Backend Engineer

Tokyo
Partial Remote
Full-time
April 11, 2024

As a member of the Data Production Department, your role will involve contributing to the development and operation of the spacecraft control subsystem for the 'StriX' series of small SAR satellites. This subsystem is responsible for operating our satellite constellation.

This subsystem has three main roles: creating operation plans for our satellites, generating commands for them, and calculating specific information about their orbits. As we are developing this system in-house, we will also be responsible for operating it and adding new functions in the future. This position aims to introduce/update quality assurance activities to the system.

The spacecraft control subsystem is crucial for our daily satellite operations, and you will be involved in its development and maintenance.

You will also be involved in developing and maintaining the subsystem at the core of our business. The subsystem interacts with our data platform, which is used for the frontend to customers, and the data processing subsystem that generates SAR products.

We plan to rapidly expand our satellite constellation and require more stable satellite operation with less personal effort. You can showcase your skills and grow by achieving these requirements.

Job requirements

Minimum qualifications:

Experience with system development on GCP or AWS.
Experience of development with more than 3 members
Experience in development with Go for 3 years.
- Experience with building gRPC or RESTful API backend workloads in Go in the context of a microservice based architecture.
- Has strong expertise with concurrency patterns in Go.
- Has a strong grasp over various kinds of software architecture patterns in Go (Such as Clean architecture, etc).
Able to commute to our Tokyo head office.

Preferred qualifications:

Experience working in the space domain (ground system development is the best).
Experience developing with Python (building apps with Django and Celery is preferred).
Worked as a leader or sub-leader in system developments.
Experience introducing quality assurance (CI/CD, integration tests, system tests) to projects.

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About Synspective

Synspective is a space start-up that provides business solutions based on data from satellites. Founded in 2018, they develop and operate their own synthetic aperture radar satellites.

While most start-ups in the Earth Observation sector are limited to one area such as data analytics or the development of satellite hardware, Synspective handles everything from developing satellites to data analytics to building solutions for clients based on this infrastructure.

With an emphasis on data, Synspective aims to become a true one-stop-shop player for solutions based on satellite data. With SAR satellites that apply the results of the Japanese Cabinet Office’s “ImPACT” program, Synspective’s goal is to create a platform capable of frequent data collection, and sell or use that data to offer solutions for government and business entities.

Synspective’s culture is defined by their concept of “Human Centered Design for Company”. They’re striving to build a strong organization that relies on the performance of each individual. To that end, they provide a flexible environment where specialists can work autonomously, empowering members to work whenever it enables them to do their best work.

Since the company is entering into a market that’s still developing, optimizing for the performance of each individual is essential for the success of the company’s business. They also want to support members in expressing their own ideas and hypothesis since they know that the satellite business still has many open questions.

Synspective is an organization full of highly-motivated specialists, so each full-time employee is on a 6-month contract. Members’ performance is evaluated every six months, and those who’ve made major contributions are rewarded for their effort. This also helps maintain an environment where everyone can work freely and independently among people focused on improvement and growth.

Synspective's policies during COVID-19 are as follows:

During COVID-19 all of their members are working from home. *They’ve opened up hiring for overseas candidates for a few positions.
Synspective was already working remotely before COVID-19 for most roles.

Japanese Language Policy
Synspective’s Japanese requirement varies based on the position, but they only require Conversational Japanese skills for developers. Being able to speak business level Japanese will come in handy however. Official company events use English, but day-to-day communications can depend on the team.
Paid Leave
Synspective’s PTO policy consists of annual paid leave following Japanese labor law.

The first year an employee joins, they’ll receive ten PTO days, plus Saturdays and Sundays and all Japanese public holidays off.

Each year the number of PTO days they’re granted will increase by one (e.g. 11 days granted in year 2) up to a maximum pursuant with Japan’s labor laws.
Benefits
💹 Employee stock option plan

💻 New tech gear

👩‍🎓 Skill development support

💛 Support for attending conferences

💜 Seminar participation support

👶 Parental Leave

🧡 Social security / insurance benefits included

🏥 Healthcare insurance

💚 Pension insurance
Remote Work
Employees are completely free to work remotely or from the office. In fact, Synspective is planning to support full remote work even after COVID-19.

However, we ask that everyone live close enough to commute to the office if necessary.
Work style
Full flex time with core time from 11:00AM to 3:00PM
Synergy of Spirit

As part of Synspective, we embark on this journey together, bringing with us our combined experiences and life. As a team, we recognize that the team’s goals are my personal goals, and my goals are the team’s goals. We each share a part of the responsibility to succeed. I constantly communicate to align my efforts with our goal. I manage my energy and time to maximize team performance. I give more than I take. I provide value when needed and I take responsibility for my own behavior.

Synthesis of Knowledge

We try to create new value under conditions that have huge uncertainty and volatility. The only way for us to succeed is to progress through trial and error that we learn from and make changes based on our new knowledge. I listen actively and respectfully to others’ opinions, consider it logically and examine my assumptions, and discuss it with my team constructively. I learn by doing and building upon our experiences. I aim to achieve better results with every new attempt. I accelerate the collective learning process by openly sharing experiences and knowledge with my team.

Synched with the Future

We have an obligation to create a sustainable future for the next generations. To do so, we must tackle tough challenges as pioneers, leaving our comfort zones that prevent our growth. I recognize that a smart failure is a step toward success and try to learn from the past to solve new issues in the future. I set aggressive goals and divide them into sprint-victories in order to continue to tangibly advance and make progress. I consider the future, prepare for it, and actively engage in making it happen with quick actions and decisions.