Senior Sites Engineer (Space Communications)

Department: Engineering

Location: Torrance, CA

Compensation: $129K – $175K • Offers Equity

Employment Type: FullTime

About Northwood:

Northwood is on a mission to transform connectivity between earth and space and bring the benefits of space to the masses through innovations in space communications technologies. If you like building quickly and seeing your work deployed in locations around the globe with real impact, we want you at Northwood.

Role:

Northwood is building a worldwide network of ground stations, and we need a Sr. Operations Engineer to lead the charge. We’re looking for a hands-on problem-solver with a builder’s mindset and a track record of delivering large projects in fast-paced timelines. You will lead the charge of hardware and operations development, remote site selection, and site construction. You will frequently travel to sites and lead from the front. You will be Northwood’s jack-of-all trades and work side-by-side with internal and external teams. This role is based in our HQ in Los Angeles with frequent travel to domestic and international sites.

Responsibilities:

• Build the Network. Deploy antennas, power systems, racks, and infrastructure at Northwood sites across the globe. You will travel to sites and lead from the front.

• Find and Secure Sites. Identify and acquire ground station locations, balancing system performance, deployment speed, and cost.

• Engineer the Sites. Design site architecture, hardware, and processes for deployment speed and cost.

• Keep Us Online. Oversee live operations, monitor system performance, and troubleshoot issues to keep our stations operating at peak performance.

• Manage Partners. Collaborate with internal partners, contractors, logistics, and network providers to coordinate deployments and deliver sites.

Basic Qualifications:

• 5+ years of relevant experience

• Bachelor's degree in mechanical, civil, electrical, or related engineering discipline

• Willingness to travel to domestic and international ground station sites.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Ability to work across multiple engineering disciplines and with diverse teams.

• Demonstrated success in executing large projects on tight timelines.

• Experience working in construction or facilities.

• Hands-on field experience with proficiency using basic tools.

• Experience reviewing system telemetry in an operations environment.

• Experience building or using dashboards and databases (e.g., Grafana, SQL).

• Ability to clearly communicate, track deadlines, and manage complex schedules.

• Working proficiency in non-English languages is a plus.

Additional Information:

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Northwood Space is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Northwood Space is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.

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