Ground Station Systems Engineer - Mission Operations

Job Summary Lynk is looking for a Ground Station Systems Engineer to join the Mission Operations team. This role is responsible for the technical design, integration, performance, and operational readiness of Lynk’s ground station systems, including antennas, RF equipment, modems, servers, network interfaces, site layout, telemetry, monitoring requirements, and acceptance testing. This is a hands-on ground segment engineering role focused on making ground stations reliable, supportable, and scalable as Lynk’s constellation grows. The Ground Station Systems Engineer will work closely with Mission Operations, Ground Software, Ground Site Operations, Telecom Engineering, vendors, and ground site partners to ensure Lynk’s ground stations are designed, tested, monitored, and transitioned into operations effectively. This role will define the ground station system needs, hardware/software interfaces, performance expectations, and acceptance criteria that software and operations teams use to build, monitor, and support the ground station network. The ideal candidate has experience with satellite ground systems, teleport operations, SATCOM systems, RF systems, networked infrastructure, or ground segment deployment and enjoys solving practical engineering problems where hardware, software, networks, vendors, and operations intersect. Core Responsibilities Ground Station Systems Architecture and Design Support the technical architecture of Lynk ground station systems, including antennas, RF chains, modems, servers, networking equipment, timing, power, environmental considerations, and monitoring interfaces. Evaluate ground station designs for reliability, maintainability, scalability, cost, performance, and operational supportability. Define technical requirements for ground station hardware, network interfaces, telemetry, alarms, control points, and operational handoff. Assess tradeoffs between owned ground stations, hosted ground stations, teleport partnerships, and Ground Station-as-a-Service providers. Evaluate hardware and design alternatives to improve cost, resiliency, throughput, and operational reliability. Site Analysis, Integration, and Optimization Support site selection and technical site analysis, including antenna placement, interference concerns, backhaul availability, maintainability, physical access, and operational risk. Work with external site partners and Ground Site Operations to support installation planning, equipment configuration, site inspections, and operational readiness. Support integration of antennas, RF equipment, modems, servers, network equipment, monitoring systems, and ground station services into an operational capability. Diagnose ground station performance issues involving RF systems, antennas, network paths, modems, servers, site configuration, or operational procedures. Analyze performance trends and recommend improvements to increase availability, contact success, data throughput, and operational resilience. Acceptance Testing and Operational Readiness Define ground station acceptance criteria, test plans, and readiness checks for new or upgraded ground stations. Support site acceptance testing and operational handover. Maintain technical documentation, including architecture diagrams, interface definitions, configuration baselines, operational constraints, test records, troubleshooting guides, and handover documentation. Support development of ground station CONOPS, operational playbooks, escalation paths, and first-level response guidance for the Mission Operations Center. During Your First 12 Months Ground Station Architecture Proficiency: Develop a strong understanding of Lynk’s ground station architecture, hardware configurations, network interfaces, operational workflows, monitoring methods, and performance constraints. Technical Ownership of Ground Station Readiness: Become a reliable technical point of contact for ground station design, configuration, acceptance testing, performance analysis, and operational readiness. Acceptance and Handover Improvements: Improve acceptance criteria, site readiness checks, configuration baselines, and operational handover documentation for new and upgraded ground stations. Monitoring and Interface Requirements: Define clear telemetry, alarm, control point, and reporting requirements for the Ground Software and Mission Operations teams. Performance and Reliability Improvements: Identify recurring ground station performance issues and drive practical improvements to reliability, maintainability, troubleshooting, and operational resilience. Qualifications Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Computer Engineering, Systems Engineering, Telecommunications, RF Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience. Experience with satellite ground systems, SATCOM systems, teleport operations, RF systems, antenna systems, networked infrastructure, or similar operational technical systems. Working knowledge of ground station components such as antennas, RF chains, modems, servers, networking equipment, timing systems, monitoring systems, and site infrastructure. Ability to troubleshoot complex issues that span RF systems, antennas, modems, networks, servers, software interfaces, vendors, and operational workflows. Familiarity with networking concepts such as TCP/IP, routing, VPNs, firewalls, DNS, network monitoring, latency, backhaul, and secure remote access. Strong technical documentation habits, including architecture diagrams, configuration records, operational procedures, test results, and technical decision rationale. Interest in satellite operations, ground segment systems, mission operations, telecommunications, or space systems. Preferred Qualifications Experience designing, deploying, operating, or maintaining satellite ground stations, teleports, RF ground systems, or GSaaS capabilities. Experience with antenna siting, link performance analysis, RF interference considerations, or ground station optimization. Experience with modems, SDRs, RF equipment, timing systems, spectrum monitoring, or ground station monitoring and control systems. Experience working with ground station vendors, teleport operators, satellite operators, telecom operators, or managed ground station service providers. Familiarity with observability, telemetry, alerting, incident response, and operational performance reporting. Ability to use scripting, Linux tools, logs, telemetry, or basic automation to support troubleshooting and analysis. Experience working in a startup, small technical team, mission operations center, network operations center, teleport, satellite operator, or similarly fast-moving technical environment. ITAR Requirements To comply with U.S. Government export control regulations (ITAR), applicants must be one of the following: (i) a U.S. citizen or national, (ii) a lawful permanent resident (green card holder), (iii) a refugee under 8 U.S.C. 1157, or (iv) an asylee under 8 U.S.C. 1158. Individuals who do not meet these criteria must be eligible to obtain the necessary authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. For more information, please refer to the ITAR guidelines. Location Chantilly, VA #J-18808-Ljbffr