Mission Operations / Ground Software Lead at TrustPoint in Dulles, VA

Join TrustPoint and Build the World’s First Commercial GPS System in Space

GPS is a ubiquitous global utility in modern society; knowing one’s location is critical for government, commercial, and personal applications. Still, today’s solutions for determining location are inaccurate, slow, unencrypted, and susceptible to jamming and spoofing. These shortcomings make GPS insufficient for tomorrow’s safety-critical and high-precision applications, a problem TrustPoint intends to solve.

TrustPoint is developing a fully commercial next-generation GPS service to provide significant performance, security and reliability improvements for GPS users. This includes better accuracy, quicker Time to First Fix, and anti-spoof and anti-jam capabilities. The improvements will support US Government position and timing service resiliency as well as enable next-generation commercial applications like drone delivery, self-driving cars, urban air mobility, and augmented reality. The $260B annual GNSS Hardware, Software and Data Services market is ripe for disruption and TrustPoint intends to lead that revolution with our commercial infrastructure and services.

The Position

With locations outside Washington, DC, and in Silicon Valley, TrustPoint is seeking a full-time Mission Operations / Ground Software Lead to own the architecture and development of an automation-first mission operations system for a rapidly scaling satellite constellation. You will build and lead the MOS software team, guide critical build-versus-buy decisions, and deliver the mission planning and operational capabilities needed to support TrustPoint’s first 20 satellites and future growth to hundreds of vehicles.

We’ll Expect You To:

• Own the Mission Operations System (MOS) architecture and drive the build-vs-buy-vs-hybrid decision for operating a fleet scaling from 20 to 400 satellites and 4 to 100 LEONs sites, designed automation-first from day one.
• Stand up and lead the MOS software team, and own the flight-dynamics make/buy call for the constellation.
• Own contact scheduling and mission planning across the constellation and ground-station network.
• Deliver a 60-90 day build/buy/hybrid recommendation (including flight dynamics) as your first output in the role.
• Get MOS operationally ready to support the first 20 satellites by the end of 2027.

We’ll Expect You To Have:

• 10+ years of experience in satellite operations, ground systems, or mission operations software, at a principal or senior level.
• Direct experience with constellation-scale ground/telemetry-and-command (T&C) architecture, not just single-satellite operations.
• Demonstrated ability to make and defend build-vs-buy technology decisions under time pressure.

We’d Like to See:

• Experience designing or operating “lights-out” / automation-first ground systems rather than heavily manual operations centers.
• Familiarity with flight dynamics concepts (orbit determination, station-keeping, conjunction avoidance) even if you won’t personally implement them.
• Experience scaling a ground segment from a handful of vehicles to a large fleet.

Cultural Fit

• Thrive in a start-up environment
• Effective communication style that instills a culture of optimism and positivity
• Sense of humor and ability to proactively problem solve.
• Encourages colleagues to think and plan strategically while executing well tactically.
• Works well with all company levels and disciplines (i.e. Legal, HR, etc.).
• Willing to “roll up sleeves” in a new venture, working closely with colleagues.

Compensation and Benefits

The selected candidate will be competitively compensated with salary, equity (stock options), and standard benefits. The salary band for this position is $175,000 to $228,000.

TrustPoint, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.