Senior Software Engineer (Tactical Access)

Job description

- Senior Backend Software Engineer (Tactical Access) - Business Automation - Engineering - Location: Espoo, Finland - Reports to: Engineering Lead of Tactical Access squad - Contract type: Permanent - Hybrid, 3 days per week in the Espoo office - Employment is subject to applicable security screening (incl. SUPO) THE MISSION OF THE SENIOR BACKEND SOFTWARE ENGINEER You will own the backend systems that let customers plan and manage satellite tasking through Tactical Access, ICEYE's tactical customer access product. Tactical Access is customer-facing on two fronts, API and web, so this role sits at the intersection of backend engineering rigor and product ownership. You will design and operate the services and data models that power satellite tasking for real customers, and you will be trusted to make API design and reliability decisions that customers depend on directly, not just internal consumers. 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 operates internationally with offices in Finland, Poland, Spain, Japan, the UAE, Greece, and the US. The company has more than 900 employees, inspired by the shared vision of improving life on Earth by becoming the global source of truth in Earth Observation. EXPECTED OUTCOMES & REQUIREMENTS Outcomes - Own end-to-end delivery of at least one significant Tactical Access backend capability, from API design through production operation, with documented tradeoffs - Reduce production risk in owned services through improved observability (metrics, traces, alerting) and demonstrated root-cause fixes, not just symptom patches - Ship API changes that account for client/customer impact (versioning, backwards compatibility) with no unplanned breaking changes to integrators - Collaborate directly with product managers, customers, and other engineering teams to turn business needs into the right technical tradeoffs - Contribute full-stack when end-to-end delivery requires it, without backend ownership slipping as a result - Actively raise the engineering bar in code review and architecture discussions for the team, not just their own PRs Role-specific Competences - Production backend engineering experience in Go (or a closely comparable typed language) building and operating APIs and backend systems in production - API design and lifecycle ownership: versioning, backwards compatibility, and reasoning about customer impact of changes - Cloud (AWS) and container/orchestration experience (Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform); on-prem environment awareness is a plus - Data and messaging experience: PostgreSQL for storage, NATS for event-driven communication - Observability experience: building and maintaining dashboards and alerting with Prometheus, Grafana, and OpenTelemetry; comfortable distinguishing metrics, logs, and traces during a live incident - Treats testing, documentation, and code review as core engineering practice, not overhead - Applies security and quality best practices in a production, customer-facing system - Good experience in AI-assisted engineering tools (Cursor, Devin, or similar) - Familiarity with authentication/authorization standards (OAuth, OpenID Connect, JWT) and geospatial data (PostGIS, GeoJSON) KEY COMPETENCES In addition to the requirements above, we evaluate candidates on these key qualities throughout the hiring process: Intellectual Firepower: Rapidly comprehends, structures and synthesizes complex information, draws accurate conclusions, and communicates them with clarity. Passion & Work Ethic: Brings sustained motivation, resilience, and high personal standards to every challenge. Ownership & Action: Assumes full accountability for outcomes, acting decisively, and ensuring commitments are delivered. Team Player: Works collaboratively across teams, contributing to shared success, and engaging in constructive debate. Integrity & Growth Mindset: Operates with transparency and humility, learns from set