Staff Software Engineer

Urban Sky is a venture‑backed aerospace startup that pioneers the utilization of the stratosphere and reimagines the way humans view and analyze the earth. We design, build, operate, and sell stratospheric balloon systems, and the data we collect supports a wide range of applications, from real‑time wildfire monitoring to urban mapping. Our technology is also employed by government customers including the Department of Defense (DoD), NASA, and others. Urban Sky sends flight vehicles to the stratosphere on a weekly basis. Our team consists of engineers, makers, developers, and doers who believe in the power of human potential when passion meets utility within a small, supportive team. At Urban Sky we strive to create a team culture grounded in candor, inclusion, respect and empowerment. We aim to build the next chapter of stratospheric history in Denver and are seeking self‑starting, open‑minded, and hard‑working team members. About The Role We're looking for a Staff Software Engineer who wants real ownership in a fast‑moving environment. You’ll help design, build, deploy, and operate the software that runs Urban Sky’s manufacturing operation—a full‑stack MRP system that tracks inventory, work orders, bills of materials, quality holds, and serialized parts from receiving through final integration. You’ll work shoulder‑to‑shoulder with the people using the software every day—manufacturing technicians, logistics coordinators, quality inspectors, and finance. The interfaces you build are for operators, not consumers. A shop‑floor tech holding a tablet, scanning a barcode, working through a multi‑step assembly procedure—that’s your user. We operate in an aerospace‑regulated environment (AS9100). Every mutation needs an audit trail. Serialized parts need end‑to‑end traceability. You don’t need prior MRP or manufacturing experience. You do need to be excited—or at least not intimidated—by learning a complex business domain alongside the code. If you enjoy small teams and solving ambiguous problems, this role is likely a great fit. What You’ll Do Our overall software team is roughly 7 people, and this team will be just 2 people, everyone works across the stack. Senior engineers here build trust by shipping early and expanding their scope through demonstrated ownership. What We Need You to Do Right Away We expect senior engineers to become productive almost immediately. In your first days and weeks, you will: Set up your environment and start committing code within your first day or two. Learn existing systems by improving them, not by watching from the sidelines. Fix bugs, tighten rough edges, and ship small enhancements to production. Participate in deployments, debugging, and operational workflows. Use AI tools from the start to understand the codebase and accelerate contributions. Ask questions, propose improvements, and engage in technical decisions. You won’t be waiting for a long ramp period. You’ll build context by doing real work that ships. What You Will Grow Quickly Into Within your first couple of months, you will: Own meaningful areas of our stack across backend, frontend, and infrastructure. Lead design and implementation of projects that may span quarters. Make architectural decisions with an eye toward reliability, operability, and future change. Work directly with operators and stakeholders—often non‑engineers—to refine solutions. Drive systems from concept to implementation to production to iteration to support. Continuously simplify, improve, and evolve what you own. Help the team move faster by raising technical quality and reducing friction. By this point, you’re not just contributing—you’re a primary owner. There are no lanes to stay in and no handoffs to hide behind. All problems, from operator confusion to brittle systems, are engineering problems you own end‑to‑end. What We Are Looking For This is a senior role. We’re optimizing for experience, judgment, and adaptability. You likely have: 8+ years of professional software engineering experience. Strong fundamentals in system design, data structures, and architecture. Experience building and operating backend systems at scale. Solid instincts for data modeling, schema design, and SQL. Comfort with cloud infrastructure and modern DevOps practices. Experience owning production systems in environments that evolve quickly. Strong communication skills and the ability to collaborate as priorities shift. You probably enjoy: TypeScript and modern web development. Designing clean APIs and well‑structured monoliths. Thinking carefully about data models, schemas, and migrations. Infrastructure, reliability, and operational excellence. Mentoring others and raising the bar for the team. Learning quickly and adjusting course as new information emerges. Technologies (not a checklist) We currently work with technologies such as: TypeScript / JavaScript React, Vite, Mantine UI tRPC for API contracts PostgreSQL (raw SQL and migrations, not just an ORM) ClickHouse for analytics Playwright for end‑to‑end testing AWS, Terraform, Docker CI/CD pipelines You don’t need experience with every tool—but you should be comfortable learning new systems as the stack evolves. Benefits Salary $150,000 - $180,000 per year Stock Options Medical, Vision, and Dental Unlimited Vacation Days Urban Sky is required to post this salary range per Colorado law. Your salary will be determined based on your abilities and experience. Urban Sky is an equal‑opportunity employer, and we value diversity. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, merit, and business need. #J-18808-Ljbffr Urban-Sky