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Automation Architect

Open Cosmos

Open Cosmos

IT
Washington, DC, USA
Posted on Feb 15, 2026
CTO · MISSION OPERATIONS · Multiple locations · Hybrid

Automation Architect

Aim high, go beyond!

At Open Cosmos we are solving the world’s biggest challenges from space, providing businesses, governments and researchers access to more readily available information than ever before - ready for the challenge? Then read on…

The CTO division is where Open Cosmos technology comes to life. Covering engineering, product development, and technical innovation, the team designs, builds, and operates the satellites, systems, and platforms that make our missions possible. It’s a highly collaborative environment where ideas become real hardware, software, and data solutions that deliver impact from space.

Working across the full mission lifecycle, the Mission Operations team is responsible for safely operating our satellites once they are in orbit.

As we scale our missions and operations, we’re looking for an Automation Architect to define and shape the automation backbone that powers everything from mission control to production testing.

This is a high-impact, system-level role where you’ll sit at the intersection of mission operations, ground software, and production systems — designing automation that is scalable, maintainable, and future-ready.

What You'll Be Doing

You’ll be the technical authority for automation architecture across Open Cosmos space infrastructure — setting the direction, defining standards, and ensuring everything connects seamlessly.

You will:

  • Define the automation architecture for mission operations, including pipelines, interfaces, and frameworks

  • Establish design principles and standards to ensure long-term scalability and maintainability

  • Evaluate and integrate automation tools, technologies, and frameworks

  • Guide Automation Engineers on design decisions and implementation approaches

  • Review code, frameworks, and systems to ensure architectural alignment

  • Support ML Engineers with integration of models into operational workflows

  • Collaborate with OpenOPS on Mission Control System automation capabilities

  • Partner with OpenSat and OpenApp teams to embed automation into product and platform design

  • Support Mission Operations with automated workflows and procedures

  • Identify bottlenecks and continuously improve the automation ecosystem

  • Lead architectural reviews and define future enhancements

  • Maintain clear architecture documentation and technical guidelines

What You’ll Bring

  • The ability to design and build scalable, resilient automation systems and frameworks that support both mission operations and production environments

  • Confident with Python, Bash, or similar scripting languages to develop, integrate, and maintain automation across complex systems

  • Strong knowledge of CI/CD pipelines, orchestration tools, and system integrations to enable reliable, repeatable operational workflows

  • Ability to work with distributed and event-driven systems, understanding how data and processes flow across mission-critical infrastructure

  • Think in systems, patterns, and long-term architecture, designing solutions that are maintainable, extensible, and aligned to future mission needs

  • An aptitude to guide others and help raise technical standards across the team, providing clarity on design decisions and promoting best practice in automation engineering

For this role you can be based in any of our locations.

To apply, you must have the legal right to work in your chosen location.

Please submit your application and CV in English.

Why Open Cosmos?

  • Work at the cutting edge of space technology with customers around the globe.

  • A mission-driven company making space accessible to help solve real-world challenges.

  • A diverse, ambitious, and supportive team.

Division
CTO
Department
MISSION OPERATIONS
Role
Mission Operations Engineer
Locations
Harwell, UK, Athens, Greece, Barcelona, Spain, Porto, Portugal, Tenerife
Remote status
Hybrid

About Open Cosmos

Open Cosmos is dedicated to solving customer problems with insights from space. Whether this is monitoring agricultural yields, assessing the damage of oil spills or providing navigation solutions, we believe that data from satellites is the most effective and sustainable way of achieving this.

CTO · MISSION OPERATIONS · Multiple locations · Hybrid

Automation Architect

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