Title:  Senior Specialist, Systems Engineer - Senior Spacecraft Operator

Job Title: Senior Specialist, Systems Engineer – Senior Spacecraft Operator 
Job Code: 44432
Job Location: Palm Bay, Florida
Job Schedule: 9/80 (Every Other Friday Off!)

Job Description:

L3Harris Technologies is seeking a Senior Spacecraft Operator to support mission critical national security space operations within the Spectral Solutions Enterprise. The selected candidate will provide advanced spacecraft operations, telemetry and mission data analysis, and anomaly support for a LEO satellite with an infrared (IR) payload, working in coordination with the primary team located at our Palm Bay operations facility. 

The role requires extensive hands-on experience with spacecraft Telemetry, Tracking & Command (TT&C) operations, with an increased emphasis on telemetry and operational data analysis, spacecraft health and status assessment, trending, off-nominal condition identification, and anomaly investigation and resolution. The individual will analyze spacecraft, payload, and ground-system data to identify operational impacts, develop technically sound recommendations, and support corrective actions and operational recovery activities.

The Senior Spacecraft Operator will also support spacecraft commanding, operational planning, data transfers, mission briefings, customer coordination, and the development, verification, and testing of operational products. The position requires the ability to independently assess complex spacecraft and ground-system information, correlate data from multiple sources, communicate technical findings, and provide actionable recommendations to operators, engineering teams, program leadership, and the customer.

Essential Functions:

•    Provide advanced technical support for spacecraft and satellite operations within an operational command-and-control or Satellite Operations Center (SOC) environment.
•    Perform Telemetry, Tracking & Command (TT&C) activities, including spacecraft commanding, health and status monitoring, command verification, and assessment of spacecraft responses.
•    Conduct detailed telemetry (TLM) and mission data analysis to assess spacecraft and payload performance, identify trends, recognize off-nominal behavior, and detect emerging technical or operational issues.
•    Correlate telemetry, mission, ground-system, and historical data to characterize anomalies, determine operational impacts, and support technical investigations.
•    Perform telemetry trending and comparative analysis to establish expected spacecraft behavior and identify deviations, degradation, or abnormal performance.
•    Lead or provide senior-level operational support for the identification, characterization, troubleshooting, and resolution of spacecraft, payload, ground-system, and mission anomalies.
•    Support anomaly investigations and root-cause analysis, including data collection, timeline reconstruction, technical assessment, development of operational workarounds, and verification of corrective actions.
•    Develop technically sound operational recommendations and courses of action based on telemetry, mission data, system status, and engineering assessments.
•    Support spacecraft commanding activities, including command preparation, validation, execution, post-command verification, and assessment of resulting spacecraft behavior.
•    Provide real-time and near-real-time technical guidance to spacecraft operators during nominal operations, off-nominal conditions, and anomaly response activities.
•    Support LEO spacecraft operations, mission planning, operational procedures, timelines, and execution of mission activities.
•    Support operational data transfers and ensure mission data, telemetry products, and technical information are properly coordinated between geographically separated operations and engineering teams.
•    Develop, validate, and maintain operational products, including procedures, checklists, anomaly response procedures, mission plans, briefings, test products, and technical documentation.
•    Support product development, integration, verification, validation, and testing, including assessment of test results and operational readiness.
•    Prepare and deliver technical and operational briefings communicating spacecraft health and status, telemetry trends, anomaly assessments, operational risks, corrective actions, and future mission activities to program leadership, engineering teams, operators, and customers.
•    Provide technical coordination across operations, systems engineering, payload, ground-system, and other mission support organizations during operational and anomaly-resolution activities.
•    Operate effectively within a geographically distributed operations environment and provide senior-level technical support and guidance to mission operators.
•    Translate complex spacecraft, telemetry, and mission data into clear, actionable operational assessments and recommendations for technical and non-technical audiences.

Qualifications:

•    Bachelor’s Degree and minimum 6 years of prior relevant experience; Graduate Degree and a minimum of 4 years of prior related experience. In lieu of a degree, minimum of 10 years of prior related experience.
•    4+ years of experience operating in a Satellite Operations Center (SOC), mission operations center, or comparable operational environment executing spacecraft or space operations.
•    3+ years of experience supporting spacecraft or mission anomaly investigation and resolution, including troubleshooting, operational workarounds, corrective actions, or root-cause analysis.
•    Active Secret Clearance required.

Preferred Additional Skills:

•    Previous experience supporting similar on-orbit infrared (IR) satellite missions, LEO spacecraft, or small satellite operations.
•    Advanced experience analyzing spacecraft telemetry, payload data, event logs, command histories, ground-system data, and other mission data sources to diagnose technical or operational issues.
•    Experience developing telemetry trending, performance assessment, or anomaly-analysis products used to support operational decision-making.
•    Experience conducting formal anomaly investigations, root-cause analysis, fault isolation, and development and verification of operational workarounds or corrective actions.
•    Experience supporting spacecraft recovery activities following off-nominal events, subsystem degradation, or unexpected spacecraft behavior.
•    Experience working directly with government customers and cross-functional operations, systems engineering, spacecraft, payload, ground-system, and test teams.
•    Experience developing professional presentations using Microsoft Office applications to communicate historical trends, current spacecraft health and mission status, anomaly assessments, technical findings, and future operational activities.
•    Demonstrated ability to brief complex technical findings and provide recommendations to program leadership and government customers.

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