Staff Software Engineer, Enterprise Services

About the role

BlackSky is a real-time intelligence company that owns and operates the world's most advanced space-based intelligence platform. We provide customers with satellite imagery, automated analytics, and high-frequency monitoring of strategic locations, economic assets, and events globally. This role is remote and candidates should ideally live near our Herndon, VA office.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain production-grade enterprise software using Java, Go, and Python
• Build and enhance distributed, API-driven microservices and backend systems
• Analyze user and system requirements to create scalable software designs
• Improve performance, reliability, and maintainability across existing systems
• Perform testing, debugging, and issue resolution throughout the development lifecycle
• Document system components, workflows, and code for future maintenance
• Support CI/CD workflows and cloud-based deployments in AWS environments

Required Qualifications

• A minimum of ten (10) years of professional software development experience
• Production-grade programming experience in Java; additional languages a plus
• Strong understanding of API-driven architectures and distributed systems
• Experience developing and maintaining microservices in enterprise environments
• Hands-on experience with AWS services and CI/CD pipelines
• Strong ability to troubleshoot complex system behaviors and performance issues
• Ability to clearly communicate and document technical concepts with cross-functional teams
• Strong communication skills for coordinating across engineering, DevOps, and customer teams
• Due to program requirements, this role requires US-born citizenship

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with containerized systems (Kubernetes/OpenShift)
• Familiarity with message-driven architectures (RabbitMQ, Kafka, SNS/SQS)
• Experience with relational databases and schema design (Postgres preferred)
• Experience working in secure, on-prem, or air-gapped environments
• Experience in defense, aerospace, or similar mission-critical domains
• Experience creating system diagrams, models, or architecture documentation

Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision, disability, group term life and AD&D, voluntary life and AD&D insurance
• BlackSky pays 100% of employee-only premiums for medical, dental and vision and contributes $100/month for out-of-pocket expenses!
• 15 days of PTO, 11 Company holidays, four Floating Holidays (pro-rated based on hire date), one day of paid volunteerism leave per year, parental leave and more
• 401(k) pre-tax and Roth deferral options with employer match
• Flexible Spending Accounts
• Employee Stock Purchase Program
• Employee Assistance and Travel Assistance Programs
• Employer matching donations
• Professional development
• Mac or PC? Your choice!
• Awesome swag