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ICEYE is seeking a Staff Engineer in Satellite Communications to own the end-to-end satellite-to-ground communications stack for the world's largest SAR (synthetic aperture radar) satellite constellation. This role sits at the intersection of physics and software engineering, where you will architect and optimize the critical link that delivers persistent Earth observation data to defense, intelligence, environmental monitoring, insurance, and emergency management customers.
You will own the complete communications architecture across X-band and Ka-band payload downlink, plus S-band command and control. As the constellation scales and data volumes increase, the communications link becomes the bottleneck—this role eliminates that constraint. You will measure constellation performance against theoretical capacity, design data flow from ground station to customer with defined latency tiers, and lead cross-team technical initiatives to align on link and data path decisions.
Day-to-day responsibilities include architecting the satellite-to-ground link, building and defending link budgets (EIRP, G/T, Eb/N0, margin, rain fade, elevation constraints), designing data delivery paths with latency and completeness guarantees, and contributing hands-on code alongside software engineers. You will grow satellite communications expertise across the domain through mentoring, design reviews, and shared standards. The work combines cloud infrastructure, on-premises systems, and real hardware in production. ICEYE's engineering culture actively embraces AI-assisted development tools (copilots, LLMs) to improve speed, code quality, and productivity.
Reports to the Director of Fleet Control and Satellite Communications. Hybrid role based in Espoo, Finland (3 days per week in office). Employment is subject to applicable security screening including SUPO where required.
REQUIREMENTS (Must-Haves):
- Communications engineering on at least one flown mission, including personal diagnosis of an anomaly on a live satellite
- High-rate payload downlink experience in X-band or Ka-band (beyond S-band command and control)
- Ability to build and defend a link budget: EIRP, G/T, Eb/N0, margin, rain fade, elevation constraints
- Practical CCSDS knowledge: transfer frames, virtual channels, synchronization, channel coding, file delivery
- Experience owning end-to-end data movement from ground station to consumption point, with latency and completeness guarantees
- Hands-on coding in Python, Go, C++, or similar; shipping code, not just designs
NICE-TO-HAVES:
- Active use of AI-assisted development tools (copilots, LLMs)
- Fleet-scale contact planning and scheduling across commercial ground station networks, especially leased third-party capacity
- DVB-S2/S2X with adaptive coding and modulation
- Delay-tolerant networking or store-and-forward file delivery with completeness accounting
- SDR and DSP work: GNU Radio, FPGA, RFSoC, including personal or open-source projects
- Spectrum regulation and coordination awareness
