---
title: 'Lead Test Platform Engineer at Loft Orbital Solutions'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/lead-test-platform-engineer-loft-orbital-solutions-abu-dhabi-qq6mjpp8axd7'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-08'
---

# Lead Test Platform Engineer at Loft Orbital Solutions

- **Company:** Loft Orbital Solutions
- **Location:** Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-08-25
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-08
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/loftorbital/7a166a59-fc72-4418-b734-ad334d8daf36

## Job description

## Role Overview

The Lead Test Platform Engineer will be the technical owner of the end-to-end Test Platform environment used for spacecraft integration, verification, validation, and manufacturing. This is a senior, hands-on technical leadership role responsible for the architecture, development, integration, deployment, operation, and continuous improvement of spacecraft Test Stations, Test Benches, SIL/HIL environments, and associated EGSE/SCOE. The role requires someone who can operate across hardware, software, Linux infrastructure, networking, instrumentation, spacecraft interfaces, Electrical/RF GSE, and test automation, while providing technical direction to multidisciplinary engineering teams. A key focus will be moving from program-specific test setups toward reusable, configurable, reliable, maintainable, and scalable Test Platforms that can support increasing spacecraft production. The Lead Test Platform Engineer will work closely with Systems Engineering, AIT, Software, Avionics, Electrical, RF/Payload, Design Engineering, D2M, Industrial Operations, Infrastructure, and Program teams.

Must Haves:

- Significant engineering experience owning complex Test Stations, SIL/HIL platforms, integration environments, or similar multidisciplinary test systems.
- Demonstrated experience taking Test Platforms from requirements and architecture through build, integration, commissioning, deployment, and operational support.
- Strong hands-on hardware/software/system integration experience.
- Strong practical experience with Linux environments, networking, compute infrastructure, and system troubleshooting.
- Strong Python and scripting capability.
- Practical experience with Git/GitLab, CI/CD, containers, configuration management, and automated deployment.
- Experience integrating hardware, software, instrumentation, embedded devices, and communication interfaces within test environments.
- Ability to troubleshoot complex failures spanning hardware, software, networking, instrumentation, and system interfaces.
- Experience leading architecture/design reviews and root-cause investigations.
- Demonstrated technical leadership across multidisciplinary engineering teams.
- Strong systems-level thinking with the ability to remain technically hands-on.
- Strong cross-functional communication and engineering judgement.
- Ability to establish technical ownership, engineering standards, and scalable approaches rather than relying on one-off solutions.

Nice to Haves:

- Experience within spacecraft, satellite, aerospace, or similarly complex hardware development environments.
- Experience supporting AIT, spacecraft integration, verification, or manufacturing campaigns.
- Hands-on exposure to Electrical EGSE/SCOE and/or RF EGSE/SCOE.
- Experience designing or operating spacecraft electrical, RF, communication, power, or signal interfaces.
- Experience with instrumentation and data-acquisition systems.
- Experience working with embedded hardware or embedded devices within test environments.
- Experience developing or improving automated test execution, monitoring, diagnostics, and validation systems.
- Experience standardizing Test Platforms across multiple programs or products.
- Experience improving platform reliability, observability, backup/recovery, maintenance, calibration, or lifecycle management.
- Experience developing reusable platform architectures while balancing program-specific requirements with longer-term scalability.
- Previous experience mentoring engineers and building technical capability within a growing engineering team.

Ideal Profile The ideal candidate is a systems-level engineer and technical leader who is still comfortable getting hands-on. They can move between spacecraft interfaces, hardware, software, infrastructure, networking, and operations, bring structure to ambiguous technical problems, and create Test Platforms that become increasingly predictable, reproducible, maintainable, and scalable as the organization grows.

Orbitworks' mission is to make space simple for organizations that want to deploy physical and virtual missions to space. Building on Loft Orbital's heritage, Orbitworks will be the first commercial firm in the United Arab Emirates to mass-manufacture satellites. Orbitworks aims to manufacture tens of satellites annually and operates out of a 50,000-square-foot facility in Abu Dhabi.

