Spire is a space-powered data and analytics platform that offers unique insights and powerful solutions about Earth from the ultimate vantage point – space – so organizations can act now and plan for the future with confidence, accuracy and speed. Leveraging its proprietary multi-purpose satellite constellation and sophisticated predictive analytics, Spire gives commercial and government organizations an unprecedented competitive advantage to solve their toughest challenges, empowered with knowledge from space.

As a Senior Ground Stations Engineer, you will play a key role in building, installing and maintaining our global network of ground stations for communication with our growing fleet of CubeSats in the UHF, S-Band and X-Band frequencies.

The ideal candidate will be a team player with a desire to deliver consistent OTAs. Strong collaboration skills coupled with self-motivation will be essential in tackling the unique challenges of the role.

Responsibilities of your role:

• Quickly develop an understanding of Spire Ground Station installations to lead a deployment team on new installations, continued maintenance efforts and troubleshooting/repairing anomalies in the field.
• Ability to conduct field assessments of new potential ground station locations by conducting site surveys (site viability, RF spectrum scans,etc.) and document findings providing a “go/no-go” decision.
• Ability to identify and mitigate radio frequency interference issues.
• Develop continuous improvement initiatives to further increase ground station reliability.
• Remotely debug ground station issues reported by the operations team or through in-house alerting metrics. Develop deployment plan of action based on remote findings. In the event travel is prohibited, be able to write detailed scope of work and work with local site hands to ensure repairs are completed to Spire standards.
• Ability to train junior engineers in RF best practices, troubleshooting techniques, using RF test equipment, installing/maintaining communications equipment, etc.

Basic Qualifications / Experience:

• 5-8+ years RF telecommunications and/or satellite communications experience
• Debugging complex RF, electrical and mechanical systems
• Debugging user-reported issues
• Working knowledge of Linux/Unix
• Working knowledge of software defined radios and GNU radio platform
• Working knowledge of networking infrastructure (servers, switches, RF over fiber, etc)
• Installing/maintaining rack equipment
• Installing/tuning/maintaining antenna systems
• Working knowledge of RF test equipment (spectrum analyzers, vector network analyzers, oscilloscopes, etc)
• Knowledge of best practices for installing, maintaining and weatherproofing communications systems deployed in extreme environments
• Ability to create and test various cabling (coaxial, ethernet, control, etc.)

Preferred Qualifications

• Willingness to travel up to 50% of time, sometimes on short notice
• Willingness to support systems in extreme conditions (from the arctic to the desert)
• Calm disposition in stressful situations
• Experience with RF systems and equipment operating from 400 MHz to 8 GHz
• Experience with antenna positioning systems
• Professional workmanship (clean worksite, neat installations, tidy cable maintenance, etc.)
• Ability to maintain and update detailed site documentation (installation details, RF results, etc.)
• Collaborative personality
• Sense of humor

The anticipated base salary range for this position is $130,500 to $171,000. Final base salary for this role will be based on the location, skills, experience and qualifications. In addition to base compensation, this role is eligible for annual equity awards and our employee benefits program, including vacation, sick, and personal time off; optional medical, dental, vision, life, and disability coverage; a 401(K) plan; health and wellness reimbursement program; and participation in Spire’s Employee Stock Purchase Plan.

Access to US export controlled software and/or technology may be required.

Spire is Global and our success draws upon the diverse viewpoints, skills and experiences of our employees. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender identity or veteran status.

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