Company Description

On May 31, 2023, Viasat completed its acquisition of Inmarsat, combining the teams, technologies and resources of the two companies to create a new global communications partner. 

About Viasat 

Viasat is a global communications company that believes everyone and everything in the world can be connected. With offices in 24 countries around the world, our mission shapes how consumers, businesses, governments and militaries around the world communicate and connect. Viasat is developing the ultimate global communications network to power high-quality, reliable, secure, affordable, fast connections to positively impact people's lives anywhere they are—on the ground, in the air or at sea, while building a sustainable future in space.

Chief Operations Office 

The Chief Operations Office (COO) plays a vital role managing the services that keep our business running and delivering to our customers. COO consists of 9 functions including: Satellite Operations, Network Operations, Service Assurance, Service Delivery Aviation and Customer Assurance, Service Delivery and Supply Chain, Project Management Office, Global Cyber Security and Group IT

Job Description

Primary purpose of the position:

Working in the Safety Systems Engineering team, part of Platform Engineering within the Network Operations function of COO, the Senior Engineer for IRIS and Aero Safety Operations, is responsible for supporting the portfolio of aviation safety services that Inmarsat deliver today and in the future.  This includes the upcoming IRIS ATN service as well as the existing SwiftBroadband Safety and legacy Classic Aero services.

The successful candidate will be required to ensure that aero safety services are operating correctly at all times, responding to incidents, taking corrective action where needed, and proactively managing both the short-term (e.g. system faults, configuration changes, security vulnerabilities) and long-term (e.g. future enhancements) operation of these services.

Background on Inmarsat Aeronautical Safety Services

The Classic Aero service use SATCOM terminals that operate over Inmarsat’s existing I3 and I4 satellite constellation alongside the Inmarsat owned Classic Aero Ground Earth Station (GES) network. The system provides Safety Services for both voice and data (ACARS) into the cockpit.

SwiftBroadband (SB) Safety provides the same voice and data services as Classic Aero but delivered over the newer Inmarsat I4/I6 satellite and ground network using an IP based 3GPP network. It provides safety communications services with a high service availability, a reliable and high quality of service and a high degree of security.

Classic Aero and SB-Safety support ATS and AOC operations in oceanic and remote airspace, including FANS operations, while capable of extension to ATS support in other airspace, including long-range and short-range operations over continental airspace.

IRIS introduces SATCOM as a provider of Aeronautical Telecommunication Network (ATN) services over continental airspace (initially targeted at ECAC but with intent to expand into other regions of the world) to provide ATS communications between aircraft and Air Traffic Service Providers (ATSPs). The ATN network operates with the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) protocol stack. An external Iris Service Provider (ISP) is charged with delivering Iris services to ATSPs within Europe today and to which Inmarsat liaise for service delivery.

Key responsibilities of the position:

• Responsible for the day-to-day operation of the IRIS, SwiftBroadband Safety and Classic Aero services
• Strive to become a Viasat Subject Matter Expert for the aero safety systems and services above
• Responsible for supporting the life cycle management of the systems supporting the aero safety services within the scope of the team's responsibility
• Ensure the availability of aero safety services and follow any issues to resolution with suppliers or partners as required
• Providing a third-line response to faults and failures and working to resolve them logically, methodically and efficiently. Involves working closely with other COO teams such as Global Aero Operations or Customer Care
• Manage changes and enhancements to aero safety services/systems such that service availability is not compromised
• Participate in change control boards internally and externally (ISP, vendors) as required
• Work with equipment manufacturers, software suppliers and other internal and external stakeholders to propose and assess changes and/or enhancements to the aero safety services
• Maintain operational documentation relating to aero safety services/systems and support continual improvement of those documents and processes
• Participate in an after-hours on-call support rota

Qualifications

Essential Knowledge and skills:

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in a suitable technical discipline such as Electronics, Telecommunication, Computer science, or similar
• Significant experience in telecommunications technologies, an understanding of IP-based mobile networking technologies and ideally satellite or mobile communications systems
• Significant hands-on experience with managing, maintaining, and upgrading operational systems
• Strong analytical and debugging skills
• Good oral and written communication skills, able to express ideas and describe problems clearly and succinctly and establish good working relationships with peers and other teams
• Self-motivating, flexible, ability to work individually or as part of a team and be able to work and manage multiple overlapping activities

Desirable Knowledge and Skills:

• Familiarity with our safety-related services and systems
• Knowledge of satellite communications principles
• Knowledge of ATN OSI network architecture and protocols (AGR, GGR, ES-IS, IDRP, CLNP, TP4)
• Knowledge of aeronautical standards and processes; ICAO, ARINC, RTCA, Eurocae, Certification, especially Aeronautical Telecommunications Network (ATN), and existing Air Traffic Datalink Service standards
• Familiarity with ticketing systems, incident management and change control tools and processes
• Knowledge of networking technology and protocols including routers, switches, firewalls, TCP/IP, UDP, BGP, HTTP(S), SSL/TLS, SSH, SNMP etc.
• Knowledge of IT security practices and technologies including IPSec and PKI.
• Knowledge of Cloud Computing Services
• Knowledge of various operating systems usage and administration (Windows and Linux)
• Programming/scripting experience (e.g., C, C++, C#, perl, python, java, HTML, etc.)

Additional Information

You must be eligible to work in this location advertised.

Our culture and ways of working 

Our values define our culture and represent what we believe in. Viasat employees aspire to behaviours that support our values, which create a stronger working environment and lie at the heart of our continued success as an organisation. 

• Customer – we provide a unique value to our customers 
• Accountability – we take ownership, we deliver results, and we keep our promises 
• Respect – we collaborate, we embrace and celebrate diversity and we value difference 
• Excellence – we create bold solutions for our customers and put quality at the heart of everything we do 

We also value and encourage a healthy work-life balance, so we offer flexible working wherever possible. Depending on the operational requirements of your job and your team, we can offer compressed hours (nine-day fortnight), hybrid office-remote working, and flexibility during your working day to take care of personal commitments. 

Diversity

We want the best people for the job, and we warmly welcome applications from you if you’re suitably qualified and eligible, regardless of your sex, gender, age, race, ethnicity, disability, sexuality, gender identity, neurodiverse qualities, religion or belief, marital status, pregnancy, or maternity status. 

We are signed up to the Halo Hair Code, which aims to protect employees who come to work with natural hair and protective hairstyles associated with their racial, ethnic, and cultural identities. 

To give you the best experience possible during your application process and interview, we can make adjustments. For example, if you’re visually impaired we’ll happily meet you locally and help you find your way to our office, or if you have neurodiverse qualities, we can provide you with additional support to help you prepare for your interview. Please let our Resourcing Team know if there are any ways in which we can support you.