Principal Application Software Engineer

Principal Application Software Engineer

Los Angeles, CA

K2 is building the largest and highest-power satellites ever flown, unlocking performance levels previously out of reach across every orbit. Backed by $450M from leading investors including Altimeter Capital, Redpoint Ventures, T. Rowe Price, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Alpine Space Ventures, and others – with an additional $500M in signed contracts across commercial and US government customers – we're mass-producing the highest-power satellite platforms ever built for missions from LEO to deep space.

The rise of heavy-lift launch vehicles is shifting the industry from an era of mass constraint to one of mass abundance, and we believe this new era demands a fundamentally different class of spacecraft. Engineered to survive the harshest radiation environments and to fully capitalize on today's and tomorrow's massive rockets, K2 satellites deliver unmatched capability at constellation scale and across multiple orbits.

With multiple launches planned through 2026 and 2027, we're Building Bigger to develop the solar system and become a Kardashev Type II (K2) civilization. If you are a motivated individual who thrives in a fast-paced environment and you're excited about contributing to the success of a groundbreaking Series C space startup, we'd love for you to apply.

The Role

As a Principal Application Software Engineer on our Enterprise Team, you will design and build mission-critical software that connects engineering, manufacturing, and operations. Your work will directly enable accelerated satellite design, rapid production, and reliable mission execution. You'll collaborate closely with teams throughout K2 Space and deliver systems that improve efficiency, scale operations, and support ambitious missions.

Responsibilities

• Develop highly reliable software solutions used across K2 Space — from factory floors to mission control.
• Create and evolve applications that improve how we design, build, and operate our spacecraft.
• Partner closely with engineers, business partners, and leaders across disciplines to understand their challenges and design efficient solutions.
• Develop prototypes test concept and progress to full fledge software products.
• Own full-lifecycle product development from inception to happy customers.
• Lead architecture reviews, design discussions, and code reviews with your unique perspective.
• Lead software architecture design, deployment strategy, coding standards, and quality processes.
• Evaluate and make decisions regarding engineering options while balancing tradeoffs.
• Advocate, defend and convert other engineering leaders to your own solutions.
• Use data to drive prioritization of work and design of solutions to create the largest positive impact.
• Actively contribute to building a culture of transparency, empathy, integrity, and engineering excellence.
• Actively mentoring other staff members and help team members build good culture and engineering practices.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, information technology, mathematics or a STEM discipline or 15+ years of professional experience in software engineering.
• 10+ years of experience in full stack development, platform engineering, or API development.
• 5+ years of experience with AWS (or Azure, GCP)
• 5+ years of in-depth working experience with CI/CD such as GH Actions, Jenkins, Gitlab CI/CD.
• Working experience with Docker.
• In-depth working experience with Kubernetes (prefer AWS EKS).
• Expert working experience with one or more of the following static typed programming languages such as C#, Go, Java, C++, TypeScript.
• 5+ years of experience with structured database such as PostgreSQL, SQL Server, Snowflake or similar technologies
• Working experience with unstructured database such as NoSQL, Amazon DynamoDB, MongoDB or similar.
• Strong working experience with REST API or gRPC.
• Strong working experience with binary management platforms such as JFrog Artifactory, AWS CodeArtifact or similar technologies.
• Experience with infrastructure orchestration and management tools (Terraform, Ansible, Puppet).

Nice to Have

• Experience with Next.js, React, Angular, or similar frameworks.
• Working experience with testing tool such as Cucumber and Cypress.
• Experience designing scalable, high-performance software systems.
• Knowledge of build systems and package management tools (e.g., Make, Gradle, npm, pip).
• Familiarity with data streaming technologies like Apache Kafka, RabbitMQ, or similar.

Compensation and Benefits:

• Base salary range for this role is $190,000 - $230,000 + equity in the company
• Salary will be based on several factors including, but not limited to: knowledge and skills, education, and experience level
• Comprehensive benefits package including paid time off, medical/dental/vision/ coverage, life insurance, paid parental leave, and many other perks

If you don't meet 100% of the preferred skills and experience, we encourage you to still apply! Building a spacecraft unlike any other requires a team unlike any other and non-traditional career twists and turns are encouraged!

If you need a reasonable accommodation as part of your application for employment or interviews with us, please let us know.

Export Compliance: As defined in the ITAR, "U.S. Persons" include U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents (i.e., Green Card holders), and certain protected individuals (e.g., refugees/asylees, American Samoans). Please consult with a knowledgeable advisor if you are unsure whether you are a "U.S. Person."

The person hired for this role will have access to information and items controlled by U.S. export control regulations, including the export control regulations outlined in the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR). The person hired for this role must therefore either be a "U.S. person" as defined by 22 C.F.R. § 120.15 or otherwise eligible for a federally issued export control license.

Equal Opportunity: K2 Space is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with K2 Space is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.