Senior Engineer, Satellite System Operator; RTO Weekday Operator

Iridium is an award-winning satellite communications company operating the world's only truly global voice and data network, delivering reliable connectivity anywhere on Earth. For more than 20 years, Iridium has powered mission-critical communications for governments, businesses, aviation, maritime, and the rapidly expanding Internet of Things.

Now part of Iridium, Aireon is the world’s only space-based air traffic surveillance system, providing real-time visibility of aircraft over oceans, the poles, and remote regions. Together, Iridium and Aireon are helping build a safer, more connected, and more efficient future for global aviation.

Join our team and help shape how the world stays connected. We foster a collaborative, inclusive culture where employees are empowered to innovate, grow professionally, and make a meaningful impact.

If you are an experienced satellite operations professional who thrives in complex, mission-critical environments, you will be excited about the Senior Engineer, Satellite System Operator (SSO) opening with Iridium on our Space and Ground Services team. As a Senior Engineer, you’ll be responsible for identifying and autonomously implementing ideas and solutions in support of the safe, reliable, and effective operation of the Iridium satellite constellation and ground system.

In this role, you will focus primarily on leading complex operational activities and anomaly resolution, providing technical leadership across the RTO (Real Time Operations) team, and developing and improving operational processes, procedures, training, and tools. You will thrive in this role if you have deep knowledge of the Iridium Satellite Network, exercise strong independent technical judgment, and enjoy sharing your expertise to strengthen operational performance across the team.

A Senior Engineer, SSO will be certified in at least 4 of the 5 System Operator positions:

• Space Vehicle Engineer
• Flight Operations Specialist – Recovery
• Flight Operations Specialist – Automation
• Ground Systems Operator 1/2
• Hosted Payload Operator

The Senior Engineer will:

• Perform the full scope of responsibilities across certified RTO positions, including complex and non-routine operational activities requiring advanced technical knowledge and independent judgment
  • System monitoring – detect and diagnose complex system events, issues, and outages quickly and accurately, determine appropriate recovery actions, and serve as a senior technical resource to the RTO team during event diagnosis, troubleshooting, and recovery
  • System interface – independently lead and execute system maintenance, upgrades, and anomaly recoveries exercising technical judgment to ensure activities are completed safely and in accordance with Iridium Operations best practices
  • Communication and documentation – produce comprehensive event documentation and technical analysis that demonstrates advanced system understanding, identifying trends and lessons learned, and driving improvements to operational processes and system performance. Communicate complex technical information effectively to teammates, engineering partners, and leadership, particularly during critical system events.
  • Leadership – provide technical leadership across the RTO team via certification training, implementation of process and system function upgrades, and coordination of complex operations development projects.
• Establish and maintain standards of operations execution by developing, delivering, and continuously improving training for both initial qualification and recurring training
• Develop, own, and continuously improve operations processes and procedures, working with SMEs and leadership to ensure RTO products…