Senior System Engineer (Ground Systems Hardware)

Job description

- Senior System Engineer (Ground Systems Hardware) - Location: Espoo, Finland - Department: Platform & Release Engineering - Reports to: Platform & Release Engineering Lead - Employment type: Permanent - Workplace model: Hybrid / Office - Employment is subject to applicable security screening (incl. SUPO) WHY THIS ROLE MATTERS: As a Senior System Engineer (Ground Systems Hardware), you’ll design and validate mission-critical ground hardware systems that enable ICEYE’s satellite operations, ensuring performance, reliability, and scalability across demanding environments. WHO WE ARE ICEYE delivers space-based intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities to governments and allied nations. This includes sovereign and turnkey ISR missions leveraging ICEYE’s world-leading synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite technology, as well as access to data from the world’s largest SAR satellite constellation. These capabilities enable partners to detect and respond to critical changes anywhere on Earth with unprecedented speed and accuracy, day or night and in any weather, supported by ultra high-resolution imagery and high-frequency revisits. As a trusted partner for defense, intelligence, security, and maritime domain awareness, ICEYE’s near real-time data creates a tactical advantage for mission-critical operations. Designed for dual use, the platform also serves civil protection and commercial users for natural-catastrophe intelligence, insurance, maritime monitoring including oil-spill detection, and finance, contributing to global security and community resilience. ICEYE is headquartered in Finland and operates globally across Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific. We have more than 900 employees, united by a shared vision: improving life on Earth by becoming the global source of truth in Earth Observation. YOUR DAY-TO-DAY RESPONSIBILITIES - Design, integrate, and validate ground hardware systems at system level - Define and maintain hardware specifications, interfaces, and performance requirements - Conduct system modeling and identify design gaps and improvement opportunities - Own validation and acceptance testing, including test plans, setups, and final sign-off - Collaborate with product, systems, manufacturing, and operations teams to align designs with requirements - Ensure documentation accuracy, configuration control, and version management - Apply expertise in compute, power, and environmental systems to ensure reliability in operations - Drive continuous improvement of integration and testing processes WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR MUST HAVES: - 5 to 8+ years of experience in systems engineering for hardware-based products - Strong experience with virtualization technologies such as VMware, including vSAN and HCI - Strong networking knowledge including switches, VLANs, routing, and firewalls - Experience with storage systems such as Cloudian or Dell, including object storage concepts - Experience with server hardware platforms and rack-level design considerations - Strong background in hardware integration, validation, and environmental testing - Experience defining and managing technical specifications and system interfaces - Strong documentation, configuration management, and communication skills in English Nice to haves: - Experience with edge compute platforms and on-premise deployments - Familiarity with ruggedized hardware and environmental compliance testing - Experience with system modeling tools or requirements management systems - Understanding of ground systems, mission operations, or ISR architectures - Experience in satellite, earth observation, or defense systems APPLICATION PROCESS - Recruiter screening - Hiring manager interview - Technical task - Technical panel interview - Final interview WORKING AT ICEYE At ICEYE, you’ll join a diverse and highly engaged team united by the ambition to make the impossible possible. As a global scale-up, we combine speed and ambition with the opportunity to take real ownership from day one. Your growth, wellbeing, and success are a priority, with continuous professional development, training opportunities, and a culture where collaboration is how we win. HOW WE WORK (OUR VALUES) 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 th