{"id":348913,"url":"https://alion.io/job/loft-orbital-solutions-senior-earth-observation-engineer-2","title":"Senior Earth Observation Engineer","company":{"id":4539,"name":"Loft Orbital","domain":"loftorbital.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/loft-orbital-solutions","size_band":"501-1000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Lever","truth_index":{"grade":"A","score":86,"open_postings":8,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.375,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":86,"computed_at":"2026-10-30T05:48:23Z"}},"role":"Industrial Engineering","role_family":"Industrial Engineering","seniority":"senior","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"hybrid","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Golden, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":130000,"max":190000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":190000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":5,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":true,"technologies":[{"name":"Python","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-08-07T09:40:09Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-08-07","last_verified_at":"2026-10-30T20:42:30Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":84,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":84},"description":"Wanna join the adventure?\n\nAre you passionate about optical payloads, image quality, and turning pixels into products customers can actually use? If so, this is the perfect role for you!\nLoft flies multiple satellites per year and is building the next generation of Earth observation capability - from payload design through calibration, processing, and delivery - across a growing fleet of spacecraft. We're looking for a Senior Earth Observation Engineer to serve as the technical authority for optical payloads, image quality, and Earth observation mission performance across Loft.\nThis role requires expertise in imagery calibration, optical payloads, and image processing pipelines. You'll work closely with mission teams, customers, and payload suppliers to define performance requirements, drive payload development and test, support in-orbit calibration and commissioning, and ensure Loft can reliably process and deliver imagery to customers.\nYou'll help build the data processing and image-quality foundation that turns raw payload data into a sellable product, enabling Loft to simulate, calibrate, and deliver imagery across diverse customer missions and to leverage the AI boom through vision-based Earth observation.\nAbout this role:\nWork with Earth observation customers to derive mission and payload requirements, along with verification techniques, and flow these down to software and hardware teams, including suppliers\nFollow and drive optical payload suppliers' development and test activities\nDevelop, with the AIT and OPS teams, the on-ground and in-orbit test and calibration strategy\nDevelop the on-board and on-ground data processing strategy\nSupport the Lead Systems Engineer in mission CONOPSdevelopment\nSupport business development activities for optical payload customers and Earth observation virtual missions\nSupport test procedures and participate in integration, test campaigns, launch, and in-orbit commissioning\nContribute to and own the development of the company's Earth observation roadmap\nMust Haves:\nYou have 5 or more years of demonstrated experience as a space systems engineer on earth observation missions\nYou are very familiar with image quality metrics and imagery calibration aspects (geometric, radiometric, spectral, etc.)\nYou have good experience in optical payloads\nYou have coded in Python for at least one year\nYou have strong communication and organizational skills\nYou challenge norms in aerospace engineering and testing activities, and/or have experience in a fast-paced development environment\nYou handle pressure positively and are always ready to put in the hands-on work\nNice to Haves:\nGood knowledge of deep learning and artificial neural networks\nExperience in optics and detector technologies\nExperience in optical ground support equipment\nKnowledge of ADCSand navigation/flight dynamics aspects\nInternational experience\nSome of Our Awesome Benefits:\n100% company-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance option for employees and dependents\nFlexible Spending (FSA) and Health Savings (HSA) Accounts offered with an employer contribution to the HSA\n100% employer paid Life, AD&D, Short-Term, and Long-Term Disability insurance\nFlexible Time Off policy for vacation and sick leave, and 12 paid holidays\n401(k) plan and equity options\nDaily catered lunches and snacks in office\nInternational exposure to our team in France\nFully paid parental leave; 14 weeks for birthing parent and 10 weeks for non-birthing parent\nCarrot Fertility provides comprehensive, inclusive fertility healthcare and family-forming benefits with financial support\nOff-sites and many social events and celebrations\nRelocation assistance when applicable","description_format":"text","description_chars":3689,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":5,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Equity","Flexible time off","Parental leave","Relocation assistance","Vision insurance"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":true,"industries":["Earth Observation","Satellite Manufacturing","Space Services"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-05T18:48:41Z"}],"visa":[{"country":"US","licensed_sponsor":true,"evidence":"H-1B filings in 12 months: 5","filings_12m":5,"filings_prev_12m":0,"green_card_filings_12m":0,"median_offered_wage_usd":142500,"route":null,"cap_exempt":false,"checked_at":"2026-10-29T16:27:21+00:00","sources":["US Department of Labor: LCA disclosure data (H-1B, H-1B1, E-3)"],"filings_for_role_12m":0}],"liveness":{"score":47,"band":"ok","label":"Likely open","p_open":1,"p_active":0.785,"p_room":0.6,"age_days":83,"expected_fill_days":86,"reasons":["conf:2","win:late","crowd:"],"computed_at":"2026-10-30T05:48:23Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":190000,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/loft-orbital-solutions-senior-earth-observation-engineer-2","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/loft-orbital-solutions-senior-earth-observation-engineer-2.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-30T20:47:26Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":10972,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-31T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":4539},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=4539"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Floft-orbital-solutions-senior-earth-observation-engineer-2"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Floft-orbital-solutions-senior-earth-observation-engineer-2"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Floft-orbital-solutions-senior-earth-observation-engineer-2"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/loft-orbital-solutions-senior-earth-observation-engineer-2\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Floft-orbital-solutions-senior-earth-observation-engineer-2"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":348913}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"loftorbital.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":348913},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); 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