About Fleet Space Technologies
Fleet is a space-enabled exploration technology company on a mission to dramatically accelerate the discovery of critical minerals needed to decarbonize our global economy.  Electric vehicles and other clean energy technologies are vital elements of the world’s efforts to combat climate change, and these will demand many times more critical minerals than today, with an incremental value of over USD $13 trillion.  At the same time, finding new mineral deposits is becoming more challenging as we increasingly exhaust the supply of shallow deposits and are forced to explore deeper underground.  Traditional exploration methods are poorly suited to address this challenge, so a new approach is needed.

Our approach is to combine space technology, proprietary seismic sensors, cutting edge Ambient Noise Tomography, and machine learning to provide the world’s first scalable 3D exploration dataset with near-real-time insights to guide active exploration programs far more efficiently to new deposits.  This is Fleet’s flagship product, ExoSphere – a space-enabled solution for mineral exploration in real-time, in 3D, and under cover with very low environmental impact.  Since launching ExoSphere in March 2022, Fleet has signed contracts with over 30 clients including Rio Tinto, Barrick Gold and Core Lithium and completed over 120 Ambient Noise Tomography surveys, more than any other company in the world.

As part of Fleet’s founding vision to connect the Earth, Moon, and Mars, we also apply our technology to innovative solutions for defense and space exploration, including an upcoming mission to the Moon.  Headquartered in Adelaide, South Australia, Fleet has rapidly grown to over 100 employees including a growing team in the USA, Canada, and beyond.  We have raised over AUD $85M in venture funding, backed by premier investors including Blackbird, Grok, and In-Q-Tel.

The Team
The Science Team at Fleet Space Technologies is composed of team-oriented technical experts who are driving innovation in exploration technology for use on the Earth and beyond it.  As the core developers of ExoSphere, we are at the forefront of several fields all at once – seismology, exploration geology, and machine learning to name a few.  We are creative, combining space technology and in-house sensors with computational geophysics and machine learning to unlock geological insight from the subsurface in a way that nobody else has tried before. And we are bold, applying this technology not just on the Earth, but on the surface of other planetary bodies in our solar system.  It’s not rocket science, but it’s close! One must not only bring proven technical expertise, but also be open minded, agile, and adaptable to solve challenges that could very well change our world (and others beyond).  We value diversity of perspective, journey, industry experience, skillset, working style, communication preference, and identity; the fact that we come from over 28 nationalities only reinforces our commitment to Inclusion & Diversity.

As a business, we are ambitious, innovative, and collaborative and we put our customers first in everything that we do. We love celebrating our successes, and we have had a lot to celebrate to date including Series C Funding and selection of our technology to be among the first Australian hardware to be deployed on the Moon.  We are a diverse group of professionals who have come together for one purpose – to build spacecraft for explorers of new worlds with a mission to connect Earth, Moon and Mars.  Come help shape the future through this fantastic opportunity!

Core Values
The Core Values at Fleet Space Technologies guide us to our North Star of ambitious, collaborative success – AD ASTRA (“To the Stars!”) 

• Add Value: Obsessively add value for our customers
• Drive Excellence: Benchmark against the best
• Agile Action: Take Action. Independent, fast, frugal action
• Seek Truth: Be curious. Explore
• Take Responsibility: Make decisions and own them
• Radical Ideas: We are unique. We do things differently
• Always Deliver: We always find a way to get it done on time

The Role
Fleet Space Technologies will be developing a satellite bus (large cubesat/small microsat) for Fleet’s satellite constellation and for later satellite opportunities.  It is an exciting program, with the satellite bus development starting from a clean slate.  The intent would be to develop inhouse satellite hardware and software and incrementally deploy this across multiple generations of satellites.  The ultimate goal is to be fully vertically integrated.  This is a multi year project with strong support from the Fleet Co-founders.

We are seeking an Aerospace Engineer/Manager with at least 5 years prior experience in the development of a satellite bus, preferably with exposure to top level system architecture and strategy. The successful candidate would provide overall strategic direction to the program.  Fleet are after someone who has done it all before and knows where the pitfalls are and how to avoid them.

There is opportunity to allow the creative juices to flow and to make a deeply meaningful contribution to the satellite bus development program from scratch.  Reporting to the Head of Satellites & Mission, the Principal Satellite Architect will work closely with the Spacecraft Lead Engineer, System Engineers and with the Satellite Technical Program Manager as well as the various engineering teams.

Location
The satellite development team will be based in Adelaide (Beverley), however for this position it is acceptable to work remotely, but with regular travel to Adelaide, South Australia as the need arises.
***Applicants must have full working rights in Australia.  

Main Responsibilities
This role will be responsible for, but not limited to:

• Develop the top level strategic plan for the satellite bus development program
• Develop systems architecture of the satellite bus
• Be the Fleet Satellite Bus Subject Matter Expert
• For each subsystem and module, lead the buy vs build trade
• For the buy option, assist with selection of vendors and if necessary the writing of RFTs
• For the build option, provide technical support and guidance to the engineering design teams both directly and through the Spacecraft Lead Engineer
• Work with the Satellite Technical Program Manager to ensure the projects are completed on time and within budget
• Work with the software team to provide top level technical direction for Flight Software and Command and Data Handling
• Communicate project progress and technical information to internal and external stakeholders
• Provide assistance with the development of guidelines and standards for the design of satellite bus hardware and software
• Participate in design reviews and other technical meetings related to the Fleet satellites
• Represent Fleet and present results at relevant conferences
• Stay up to date with latest advancements in Satellite Bus technology

Key Skills and Required Experience

• Bachelor’s (Tertiary) Degree in Aerospace Engineering or a related area of study is required; advanced degree preferred
• At least 5 years of experience in the development of a satellite bus, preferably with exposure to top level satellite bus system architecture and strategy.
• Strong knowledge of engineering principles, design standards, and manufacturing processes
• Excellent communication and empathetic leadership skills
• Strong problem-solving and analytical skills
• Global citizen with the willingness to travel for client visits, conferences and to the field as needed
• Must have full working rights in Australia

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

Tagged as: satellite bus