight Dynamics is new, we’ll teach you. Bring a proven track record of solving hard engineering problems.
Tech Stack
- Core: Python, PostgreSQL/TimescaleDB, InfluxDB, REST
- Messaging / Events: AWS SQS, NATS
- Platform: AWS, Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform
- CI / Observability: GitHub Actions, OpenTelemetry, Prometheus, Loki, Grafana, Datadog
💡 Much of our on-prem and cloud stack is similar — your skills transfer easily.
- A job that matters in a dynamic Earth Observation environment with a scale-up approach
- An independent role with a supportive and diverse work environment
- Occupational healthcare, occupational, and accident insurance
- A yearly benefit budget to spend as you wish (i.e. on sport, transport, bike benefit, wellness, lunch, etc.)
- Phone subscription with iPhone of choice
- Relocation support (i.e. flight tickets, accommodation, relocation agency support)
- Time for self-development, research, training, conferences, or certification schemes
- Inspiring and collaborating offices and silent workspaces enable you to focus
- A wide variety of the best coffee, tea, snacks, and sweets to accompany your daily space mission
- Gross salary range for this position is 7500-8000 euros per month contingent on your experience level, and will be negotiated individually. Employment is subject to applicable security screening (incl. SUPO, where required)
Diversity, equity, and inclusion
At ICEYE, we believe that diversity isn't just a buzzword – it's our greatest asset.
We're committed to fostering an inclusive environment where every voice is not only heard but celebrated. We know that diverse perspectives breed innovation and creativity, which is why we actively seek out individuals from all walks of life, backgrounds, and experiences.
Whatever your background, we want you to bring your authentic self to the table. Join us and be part of a team where differences are not only embraced but cherished, because together, we're stronger.
Apply now to start your ICEYE journey, and help us continue to make the impossible possible together. Read more about ICEYE and working with us at iceye.com