Founding Lead Avionics & Software Engineer

Founding Lead Avionics & Software Engineer Equity: 0.3% – 1% depending on experience About Us We're a stealth team building space hardware at the edge of what's currently possible — high-stakes, flight-grade systems where the engineering bar is unforgiving and the upside is enormous. While we can't share full details yet, our founding and early engineering team includes talent from SpaceX, Northrop Grumman, and Starpath, the group includes people who've pulled off feats almost no one else on Earth has. Role Overview We are seeking a Founding Lead Avionics & Software Engineer to own the avionics and flight software stack from first principles — the flight computers, electronics, buses, and software that command, control, and keep our spacecraft alive. This is a senior technical leadership role. You will not only define and execute the avionics and flight software architecture, but also help build the engineering team, set technical standards, mentor engineers, and establish the systems, processes, and culture required to develop flight-grade hardware and software. This is not a narrow board-design or coding role. You will own the full stack: avionics architecture, flight computers, C&DH, sensor and actuator interfaces, the flight software that runs on top, fault management, and the test infrastructure that proves it all works. You will make system-level trades across hardware, software, sensors, autonomy, power, and reliability. The ideal candidate has direct experience with spacecraft avionics, flight software, embedded systems, hardware bring-up, integration and test, and technical team leadership. We recognize that very few people have all of this. What matters most is that you have exceptional fundamentals, have led real systems from concept toward flight, have managed or mentored engineers in high-performance technical environments, and can operate independently in ambiguity while making sound engineering tradeoffs. You will have direct ownership over one of the company's core technical challenges. Key Responsibilities Own the avionics and flight software architecture, from early design through development, integration, test, qualification, and flight. Lead the design of flight electronics: flight computers, command and data handling (C&DH), sensor and actuator interfaces, and the boards and buses that tie the vehicle together. Lead the development of flight software: real-time embedded software, device drivers, board support packages, bootloaders, command and telemetry handling, scheduling, and fault management. Architect fault detection, isolation, and recovery (FDIR), safe modes, watchdogs, redundancy, and fault tolerance appropriate for flight-grade autonomous systems. Define avionics interfaces and bus architecture (e.g., SpaceWire, CAN, Ethernet, MIL-STD-1553, RS-422/485, SPI, I2C, UART, LVDS) and the command/telemetry protocols on top of them. Provide technical leadership across avionics, flight software, embedded, integration, and test efforts. Help hire, manage, mentor, and develop avionics, embedded, and flight software engineers as the team grows. Establish engineering processes, code and design review standards, technical decision-making norms, and verification discipline appropriate for flight-grade systems. Build the test infrastructure: flatsats, hardware-in-the-loop and processor-in-the-loop rigs, EGSE, automated test, and continuous integration for flight software. Help define requirements, interfaces, error budgets, verification plans, and fault-handling approaches for the avionics and software subsystems and the broader vehicle. Select, integrate, and test avionics hardware, including processors, FPGAs/SoCs, memory, and EEE / rad-tolerant parts, working with vendors and internal teams as needed. Drive board bring-up, debugging, and root-cause resolution across hardware and software, on the bench and during integrated test campaigns. Work closely with GNC, power, propulsion, mechanical, systems, and mission operations to close interfaces and deliver an integrated flight system. Work closely with the founders and early engineering team to shape the technical roadmap, engineering culture, hiring plan, and long-term avionics and software strategy. Represent the avionics and software function in cross-disciplinary design reviews, customer conversations, investor diligence, vendor discussions, and mission planning as needed. Basic Qualifications Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical discipline. 8+ years designing, building, testing, or flight-qualifying avionics, flight software, or embedded systems for spacecraft, launch vehicles, aircraft, robotics, or other high-reliability systems. Prior experience leading technical workstreams, managing engineers, mentoring junior and mid-level engineers, or building high-performing engineering teams. Demonstrated ability to own complex hardware/software systems from early architecture through implementation, test, validation, and operational readiness. Strong fundamentals in embedded systems, real-time software, and digital electronics. Proficiency in embedded C and/or C++ (Rust a plus) and experience with at least one real-time operating system (e.g., FreeRTOS, VxWorks, RTEMS) or bare-metal embedded development. Experience with avionics hardware: schematic capture, board-level design review, digital interfaces and buses, and hardware bring-up and debugging. Experience with fault-tolerant design, FDIR, watchdogs, redundancy, and safe-mode behavior. Experience taking software and hardware beyond the bench into integration, hardware-in-the-loop, processor-in-the-loop, or representative testbeds. Lab fluency: comfortable with oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, debuggers, EGSE, and