Senior Flight Director, Project Kuiper - Mission Operations, Ground Software

Senior Flight Director, Project Kuiper - Mission Operations, Ground Software

DESCRIPTION

Project Kuiper is an initiative to increase global broadband access through a constellation of 3,236 satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO). Its mission is to bring fast, affordable broadband to unserved and underserved communities around the world. Project Kuiper will help close the digital divide by delivering fast, affordable broadband to a wide range of customers, including consumers, businesses, government agencies, and other organizations operating in places without reliable connectivity.

This position may require access to information, technology, or hardware that is subject to export control laws and regulations, including the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Employment in this position is contingent upon obtaining any required export licenses or other approvals from the United States government. As such, the successful candidate must be eligible to obtain any necessary export licenses or approvals based on their nationality, citizenship, and any other factors considered by the applicable export control regulations.

Key job responsibilities
As a Senior Flight Director you will own the overall operational success of the mission at a systems level and coordinate between engineering teams across ground and space systems to achieve it. Because of the scale of the mission, you will be focused on driving automation and operational excellence - identifying areas of improvement and initiating changes to improve the productivity of the fleet.

You will coordinate and prepare for each launch and on-orbit demonstration, design and conduct operational rehearsals, and drive automation efforts with scalability in mind, ensuring that the constellation functions at peak performance with no manual intervention. You will develop concepts of operation for missions and experiments, lead launch and early operations, develop and perform analysis on system data, and identify areas and mechanisms for further improvement.

The ideal candidate will be detail oriented, have strong verbal and written communication skills, strong organizational skills, able to juggle multiple tasks at once, able to work independently, and maintain professionalism under pressure. You should have knowledge in space system design and software engineering practices.

A day in the life
You will work with internal engineering teams to define our operational process. You will identify opportunities to optimize and automate, and work with software and hardware teams to implement. You will be responsible for the operational success of the Kuiper mission.

About the team
Project Kuiper Ground Software team owns the infrastructure that manages and operates the constellation, providing a stable foundation for the networking team to run customer-facing connectivity service.

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
- BS degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science or related discipline.
- Experience programming with at least one modern language such as C++, C#, Java, Python, Golang, Rust, Matlab.
- Technical understanding of space system architecture and subsystem functionality.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Experience in the Aerospace industry, ideally with some experience in a spacecraft operations or a direct support role.
- Demonstrated ability to drive requirements and process for concepts / methods of operation of a complex system or service.
- Familiarity with the following disciplines and demonstrated technical understanding of at least two: Orbital mechanics and constellation design, Spacecraft guidance, navigation, and control hardware and software, Electrical engineering, Terrestrial and satellite communications systems and networking, Spacecraft structures and mechanisms, Embedded software, Satellite propulsion systems, Data-driven engineering approach and ability assess system performance with statistical analysis.
- Strong communications skills, ability to work collaboratively in a team environment, and enjoyment of learning and teaching new skills.
- Experience developing, working with, and scaling autonomous space mission operations.
- Experience working through the software development lifecycle, including requirements development and integrated testing.
- Comfortable working with ambiguous problems, assessing risk, reducing uncertainty, and handling the pressure of mission critical operations.

Amazon is an equal opportunities employer. We believe passionately that employing a diverse workforce is central to our success. We make recruiting decisions based on your experience and skills. We value your passion to discover, invent, simplify and build. Protecting your privacy and the security of your data is a longstanding top priority for Amazon.