This is a future role. We're building a shortlist now and will contact you when it opens.
About us
Foundational is building the most precise picture of Earth and orbit, using lasers fired from the ground. We call it ground truth for orbit.
We design and run low-cost, autonomous satellite laser ranging stations. They measure the distance to satellites with extreme precision, day and night. Our data platform turns those measurements into tracking data and orbit products for satellite operators, space agencies and governments. We also build our own flight-proven laser retroreflector arrays, so any satellite can be tracked.
Our station network is expanding across Europe, South America, Africa and Australia. The data supports resilient navigation, Earth observation and the safe, sustainable use of space.
We're a small, fast-moving team of engineers, scientists and operators in London. We're backed by venture investors and supported by ESA, the UK Space Agency, Innovate UK and the European Innovation Council.
Position Overview
London · Full time · On-site
You'll keep our platform and station software running reliably, securely and repeatably, from the cloud out to remote sites.
What you'll do
Own cloud infrastructure, CI/CD and infrastructure as code
Build monitoring, logging and alerting across the platform and the stations
Manage secure remote access and software updates for a fleet of remote stations
Lead incident response and post-incident reviews
Strengthen our security posture and support security certifications
What you'll bring
Experience as a DevOps, SRE or platform engineer
Terraform, Kubernetes, Docker and CI/CD (GitHub Actions or similar)
Strong Linux and networking fundamentals
Experience with a major cloud provider (AWS, GCP or Azure)
A security-first mindset
Nice to have
Edge or IoT fleet management
Secure networking and VPNs (e.g. WireGuard)
Experience meeting government security standards
What We Offer
A high-impact role with real ownership at an early-stage, venture-backed spacetech company
EMI share options (UK employees)
25 Days Annual Leave + Bank Holidays
Enhanced Parental Leave
Cycle to work schemes
Work alongside engineers and scientists across optics, lasers, software and astrodynamics
Offices in central London, with snacks, tea, coffee and regular socials
We actively champion underrepresented groups and seek to bridge gaps in our workforce. If you're excited by the role but don't match every point, or you’re seeking a part time role, please apply anyway and add a note into your application. Building the best team is our priority.
Skills Required
- Experience as a DevOps, SRE, or platform engineer
- Experience with Terraform
- Experience with Kubernetes
- Experience with Docker
- Experience with CI/CD, such as GitHub Actions
- Strong Linux fundamentals
- Strong networking fundamentals
- Experience with a major cloud provider, such as AWS, GCP, or Azure
- Security-first mindset
- Edge or IoT fleet management experience
- Secure networking and VPN experience, such as WireGuard
- Experience meeting government security standards
What We Do
We're an early-stage, mission-driven startup tackling one of the most exciting and complex challenges today to create the most precise understanding of space and earth using ground-based lasers. Using satellite laser ranging (SLR) data we are empowering the next generation of space companies with exquisite data that allows new forms of resilient navigation, earth observation and precise space traffic control - essential for the sustainability and resilience of the space domain, resilient navigation an the future of earth observation.
