Research & Development Engineer

R&D Engineer

HEO is the world’s first commercial non-Earth imaging (NEI) and insights services company. NEI involves capturing resolved imagery of space objects using cameras mounted on other satellites, and deriving information and intelligence from the captured imagery. Our technology helps governments and commercial companies to visually monitor their spacecraft and other space objects they care about. Our vision is to image anything in the solar system on-demand. Read more about NEI here.

We are building out a high performing interdisciplinary team capable of pushing the boundaries of space technology. We are growing fast and looking for talented, passionate people that value collaboration, growth and learning to join our team.

HEO is a post Series-A company backed by high profile venture funds including Airtree, Y Combinator and In-Q-Tel. We are headquartered in Sydney, Australia with offices in London, Washington DC and Tokyo.

About the role:

As an R&D Engineer at HEO, you’ll be joining our team in Sydney to help us solve the challenging problem of how to take beautiful and informative imagery of one satellite from another satellite, while both are moving through space at 7.5km/s. You’ll be working closely with HEO’s R&D team to help develop and test ways we calculate, analyse and execute on our in-orbit imaging opportunities, with automation and scale in mind. Additionally, you’ll be developing algorithms and image processing tools to derive analytics from collected imagery data, in order to deliver actionable insights and intelligence to our customers.

Your key responsibilities:

• Develop techniques to continuously plan, monitor and optimise the performance of HEO’s imaging operations and identify ways to improve both image quality and mission success rate.
• Develop algorithms and tools to extract customer focused analytics and insights from HEO’s imagery and complementary data sources.
• Work closely with HEO’s partner satellite operators and internal teams to turn R&D into reliable, scalable imaging operations.
• Conduct R&D to evaluate and adapt new sensor modalities and imaging techniques as HEO expands its operations to new orbits.

We are looking for someone with:

• A bachelor’s degree in Engineering (Aerospace, Mechatronics or other related engineering discipline), Physics, Computer Science or Mathematics.
• 2+ years of related industry experience or a PhD in a related field.
• Experience in any of the following is considered a plus:
  • Satellite operations
  • Earth observation
  • Remote sensing
  • Orbital dynamics
  • Machine learning
  • Image processing

• Strong analytical and critical thinking skills and comfortable with experimenting to solve new challenges.
• Experience with quantitative modelling, data processing and algorithmic development in Python, MATLAB, or similar.
• Experience working with cloud-deployed systems, especially AWS, is considered a strong plus.
• Something that differentiates you from the crowd. At HEO there are a wide range of complex problems we are trying to solve, so if you have a unique skill/experience/interest that might be of value to HEO please highlight this in your application.
  

HEO’s Company Values:

We value good space citizenship. We are passionate about responsible space custodianship, sustainability and trust. We believe that space should be easy and transparent. Our values help us to tackle some of the most complex issues in space for the benefit of all of humanity.

As a team, we are committed to creating a welcoming and supportive environment for employees from all backgrounds.

Perks, benefits & culture:

HEO is one of Australia’s fastest-growing space technology companies. At HEO, we’re committed to creating the best working environment where everyone thrives, values collaboration, encourages innovation and shares the common goal of making space transparent. Here’s some of the ways we achieve that goal:

• Employee Share Option Plan (ESOP). Own a piece of HEO!
• Convenient location in Sydney’s Tech Central with end of trip facilities (bicycle parking and showers)
• Flexible leave options so you can recharge and relax when best suits you - no forced leave during office shutdowns
• Paid parental leave for everyone
• A supportive environment that fosters cross-team collaboration. We learn by trial and celebrate our wins together
• Fireside chats every other Friday where we showcase what someone’s working on or something new in our industry, with some snacks and maybe a game of ping-pong or two
• Quarterly team events to share achievements we’re proud of (no matter how big or small) plus an annual event that brings together our team and customers

Our commitment to Diversity and Inclusion:

We make hiring decisions based on your experience, skills and passion, as well as how you can enhance HEO and our culture. Research shows that women and underrepresented groups are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single competency or experience. If you are excited about this role, but your past experience doesn't align perfectly, we encourage you to apply anyway. You could be just the right person for this role and HEO. If you have any support or access requirements, we encourage you to advise us at time of application and throughout the interview process.

The successful candidate must be an Australian citizen and will be required to undergo a background check.

We kindly request no unsolicited resumes or approaches from recruitment agencies. HEO is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes. The successful candidate will be required to submit to a background check. Please refer to our privacy policy regarding how your data will be handled: https://www.heospace.com/policy-html