Software Engineer, Satellite Ground Systems

Software Engineer, Satellite Ground Systems

KSAT Inc. 7600 E Eastman Ave, Suite 415 Denver, Colorado 80231

Introduction

With headquarters in Tromsø, Norway, Kongsberg Satellite Services AS (KSAT) supplies ground station services for satellite communications. KSAT is the world’s largest supplier of telemetry, tracking and command (TT&C) and data acquisition services for non-geostationary satellites.

Founded in 1968, KSAT has grown to over 600 employees with about 50% of KSAT’s annual revenue coming from the US. The wholly owned subsidiary KSAT Inc. (aka. KSAT USA) is located in Denver, Colorado and is rapidly growing in response to strong US Government and industry demand for commercial ground segment services. As a result of KSAT’s continued growth in the US, more critical talent is needed.

Summary of Position

KSAT USA is seeking a Software Engineer to develop, debug, and deploy software and scripting solutions that support aerospace programs across their full lifecycle. This role blends hands-on integration and test work with software engineering - you'll build new (greenfield) tools and services while also integrating with, extending, and maintaining KSAT's existing production codebases.

You will be a key point of contact for the US contingent of a global corporation, working closely with the local team while also collaborating with mission operations counterparts headquartered in Europe. This is a fantastic chance to be part of an international team, with the opportunity to travel to Europe for mission integration activities.

The ideal candidate will assist in identifying and testing technical solutions to automate routine tasks in support of the ground network and mission operations groups, and will help assess the readiness of APIs and ground and flight operations products. Cloud-native development is a growing focus for the Denver office, and this role will take on increasing responsibility for deploying and supporting KSAT software in both public and private cloud environments.

The role will be local to the Denver region with flexible teleworking opportunities. Relocation assistance is available for the right candidate.

Joining the KSAT Team means:

• Opportunity to work across the commercial, civil, and defense space industry
• Flexible work environment
• Experience in an international company with a global footprint and opportunities to work across cultures
• Engaging team: inspire small, dedicated, “A-class” teammates. Being part of a nimble and passionate “start-up” team, with the financial security and product technology readiness level of an established company – the best of both worlds

Compensation

On target base salary range $85k-$115k

Benefits Package Highlights

• Four weeks of PTO annually
• $0 individual medical insurance with generous coverages
• Flexible working environment
• Fitness expense reimbursement program
• Tuition reimbursement program
• International travel opportunities

Essential Job Duties and Responsibilities

• Design, develop, test, and deploy software that supports KSAT’s ground network and mission operations systems - both building new (greenfield) tools and services and integrating with, maintaining, and extending existing production codebases
• Build and consume RESTful APIs to interface with ground network systems, customer platforms, and internal tooling; assist in troubleshooting API and integration issues
• Assist in deploying customer databases and mission data products into KSAT’s operational environment
• Create scripts to monitor, control, and collect data from lab test equipment
• Design, develop, and deploy KSAT software products into public (Azure) and private (OpenStack) cloud environments, with growing ownership of cloud-native deployment work out of the Denver office
• Contribute to CI/CD pipelines that automate software build, testing, and deployment processes
• Work closely with the KSAT Norway Product Development team to assist with new software initiatives and shared product roadmaps

Qualifications and Skills

Required

• Minimum of 2 years of professional software development experience
• Strong proficiency in Rust and/or Python; adequate experience with other languages is acceptable
• Comfort working in both Unix-like and Windows environments
• Experience shipping and maintaining production software, from initial design through deployment
• Experience with Git-based version control and CI/CD pipelines
• Experience both building and consuming RESTful APIs, working comfortably with structured data formats (JSON, YAML)
• Familiarity with containerization (Docker/Kubernetes)
• Ability to work independently and autonomously, while maintaining close collaboration with KSAT’s Norwegian Product Team

Preferred

• Experience with public cloud (e.g., Azure) and/or private cloud (e.g., OpenStack) technologies
• Experience designing and deploying microservices-oriented architectures
• Experience with IaC tooling - Terraform for VM/resource deployment and management, Ansible for software workflows
• Experience with Kubernetes-native technologies such as Helm, Operators, or Ingress Controllers
• Familiarity with cloud-native observability tools (e.g., Prometheus, Grafana, Loki)
• General knowledge of spacecraft mission operations or aerospace-related projects

Education

Bachelor's degree in Software Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical discipline.

Other Requirements

• US Citizenship required.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a US SECRET Clearance

Travel

• Travel is estimated at 10%
• Travel will be necessary to Tromsø, Norway several times per year
• Travel may be necessary to customer sites in the United States