Senior Operations Specialist (Solar Stratospheric Aircraft Mission Planning)

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THE MISSION OF THE SENIOR OPERATIONS SPECIALIST (HAPS MISSION PLANNING)

As Senior Operations Specialist (HAPS Mission Planning), you will shape where, when and how ICEYE's stratospheric, solar-powered electric aircraft flies. You will build and maintain the operational weather picture before and during each flight, identify the right windows to launch, fly and recover, and turn weather, airspace, aircraft performance and energy constraints into a safe and achievable mission plan that you keep up to date as conditions evolve.

The role is deliberately broad. Beyond mission planning, you will contribute across the Operations team: preparing and executing flight test campaigns, supporting ground control station operations, assessing flight results and feeding them back into the aircraft's development, and helping build the procedures and tools of an operations capability that will scale as the program grows.

• Build and maintain the operational meteorological picture before and during the flight, using the available tools (forecast models, radiosondes, lidar and aircraft data), drift planning, and identify weather and terrain-related hazards relevant to the flight profile.

• Identify suitable launch, flight and recovery windows and communicate them to the flight crew.

• Develop and maintain the mission plan (route, altitude, speed profile and timing), customer mission goals, integrating weather, airspace, aircraft performance, aircraft health and energy constraints.

• Continuously assess predicted cut-down and debris impact zones to keep the planned trajectory within the permitted ground impact area.

• Maintain readiness for degraded operations for a return-to-home mission profile in case re-planning of a return is necessary or in case of the plane entering a degraded operational mode due to a mechanical or electrical servicing need.

• Monitor aircraft progress against the plan, update it when required, and coordinate mission planning and meteorological decisions with the flight crew and engineering teams.

• Contribute to the planning, preparation and execution of flight test campaigns, including site preparation, pre-flight checks, launch and recovery activities.

• Take on other crew positions or ground control station duties as operational needs require, building versatility across the Operations team.

• Analyse flight data after each flight, report results and translate findings into improvements for the aircraft, its systems and operating procedures.

• Develop and maintain operational procedures, checklists, emergency procedures and operations documentation.

• Develop and improve monitoring, analysis and planning tools used by the flight crew, such as telemetry dashboards and energy or thermal estimation tools.

• Support aircraft integration, ground testing and simulation activities, and contribute to the training and qualification of crew members.

• Support safety and risk assessments for operations and, when needed, coordination with aviation authorities and external partners.

• Role: Senior Operations Specialist (Solar Stratospheric Aircraft Mission Planning)

• Department: HAPS

• Location: Valencia, Spain

• Working type: On site, with limited remote working

• Employment is subject to applicable security screening (incl. SUPO, where required)

• Programming or scripting skills for data analysis and tooling (e.g. Python; C/C++) a plus.

Make the impossible possible: We set ambitious goals and stay calm under pressure. We bring grit, optimism, and ownership when things get hard, and we keep moving until we find a way.

• Be curious: Go deep, ask questions, listen carefully, and think critically. Understand the "why" behind decisions.

• See the big picture: Stay close to what's happening across the company so you can make better decisions. Consider how your work affects others.

• Drive effective teamwork: Create psychological safety, invite different perspectives, and build inclusive teams. There are no bad questions.

• Act as one team: We win together. We match tasks to the right owner and stay agile as priorities shift.

• Have fun: What we do matters, and it should be enjoyable. Celebrate progress, take pride in results, and share the wins.