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GOES-R/SOLAR-1 Satellite Ground System Engineer

Data Networks Inc is hiring a "Satellite Ground System Engineer" to provide engineering support for the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite R (GOES-R) series constellation and to the Space Weather Observations at L1 to Advance Readiness – 1 (SOLAR-1) mission as a member of the Engineering and Mission Operations Support Services -VII (EMOSS-VII) contract, based in Suitland, MD. The position requires proven education and experience to demonstrate capacity to perform at a high-level as a Satellite Ground System Engineer. Our client is responsible for engineering and mission operations support for environmental monitoring satellites managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Satellite and Product Operations (OSPO).

This particular position will join a team of engineers primarily responsible for maintaining constant communication and data flow between the GOES and SOLAR-1 constellations and the supporting ground system to fulfill NOAA mission requirements. A primary focus of this position is the GEO-Ground System’s (GEO-GS) “Mission Management” function which is one of multiple functions of the Ground Segment.

The SOLAR-1 ground system architecture utilizes the existing GEO-GS, to support the execution of SOLAR-1 Operations. The C2 subsystem is a separate instance of the GEO-GS Mission Management functionality, established as its own enclave. SOLAR-1 operations then utilizes other GEO-GS elements that are also shared with GOES-R satellites, including Enterprise Infrastructure (EI) and Data Operations (DO) subsystems.

Mission Management is also concerned with orbit analysis-along with mission planning and scheduling and monitoring the health and performance of the mission management assets and satellites. Controllers/Operators can monitor and control the antenna assets as well and manage the telemetry paths for all the necessary communication links through GEO-GS Mission Management capabilities.

Mission Management enables operators to send and encrypt commands that not only maneuver the spacecraft, but also support critical functions, such as uploading software and data, and downloading data for the satellite and its instruments. Mission Management monitors and reports on telemetry and provides remote access to information across the GEO-GS enterprise.

To perform the role of this position well, the engineer must communicate effectively between many different teams in order to assure there are no conflicts among ground resources. The ability to maintain a known and redundant ground configuration is key to success.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS

Core Responsibilities & Expertise

• Verification of nominal daily operation and performance

• Maintaining a complex but known ground configuration

• Attend daily and weekly coordination meetings

• Assure adequate redundancy among all mission critical equipment

• Respond immediately to outages that interrupt data flows

• Delegate ground equipment as needed while maintaining 24/7 operations

• Investigate anomalous alarms and behavior within the ground system

• Document and report major issues that have impacted operations

• Observe critical weather days

• Support spacecraft operations

• Support product generation and distribution

• Communicate effectively with key stakeholders in order to assure confidence in activities about to take place

• Coordinate and participate in ground software release regression, operational and parallel testing to include monthly IT security patches.

• Review and control proposed changes to the operational baseline using configuration management practices.

• Develop, document and maintain operational procedures

• Propose new or execute improvements to processes and tools that will increase long term reliability, monitoring, and anomaly detection capability.

• Provide 24/7 on-call contingency support to real-time operations.

• Preparation of regular reports and liaison with internal and external personnel.

• Provide training to NOAA Satellite Controllers

• Coordinate with many internal and external partners, including the Command and Data Acquisition Station (CDAS) team, NOAA Systems, Support, and IT branches

• Provide on-console engineering support during spacecraft maneuvers and critical operations.

• The position will participate in spacecraft integration and test and contribute to the development and verification of command procedures and mission operations plans and procedures. The position will participate in the operational validation of the ground segment, including interface tests, end-to-end tests and mission simulations.

• The position will also ensure SOLAR-1 Data Recovery and Delivery mission operations, beginning with data capture and storage on-board the Observatory and ending with delivery to the end users.
  

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in aerospace engineering or related field, and 2-4 years of aerospace engineering experience. A Master’s degree in relevant discipline is equivalent to two years’ experience.

• Writing and presentation skills for a wide diverse audience.

• Perform contingency real time troubleshooting and analysis during anomalies, including real-time problem identification and resolution, support in case of any in-orbit anomaly and participate in the investigation of ground system anomalies.

• Propose new or execute improvements to tools that will increase long term reliability, monitoring, and anomaly detection capability.
  

Highly Desired

• Experience using Linux operating systems and especially supporting satellite Ground Systems and real-time operations.

• Support integration of AI/ML, data platforms, and cloud infrastructure into cohesive, mission-ready tools that can be reused and scaled across satellite operating systems.

• Programming in languages such as Python, C++, Visual basic, Unix Shells, PERL, TCL, JAVA, GoogleScripts.

• Configuration management and document management supporting flight operations.
  

Work Environment and Physical Demands

• Work in a typical office building during a standard 40-hour week. Occasional deadlines or operational conditions require non-standard hours and longer hours. Travel for a few days to a couple of weeks per year.

• Work is at the NOAA Satellite Operations Facility (NSOF) located on the Suitland Federal Center, MD