Principal Vehicle & Mission Operations Engineer Verified today

About K2 Space

K2 is building the largest and highest-power satellites ever flown. Backed by over $1 billion in funding and $1 billion in signed contracts, we are mass-producing the highest-power satellite platforms for missions from LEO to deep space, with multiple launches in 2027 and plans to scale to 100 satellites per year.

The Role

From day one, you will be hands-on with our integrated satellite-level test campaign. Within your first few months, you will help define how we operate our first mission, shaping the tools, systems, and philosophy behind Mission Operations. Over the following year, you will evolve our playbook from that first mission to support multi-satellite operations and pioneer the systems needed for full constellation control.

Responsibilities

• Define and operationalize our Mission Operations concept for the first satellite mission, including procedures, tools, and real-time support systems
• Develop telemetry monitoring strategies, fault response frameworks, and command plans for pre-launch, LEOP, and nominal operations
• Collaborate closely with systems, software, and hardware teams to ensure operational readiness across all spacecraft subsystems
• Drive the roadmap for mission operations tooling, ground segment workflows, and long-term constellation management
• Serve as a key operator during on-orbit operations, responsible for real-time decision-making and coordination
• Operate spacecraft (interpret telemetry, send commands) during system tests at the factory, test facilities, launch sites, and during pre-launch operations
• Interface with customers to scope testing performed on their payloads based on expected functions and failure modes of interest
• Assess risks associated with different integration and test approaches, justify test reductions, and optimize vehicle build/test flows for at-rate production

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in electrical, aerospace, mechanical, computer, or other relevant engineering discipline
• 10+ years of experience in an operations/integration/automation engineering role including 4 years of direct experience operating satellites on-orbit
• Experience testing and troubleshooting spacecraft and their related components and systems, including subsystem checkouts and system acceptance testing
• Familiarity with mission operations concepts such as LEOP, telemetry, commanding, fault protection, and anomaly resolution
• Experience building or contributing to custom tooling for telemetry, analysis, data pipelines, or operational dashboards
• Background in designing or scaling operational architectures for fleets or constellations
• Experience with scripting and automation tools