What are the responsibilities and job description for the Network Operations Center (NOC) Lead position at Intuitive Machines LLC?
Network Operations Center Lead
Houston Texas
About Intuitive Machines
Intuitive Machines is an innovative and cutting-edge space company making cislunar space accessible to both public and private customers. Our mission is to further science and exploration, communications, and economic progress from the Earth to the Moon and beyond. With the first commercial lunar landing in history, multiple NASA lunar missions in development, and additional private missions on our manifest, we pride ourselves in supporting our customers and the nation in paving the way to return humans to the surface of the Moon. Our world-class team includes experts in all aspects of spacecraft subsystems design, development, and test, on-orbit operations, and safety.
About The Position
The Network Operations Center (NOC) Lead will play a pivotal role in establishing and managing the NOC to oversee the Lunar Tracking, Telemetry & Command (LTN) Network. This individual will combine technical expertise, automation strategies, and leadership skills to design, implement, and operate the NOC, ensuring seamless automated monitoring, control, and support of the LTN's global infrastructure.
The ideal candidate will have a technical background, be unafraid of working in / around software development/developers, and can take ownership, lead, and collaborate across multidisciplinary groups while integrating cutting-edge automation technologies to reduce reliance on 24/7 human monitoring.
Immediate Responsibilities:
- Lay foundations for the design, implementation, and operations of a state-of-the-art automated Network Operations Center to monitor and manage the LTN.
- Lead development or implement tools, dashboards, and workflows for customer scheduling, real-time monitoring, fault detection, and performance optimization with an emphasis on a small team footprint and considering AI-driven automation and machine learning solutions
- Develop automated alerting and remediation processes to detect, diagnose, and respond to network and system issues without direct human intervention.
- Collaborate with engineering teams to ensure the NOC is integrated with self-healing LTN ground station infrastructure and operational systems.
- Establish automated standard operating procedures (SOPs), incident response plans, and escalation protocols for the NOC.
- Implement predictive maintenance systems to proactively identify and resolve potential issues before they impact operations.
Future Responsibilities:
- Oversee automated 24/7 operations of the NOC, ensuring continuous monitoring and optimal performance of the LTN.
- Coordinate with ground station operators and mission teams to ensure readiness for mission-critical events such as launches, landings, and operational phases, with minimal manual intervention.
- Build, train, and manage a high-performing automation-focused NOC team capable of handling real-time operations and support.
- Collaborate with Program Managers, Chief Engineers, and external stakeholders to align automated NOC operations with mission objectives.
- Act as the primary technical liaison for automated NOC-related discussions with partners, ground station operators, and mission operations teams.
- Prepare regular performance and operational reports for leadership and external stakeholders, utilizing automated analytics and reporting tools.
Required Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Telecommunications, Computer Science, or a related field.
- Exceptional leadership, problem-solving, and communication skills.
- 8 years of experience with some combination of, but not limited to: satellite communications, ground station operations, resource scheduling and mission planning, mission customer support, orbital dynamics spacecraft fault management and response, real-time operations of spacecraft.
- Strong understanding of automation frameworks, AI-driven monitoring, and network orchestration tools.
Desired Qualifications:
- 5 years of experience in network operations, satellite communications, or ground station management.
- Proven experience in designing, setting up, and managing an automated Network Operations Center.
- Expertise in network monitoring tools, automation platforms, fault management systems, and operational workflows.
- Strong understanding of computer programming, scripting, and AI-driven network automation (Python, Ansible, Kubernetes, etc.).
- Strong understanding of networking protocols (TCP/IP, BGP, MPLS, etc.) and their automation.
- Strong technical knowledge of telemetry, tracking, and command (TT&C) systems and frequency bands (S-band, X-band, Ka-band).
EEO Statement
Intuitive Machines is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by law.