## About Loft Orbital Solutions

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Loft Orbital is a space infrastructure company that provides simple, fast, and reliable ways for customers to deploy and operate physical payloads and software missions in low Earth orbit.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series C – $170M round announced, total funding $326.9M)
- **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, United States (with additional offices in Golden, Colorado and Toulouse, France)
- **Founded**: 2017
- **Founders**: Not listed in provided sources

## Core Business
- **Primary Industry**: Defense and Space Manufacturing
- **Target Customers**: B2B – commercial space startups, established aerospace and defense primes, cloud and AI companies, and government agencies worldwide (including U..S, France, Canada)
- **Mission/Purpose**: “Space Made Simple” – enabling customers to focus on their mission while Loft handles end-to-end space infrastructure

## Products & Services
- **Physical Payload Missions**: Loft integrates, tests, launches, and operates customer hardware payloads on its standardized satellite platforms (e.g.., optical, hyperspectral, RF sensors).
- **Virtual / Software-Only Missions**: Customers can deploy software directly to Loft’s on-orbit satellites to process and analyze data in near-real time (e..g., AI edge processing via partners like SkyServe, SSCI).
- **YAM (Yet Another Mission)** satellites: A fleet of multi-mission satellite buses available for rapid deployment; Loft maintains an inventory of pre-assembled platforms.
- **Hub & Cockpit**: Proprietary hardware and software abstraction layers that simplify payload integration and satellite operations.
- **Loft Federal**: A FOCI-mitigated division focused on US national security space missions (only US citizens).

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed (total funding $326..9M – LinkedIn)
- **Key Metric**: Total Funding $326..9M (8 rounds incl. $170M Series C); Annual Revenue estimated $27..8M (LinkedIn)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Lead seed investor Uncork Capital; partners include Honeywell (Canadian Space Agency mission), Wyvern (Dragonette constellation), Esper, Helsing, SmartSat CRC, EarthDaily ($150M constellation), SkyServe, SSCI, Airbus OneWeb Satellites (15 bus order).
- **Growth Signals**: 270 employees (+14.9% YoY), 41k+ LinkedIn followers (+41.4% YoY), 14 satellites launched, 60+ customers, 15+ AI missions on-orbit, selected as prime contractor for France’s first space-based radar imaging program.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Standardized Satellite Platform**: Uses a commodity satellite bus with custom hardware/software layers, eliminating non-recurring engineering and enabling “turnkey” plug-and-play.
- **Speed to Orbit**: Maintains an inventory of pre-assembled buses and pre-booked launches, drastically reducing lead times compared to traditional aerospace.
- **Flight Heritage**: Over 600 copies of the bus in orbit today, providing proven reliability
- **Misson Agnosticism**: Can fly any payload that fits within standard platform constraints; supports both physical and virtual missions.

## Strategic Focus
- **Expand AI Edge Computing**: Deploying onboard AI processing (e..g., STORM from SkyServe, POET experiment for SDA) to enable near-real-time decision making.
- **National Security Growth**: Loft Federal continues to win US government contracts.
- **Constellation Scale-Up**: Partnering with EarthDaily for $150M satellite constellation; ordering 15 additional buses from Airbus OneWeb.
- **International Partnerships**: Strengthening ties with France (prime contractor for radar imaging) and Canada (SmartSat CRC, Honeywell).

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Collaborative, respectful, professional environment described as “non-negotiable.” Rated 4..5/5 on LinkedIn (35 reviews) with Culture 4.5, Compensation 4.1, Work-Life 3.6, Career 4.2.
- **Wor Environment**: Distributed team with core hubs in San Francisco, Golden (CO), and Toulouse. Supports remote collaboration but roles may require on-site presence (per job listings). Recruiting process involves intro call, technical screening, challenge, and hiring panel.
- **Notable Perks**: Opportunity to work on cutting-edge space infrastructure with a fast-growing company; involvement in both commercial and government missions; international team.

## Sources
1. [loftorbital..com](https://loftorbital.com/)
2. [loftorbital.com/about/](https://loftorbital.com/about/)
3. [loftorbital.com/careers/](https://loftorbital.com/careers/)
4. [jobs.lever.co/loftorbital](https://jobs.lever.co/loftorbital/)
5. [linkedin.com/company/loft-orbital](https://www.linkedin.com/company/loft-orbital)

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