What you'll Do
Viasat’s Global Operations central business function plays a vital role managing the services that keep our business running and delivering to our customers. Global Operations consists of the following functions: Satellite Operations, Network Operations, Service Assurance and Capacity Fulfilment, Service Delivery, Customer Assurance, Project Management Office programmes and processes.
Primary role purpose:
Viasat UK operates 15 geosynchronous satellites from its London based Satellite Control Centre, providing the services as described above. A temporary spacecraft operations engineer is required to take a responsible position as part of the Spacecraft Analysis team who perform the on-station spacecraft operations, looking after the health and performance of the satellite for the Viasat UK current and future satellite fleets operated from London.
This role is for a finite duration commencing as soon as possible and ending 31 October 2025. It will not require 24/7 on-call support but only provision of support to the team during regular office hours.
The day-to-day
- To support the team with planning and executing operations to manage the satellite configurations to maintain their health, safety and function.
- To assess and report on satellite health and performance by daily monitoring of their status and monitoring of long-term trends in behaviour of on-board units.
- To support the team (office hours only) in responding to satellite contingency situations by assessing satellite status, performing the correct triage, identifying the remedial response and suporting recovery operations according to a well-defined incident management process.
- Help diagnose problems as quickly as possible, determine the underlying root cause of incidents and identify workarounds or permanent solutions to prevent reoccurrence with the spacecraft manufacturer using techniques such as 8D, 5 whys, fault tree/fishbone analysis to get to the root cause of a problem and then to be able to identify corrective and preventive measures.
- Help to maintain satellite operational products such as satellite telemetry and telecommand databases, including alarm limits, to support safe and efficient operations and to maintain the routine and contingency satellite control procedures and validate updates against the satellite simulator and maintain the satellite simulators to have a fully representative test bed.
- Help to develop and maintain the reference data sets and software applications including AI and analytics applications required by the Spacecraft Analysis Department to perform the satellite health and performance monitoring, operations planning, checking and reporting to ensure early detection of problems and anomaly characterisation.
- Support the team to ensure any analyst training plan and accreditation are up to date and when required, the provision of any training, definition of courseware and assessments are conducted accurately, effectively and efficiently.
- Work with the Viasat Global Space Networks and spacecraft manufacturer engineering support teams to investigate anomalies and develop relevant operational solutions.
- Support the team on new satellite programmes on systems engineering, operations development, integration and validation activities and to support the Global Space Networks Space Systems procurement team with programme reviews.
- To respond positively to any other requests that help achieve Viasat’s goals.
What you'll Need
- Science or Engineering university degree.
- Previous experience of at least a year in a satellite operations role
- Excellent communication skills in English, both written and spoken,
- Ability to prioritise work to deliver the Satellite Operations divisional objectives. This requires a high degree of flexibility in planning and executing work,
- Excellent analytical skills resulting in clear and concise explanations of observations and anomalies,
- Have the skills listed below that demonstrate the Viasat values.
What Will Help You On The Job
- Preference for a degree in a Space Engineering related subject,
- Knowledge of design and operations of spacecraft subsystems, such as Power, Thermal, Attitude Control, Electrical and Chemical Propulsion, TTC and Payload subsystems,
- Experience of working with one or more of the following spacecraft platforms: Lockheed Martin (preferably Series 4000), TAS Spacebus 4000, Airbus E3000 and subsequent AIRBUS generations, Boeing 702 HP.
- Knowledge of one or more programming languages (e.g. Python, R) to perform data analysis and data manipulation for trending, anomaly prediction and classification analysis and for developing and enhancing tools for aiding analyst processes and procedures (experience working with big data and applied AI is a bonus),
- Experience of working with spacecraft manufacturers and satellite engineering support teams for the specification, development and implementation of satellite specific operations for at least one previous geo-synchronous satellite project,
- Knowledge of the satellite design, build and AIT process.
You must be eligible to work in this location advertised.
EEO statement
Viasat is proud to be an equal opportunity employer, seeking to create a welcoming and diverse environment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, colour, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, marital status, genetics, age, or veteran status or any other applicable legally protected status or characteristic.
