Principal Flight Software Engineer

Principal Flight Software Engineer

Location: Denver, Colorado (Onsite)

Type: Permanent, full-time

Building satellites is one thing. Commanding and controlling them once they are in orbit is another.

We are working with a high growth American aerospace and defence communications company that designs, manufactures and tests advanced communication systems and satellites entirely in US facilities. This is a business scaling fast, with more customer demand across government, defence and commercial aerospace than they can currently handle.

Their flagship satellite programme launches its first mission in October this year, with 8 launches secured through 2029. It is one of the largest, most powerful LEO satellites being built.

They are now looking for a Principal Flight Software Engineer to act as technical leader for spacecraft flight software on this programme. This is a small, high impact team building many systems from scratch, working in a fast-iteration environment where requirements evolve and engineers own real subsystems rather than a slice of one.

What you'll be doing:

• Acting as technical leader for spacecraft flight software, from architecture through to in-orbit operations
• Writing embedded C code from scratch for real-time command and control of the satellite
• Working within the NASA cFS (Core Flight System) framework
• Reviewing code and system designs, and analysing code for efficiency, stability and scalability
• Hands-on development and troubleshooting of software systems and hardware, including motors and power distribution units
• Supporting software quality assurance and optimising I/O performance
• Supporting integration, test and mission operations
• Working closely with GNC, hardware and mission operations teams
• Assessing third-party and open-source software for use across the platform
• Presenting design review material to customers and the executive team, and contributing to proposal-writing efforts
• Mentoring junior engineers and acting as a subject matter expert across the software team

What we're looking for:

• 9+ years of industry experience with a Bachelor's degree, or 7+ years with a Master's, in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering
• Satellite or spacecraft flight software experience, ideally with prior tech lead or subsystem ownership
• Strong hands-on C programming
• C++
• Experience developing multiple flight software systems
• Hands-on development and troubleshooting of software systems and hardware
• Comfortable working with changing requirements and fast iteration cycles
• Experience interfacing a variety of open-source software to create an integrated system
• Familiarity with software configuration management tools, defect tracking tools and peer review
• Excellent understanding of multi-threaded applications and resource management
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, this role includes customer facing design reviews

Nice to have:

• Experience with NASA cFS specifically
• Experience operating systems you have built through to production
• Broader embedded systems experience across C and C++
• Familiarity with ARM processors and fully-featured microcontrollers
• Experience with satellite operations or mission data systems, including COSMOS
• Experience designing and developing a Software Development Kit (SDK)
• Ability to read electronics schematics and component data sheets

Why join:

• Be part of a confirmed, launching mission, not a roadmap promise
• Small team structure with genuine ownership of systems end to end
• Full-time employment includes company stock options and a generous benefits package covering health, dental, vision, HSA, FSA, life, disability and retirement plans

Please note: due to US Government Space Technology Export Regulations, applicants must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, conditional resident, asylee or refugee, or otherwise eligible to obtain the required authorisations from the U.S. Department of State.

Apply now or contact Ciara Holmes at EVONA for a confidential conversation.