Mission Operations Responsible Engineer/Scientist

About the Team: 

The Interplanetary Sciences Program was established to expand access to scientific exploration across our solar system. Its mission is to make planetary research faster, more affordable, and more capable than ever before by rethinking how science missions are designed, built, and operated. The program aims to enable scientists to send instruments to distant worlds without decades of development or prohibitive costs. By creating a sustainable model for interplanetary exploration, we are transforming space science from an occasional event into a continuous process of discovery that accelerates knowledge, broadens participation, and inspires the next generation of explorers.

About the Role:

We are seeking an operations responsible engineer to lead the planning, design, and execution of spacecraft operations for the Interplanetary Program's first mission. This role carries end-to-end ownership of how the spacecraft is operated — from defining the operations architecture and working directly with multiple science and instrument teams to executing operations that maximize science data collection within real-world spacecraft constraints. Automating spacecraft operations to increase spacecraft capability and efficiency is also a key goal.

This is a senior, highly technical, high-ownership role on a lean team in a fast-moving commercial environment. We are looking for someone who is energized by the challenge of building an operations system that can run a complex, multi-instrument science mission millions of kilometers away and finds deep satisfaction in maximizing the science returned by the mission.

About You

• Bachelor's degree in planetary science, aerospace engineering, electrical engineering, computer science, or a related technical discipline
• 5+ years of experience in planetary missions, with demonstrated progression into increasing ownership
• Experience with scripting (e.g., Python) for data analysis or operational tasks
• Proficiency working in Linux/Unix environments
• Ability to reason through cross-subsystem interactions and their operational implications, make decisions with incomplete information and under time pressure
• Excellent communication skills across technical disciplines: engineering, science, software

Nice to haves but not required

• Experience with deep-space mission operations, including surface or orbital science campaigns
• Experience designing onboard autonomy, automated scheduling systems, or ground-based automation frameworks for flight operations

During critical mission phases including launch, commissioning, cruise maneuvers and early operations this position will require shift work and on-call availability. Schedule flexibility will be needed as operational needs evolve. Occasional travel (<10%) to partner institutions and mission integration sites may be required.