test automation. Ability to work independently with limited direction, identify the right next problem to solve, and drive technical work from ambiguity to tested hardware or software. Ability to make practical system-level tradeoffs across performance, schedule, cost, reliability, testability, and mission risk. Ability to lead through influence in a cross-functional environment spanning GNC, power, propulsion, mechanical, systems, and mission operations. Highly Valuable Experience We do not expect every candidate to have all of the following. The strongest candidates will likely have depth in some areas and the ability to quickly learn the others. Demonstrated flight heritage — avionics or flight software you helped develop that has flown and operated on orbit. Experience leading avionics, flight software, embedded, or integration and test teams. Experience managing engineers in a startup, aerospace company, defense contractor, launch company, robotics company, or other high-reliability technical environment. Experience designing spacecraft C&DH, flight computers, or integrated avionics units. Experience with rad-tolerant or rad-hard avionics, single-event-effect mitigation, EDAC, scrubbing, and memory protection. Experience with FPGAs or SoCs (e.g., Xilinx/AMD Zynq) and HDL development (VHDL/Verilog). Experience with spacecraft communications and protocols, including CCSDS, SpaceWire, MIL-STD-1553, or CAN. Experience with bootloaders, secure boot, and on-orbit / over-the-air flight software update mechanisms. Experience with ground software, telemetry and command systems, or mission operations tooling. Experience with continuous integration, automated test, software-in-the-loop, and flatsat-based verification for flight software. Experience with cybersecurity for embedded or flight systems. Experience designing test infrastructure developed internally, including flatsats, HIL/PIL rigs, avionics test benches, EGSE, and integrated avionics test campaigns. Experience with formal requirements, V&V, flight qualification, mission assurance, fault trees, hazard analysis, or safety-critical software standards (e.g., NASA NPR 7150.2 or comparable). Experience selecting, purchasing, integrating, and testing avionics hardware, working with vendors, evaluating datasheets, and navigating supply chain and EEE parts issues. Experience transitioning avionics and flight software from prototype through flight operations, anomaly response, and post-flight reconstruction. Experience in early-stage startups, small high-performing teams, or environments where engineers must own broad technical scope. Experience recruiting, interviewing, closing, and onboarding exceptional technical talent. Who You Are You are an exceptional avionics and/or flight software engineer with strong fundamentals and the ability to reason from first principles. You are a technical leader who raises the bar for the people around you. You have managed, mentored, or led engineers before and know how to create clarity, accountability, and momentum in ambiguous environments. You are comfortable owning large, ambiguous, mission-critical problems without waiting for detailed direction. You can move fluidly between hardware, software, the bench, integration, test, team leadership, and system-level tradeoffs. You are not just interested in writing code or laying out boards; you want to see them work on real hardware, in real environments, under real constraints. You are excited by flight-grade systems that have to work the first time. You are willing to learn unfamiliar domains quickly and deeply, whether that means FPGAs, radiation effects, RTOS internals, cybersecurity, supply chain, hardware qualification, or flight operations. You have strong opinions loosely held. You can defend a technical position, accept feedback, change course when the system demands it, and make appropriate tradeoffs in support of the mission. You are collaborative, low-ego, and rigorous. You want founding-level ownership and are motivated by building a company, not just completing assigned tasks. You are excited to help build not only the product, but also the engineering organization behind it. Benefits Health Insurance — We cover the full base premium for Blue Shield's Bronze plan. If you would like more coverage, you can upgrade to the Gold plan and cover the difference in premium. You are also welcome to add dependents and a spouse to your plan. Dental & Vision — We cover the base premiums for both dental and vision through Guardian. Coverage for dependents and a spouse is available as well. 401(k) — We offer a 401(k) with a 4% company match. Equity — You will receive meaningful equity in the company, so you share in what we build together. PTO & Sick Time — We offer unlimited PTO and sick time, and we trust you to take the time you need to rest and recharge. Why Join Us? Build ambitious, world-first space hardware alongside an exceptional technical team. Own the avionics and flight software that run the entire vehicle. Build and lead one of the most important technical functions at the company. Work on systems where hardware, software, autonomy, and operations all have to come together. Define the product, culture, technical standards, and trajectory of a breakthrough company from the beginning. Take on significant technical and organizational challenges and create outsized impact. ITAR / Citizenship Requirements To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a: (i) U.S. citizen or national; (ii) U.S. lawful permanent resident, also known as a green card holder; (iii) refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157; (iv) asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158; or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.