Payload Data Processing Engineer

Job description

Team & Reporting Line: Image Processing

Our Mission 

At constellr, we use thermal intelligence from space to understand what is happening on Earth - where, when and at scale. Our satellite constellation delivers high-resolution land surface temperature data, giving governments, defence organisations, commercial operators and global institutions the intelligence they need to monitor change, assess risk and make better-informed decisions.

From national security and critical infrastructure to agriculture and climate resilience, constellr turns temperature into actionable intelligence for a changing world.

Your Role

We are looking for a Payload Data Engineer to bridge the gap between our satellite payloads, onboard processing and ground-based image processing.

You will work at the intersection of sensor physics, electronics, spacecraft systems, signal processing and software. Your role is to understand how the imaging instrument and spacecraft generate data, how this behavior affects our processing algorithms, and how processing concepts can be optimized for future onboard implementation.

You will be a key technical interface between payload, satellite/DPU and ground processing, working across VNIR, SWIR, MWIR and TIR imaging systems.

Key responsibilities

• Develop a deep understanding of the payload data, metadata, imaging modes and detector behavior, and of how detector, optical and electronics design influences processing algorithms and product quality.

• Work with TDI and block-TDI concepts and translate instrument operating modes into appropriate processing-chain designs.

• Follow data from L0 to L1C and trace artifacts and anomalies from the ground product back to their detector, electronics or spacecraft origin.

• Analyze timing, synchronization and telemetry, including multiple clocks, PPS synchronization, drift, offsets, temperatures, attitude and pointing information.

• Develop sensor and payload-data simulators for new satellite systems, including realistic data formats, metadata, timing behavior and imaging artifacts.

• Support instrument characterization, commissioning and in-orbit performance analysis.

• Contribute to the design of next-generation onboard processing, potentially up to L1C, taking into account DPU and platform constraints such as compute, memory, power, data rate, latency, real-time and deterministic processing, and radiation.

• Adapt ground algorithms to the constraints of the onboard processor. You define what the algorithm must look like to fit the hardware. This may include moving prototypes from Python to C++ or Rust.

• Act as a technical bridge between payload/satellite engineering and operations and the ground processing.

Job requirements

About you 

Required: 

• Degree in physics, electrical/electronics engineering, aerospace engineering, remote sensing, computer engineering/science or a related field.

• Several years of relevant professional experience with EO satellite imaging systems, payload data or sensor/image processing.

• Strong understanding of imaging sensors, detectors, imaging modes and ideally TDI and compression architectures.

• Understanding of onboard timing: multiple clocks, PPS synchronization, and how timestamp errors arise and are corrected.

• Solid understanding of L0–L1C (L2a a plus) processing, including radiometric and geometric aspects of optical/thermal sensors.

• Strong Python skills for analysis, prototyping and algorithm development.

• Ability to understand performance-critical software and work across the boundary between algorithms and hardware.

• A systems mindset: you naturally think in terms of sensor → electronics → payload → spacecraft → processing → product.

• Ability to work independently, take ownership and communicate effectively across disciplines.

• Excellent English communication skills.

Nice to Have: 

• C++ or Rust, or experience porting algorithms to constrained, embedded or real-time targets.

• Experience with onboard processing or payload data handling units.

• Sensor/instrument simulation and synthetic data generation.

• Image compression and high-throughput data handling.

• Radiometric calibration, NUC and sensor characterization.

• MWIR/TIR-specific experience in sensor design and processing needs.

Why join constellr?

• High-Impact National Security Mission: Be part of an ambitious mission to launch the world’s first commercial thermal infrared constellation, delivering sovereign-grade "behavioural" intelligence from space to close critical blind spots for defence, intelligence, and maritime surveillance agencies.
• Fast-Paced "New Space" Innovation: Work at the leading edge of a rapidly evolving defence sector. By leveraging modern, agile New Space methodologies, you will help design, build, and deploy dual-use thermal payloads into operational orbit at a speed and scale that traditional aerospace models simply cannot match.
• Broad Interdisciplinary Exposure: Accelerate your professional growth by collaborating daily with a diverse, international cohort of astrophysicists, software developers, and defence-system engineers.
• Inclusive & Scientific Culture: Join a high-trust team deeply committed to diversity, inclusion, and scientific excellence, where academic curiosity is paired with high autonomy and a flat hierarchy.
• Financial Upside & Well-being: Benefit from a Virtual Share Option Plan (VSOP) for permanent employees, giving you a true stake in the company's growth, alongside highly flexible hybrid working models.