Location: London or Edinburgh, United Kingdom (Hybrid)
Start Date: Immediate
About Blue Skies Space
Blue Skies Space is breaking the current bespoke, publicly funded model for astronomy and astrophysics missions and employs a commercial approach to create new opportunities for cutting-edge science. We offer telescope time on cost-effective and quickly delivered scientific instruments for users worldwide through a service-based model. Our first satellite, Mauve, will characterise stellar objects and flares in the UV and visible wavelengths. Our second satellite, Twinkle, will carry unique instrumentation designed to analyse the atmospheres of planets orbiting distant stars, as well as objects in our own Solar System.
Job Summary
Blue Skies Space is seeking a Software Team Lead to support the development of our software suite. This covers a range of interesting topics that support the simulation of spacecraft, data reduction of science products, the scheduling of booking time on the craft, and the management of our online customer portal.
Duties and Responsibilities
The key aim of this role is to:
- Lead the software team as they develop their software suite for delivery on a range of missions
- Provide technical and architectural leadership to a suite of software products
- Manage the software development process through all stages of the SDLC, including requirements analysis, software design, implementation, testing and release of our software products
- Plan the software team roadmap by collaborating with senior management to define the priorities and goals for software delivery
- Contribute to the development of the software products, CI/CD pipelines and test suites
- Manage the career development of a team of three software engineers, with the expectation of rapidly growing the team in the future
- Engage in code reviews and collaborative practices to maintain and elevate code quality across the team
- Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams across the company to connect scientific research, system engineering, and the translation of concepts into production-ready software
Key Requirements
Essential requirements for the role are:
- You have 5+ years of backend software development experience, with 2+ years in a senior or team leadership role
- You have demonstrable experience in planning software work and ensuring the delivery of software projects
- You understand the value of good software requirements and have experience working with interdisciplinary teams to deliver software projects
- You have a strong understanding of computer science algorithms, software design patterns and architecture principles
- You have strong experience with version control and build systems for CI/CD, e.g. GitHub Actions
- You have skills in containerisation, including experience with Docker
- You understand how to deliver value with automated testing and have experience designing test frameworks for different testing levels
- You have experience designing cloud-based architecture and hosting infrastructure
- You are a great communicator and work well with colleagues across different disciplines
- You have demonstrable experience in mentoring and developing software engineers, either in a team lead or technical lead position
- You have a degree in Computer Science or relevant demonstrable work experience
It would also be desirable for the candidate to have:
- Experience with front-end development, e.g. React, Node, PHP, and understanding modern front-end development practices
- You have previously used Python frameworks such as FastAPI and SQLAlchemy
- You have previous experience in the space industry or space-based research
- You have experience working in a scientific company, with a strong basis in academia
What we can offer you
- The opportunity to join a start-up redefining the space science delivery model and put your stamp on our suite of software products
- The chance to work closely with a diverse, multidisciplinary team of engineers, scientists and software engineers, with a multitude of different areas of expertise
Salary: Competitive, depending on experience and skills.
Interview Process
The interview process will consist of:
- An online, 30-minute introductory call with some of the software team
- An in-person technical assessment and white-boarding session
- An in-person interview to get to know more of the team
We strive to make our interview process as accessible as possible. If you require any assistance or reasonable adjustments before your interview, please feel free to reach out to us.
Equal Opportunities Policy
Blue Skies Space aims to provide a workplace in which all staff are treated fairly and consistently. We will ensure, to the best of our ability, that staff and all others who have contact with the firm are not discriminated against, either directly or indirectly. In line with the UK Equality Act 2010, we are committed to providing equality of opportunity in all areas of dealing with staff, whether in recruitment and selection, promotion or training and development. Blue Skies Space supports, where possible, hybrid working and flexible hour working arrangements.
Application Process: Please send your CV and cover letter to careers@bssl.space.