About the Company
Infinite Orbits Defence is the defense subsidiary of Infinite Orbits SAS, a NewSpace company founded in 2017 and headquartered in Toulouse, with more than 200 employees and offices in Luxembourg, the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany and Singapore, among others.
The Infinite Orbits group develops in-orbit services built on its own autonomous rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO) technology, covering space situational awareness, surveillance, inspection and protection of space assets, through to life extension.
Infinite Orbits Defence delivers mission-ready satellites to defense customers, in France in particular. It procures the group’s generic satellite platform from Infinite Orbits SAS and equips it with the payloads its customers need, for example payloads based on a range of sensors. Infinite Orbits SAS provides the platform, its subsystems and AIT engineering; Infinite Orbits Defence owns the mission, the payloads and the customer relationship.
We are building the founding team of Infinite Orbits Defence. If you are entrepreneurial, comfortable with uncertainty, want full ownership of what you build and want to make a real impact on space defense, join us.
About the Role
You will join a new project as Infinite Orbits Defence ramps up: a defense satellite program. You will own its camera and optical payloads from proposal through design, qualification and integration on the satellite, up to in-orbit acceptance, and help build Infinite Orbits Defence's optical expertise as the company grows.
You design the camera and optical payloads to meet the mission’s image performance requirements, develop and qualify them with suppliers and partners, and then support satellite integration and testing.
You work directly with defense customers on their imaging needs and expected performance, and are the technical point of contact for optical suppliers and partners.
You report to the Lead Mission Systems Engineer and work closely with the RF System Engineer and with the Infinite Orbits SAS platform and AIT teams.
Job Description
Requirements and architecture: Derive the optical payload requirements from the mission requirements (resolution, ground sampling distance, field of view, MTF, signal-to-noise ratio, spectral bands, pointing stability), define the payload architecture and lead trade-offs and make-or-buy decisions.
Image performance and accommodation: Analyze and predict mission image performance (observation geometry, illumination, revisit, image quality), own the image performance budget and specify payload accommodation requirements on the platform, including thermal and structural effects on the optics.
Development and qualification: Manage procurement and suppliers for payload hardware (optics, optomechanics, electronics, image sensors), define the alignment procedure and qualification plan, and lead sensor characterization and environmental testing to ECSS standards.
Proposals and payload management: Write the optical payload sections of proposals and funding applications (performance, heritage and TRL, risks), evaluate supplier bids and provide cost and lead-time inputs, then manage the payload schedule and budget.
Acceptance and delivery: Define and run end-to-end acceptance tests, deliver qualified payloads to Infinite Orbits SAS with their acceptance data and documentation, then prepare in-orbit calibration and performance validation.
Requirements
Master’s-level engineering degree in optics, photonics, space systems, electronics or a related field, or equivalent.
5+ years of systems engineering experience on space optical payloads, from design through integration, testing and qualification.
Expertise in optical design and tolerance analysis (Zemax, CODE V, FRED, LightTools, etc.) or optomechanical simulation (SolidWorks, CATIA, etc.), and good knowledge of optomechanical materials and space-qualified hardware.
Experience with optical calibration benches and electro-optical characterization of image sensors (CCD/CMOS) and their electronics.
Strong command of environmental testing and related standards (ECSS, NASA, MIL), including radiation hardening.
Experience in space surveillance, inspection or Earth observation imaging, or on defense or dual-use space programs, is a plus.
Structured technical writing and strong organizational skills, to coordinate suppliers and group teams and produce clear proposal and test documentation under tight deadlines.
Fluent French and English.
French nationality is required due to restricted-access projects. Holding a French defense security clearance is a plus but not required.
Frequent travel to customers and suppliers in France and across Europe.
What we offer
A founding technical role with direct ownership of the optical payloads of a defense satellite program.
A small, hands-on mission team, backed by the platform, subsystem and AIT expertise of the Infinite Orbits group.
Competitive salary and benefits.
Hiring process
Initial screening interview with HR
Interview with an engineering team lead from Infinite Orbits
Interview with the CEO of Infinite Orbits Defence