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About the Role

This role offers a unique opportunity for an engineer to take ownership of environmental testing activities supporting spacecraft production and delivery. As a Senior Spacecraft Qualification Engineer, you will serve as the primary mechanical and environmental test engineering authority at our Berlin manufacturing site. The ideal candidate is a self-starter who enjoys hands-on work and thrives in ambiguity, with deep technical expertise, quick engineering judgment, and the ability to independently assess and resolve complex test situations while ensuring the safety of personnel and flight hardware.

Responsibilities

Own environmental test execution and respond to off-nominal events.
Review environmental test requirements, procedures, and readiness packages for spacecraft acceptance and protoflight campaigns.
Serve as the primary technical authority during test operations including vibration, shock, thermal cycling, and thermal vacuum test operations.
Perform hands-on operations including instrumentation setup, inspections, test monitoring, and hardware troubleshooting.
Assess test data in real time to identify failures, anomalies, or unexpected hardware responses.
Develop and implement technically sound recovery plans while preserving personnel safety, facility safety, and hardware integrity.
Ensure test readiness and facility capability.
Validate test configurations, instrumentation plans, facility readiness, and hardware constraints prior to test execution.
Coordinate with technicians and cross-functional teams to ensure safe and efficient execution of environmental test campaigns.
Ensure compliance with industry standards and regulations.
Supervise and assist with procurement, machining, assembly and proofloading operations of test fixtures and Ground Support Equipment (GSE).
Drive measurement and test data analysis.
Configure and validate data acquisition systems, instrumentation, and test monitoring tools.
Analyze environmental test data to evaluate hardware performance, determine compliance, identify anomalies, and recommend next steps.
Implement continuous improvement and process development.
Improve environmental test processes, procedures, facility capabilities, and operational efficiency and reliability.
Develop practical solutions to recurring technical challenges and contribute to long-term reliability of environmental test operations.
Document and develop communication.
Generate clear test reports, anomaly investigations, and engineering recommendations based on environmental test results.
Provide technical guidance to technicians and advise spacecraft, systems, manufacturing, and quality teams on environmental test matters.
Develop close communication and working relationships with Engineering and Manufacturing teams.
Participate in technical reviews, program status meetings, etc.

Requirements

6+ years of relevant work experience.
Experience owning vibration, shock, thermal cycling, and thermal vacuum test campaigns for flight or flight-like hardware.
Understanding of environmental verification methodologies, acceptance and protoflight testing industry standards, and flight hardware handling.
Knowledge of spacecraft systems and the interactions between structures, mechanisms, avionics, payloads, and thermal systems.
Knowledge of structural dynamics and vibration theory (resonance and modal behavior, wave propagation, random vibration, boundary control, etc.).
Knowledge of heat transfer principles and thermal management technology.
Ability to evaluate test data, identify anomalies, assess risk, make sound engineering decisions during off-nominal situations, and develop recovery plans for flight hardware.
Proficiency in using Solidworks CAD & FEA (simulation) or equivalent.
Ability to work independently with minimal supervision while managing competing priorities and tight schedules.
Ability to lead a team of technicians and work closely with international engineers in a collaborative environment.
Hands-on experience (portfolio submission encouraged).
Experience in operating a variety of test machines as vibration shakers, thermal chambers, TVAC chambers, shock machine, as well as working with test equipment such as power supplies, multimeters, oscilloscopes.
Experience building and working with DAQs for test article command/control and data gathering; well-versed with the instrumentation, usage, and data consumption from accelerometers, load cells and other DAQ sensors.
Interest in prototyping, rapid iteration and agile processes.
Experience in working in a machine shop.
Interest in automation.
Familiarity with Raspberry Pis, Node Red, or Python.
This position requires access to U.S. and German/EU export-controlled information, and as such, employment (or hiring of a contractor) is contingent upon the candidate’s ability to access all applicable export-controlled information without additional export licensing being required by German, EU, or U.S. authorities.

Skills

Mechanical Engineering
Aerospace Engineering
Thermal Engineering
Electro-Mechanics/Robotics Engineering
Solidworks CAD & FEA
Raspberry Pis
Node Red
Python

Location

Berlin

Work Type

Full-time
In-office
Occasional travel

Experience Level

Senior

Education Level

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Thermal Engineering or Electro-Mechanics/Robotics Engineering.

Benefits

Paid time off including vacation, holidays and company-wide days off
Employee Wellness Program
Home Office Reimbursement
Monthly Phone and Internet Reimbursement
Tuition Reimbursement and access to LinkedIn Learning
Equity
Volunteering Paid Time Off

About the Company

Planet designs, builds, and operates the largest constellation of imaging satellites in history.
This constellation delivers an unprecedented dataset of empirical information via a revolutionary cloud-based platform to authoritative figures in commercial, environmental, and humanitarian sectors.
We are both a space company and data company all rolled into one.
Customers and users across the globe use Planet's data to develop new technologies, drive revenue, power research, and solve our world’s toughest obstacles.
As we control every component of hardware design, manufacturing, data processing, and software engineering, our office is a truly inspiring mix of experts from a variety of domains.
We have a people-centric approach toward culture and community and we strive to iterate in a way that puts our team members first and prepares our company for growth.
Join Planet and be a part of our mission to change the way people see the world.
Planet is a global company with employees working remotely world wide and joining us from offices in San Francisco, Washington DC, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, and The Netherlands.

Equal Opportunity

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.
Planet is committed to building a community where everyone belongs and we invite people from all backgrounds to apply.
Planet is an equal opportunity employer, and committed to providing employment opportunities regardless of race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding, age, sexual orientation, military or veteran status, or any other protected classification, in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws.
Know Your Rights.