Senior Flight Software Designer (6+ month Contract)

LinuxCareers; Toronto; On-site; CAD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity plan

Health/dental/vision insurance

Unlimited vacation

Parental leave

Holiday shutdown

In-office team events

Relocation packages

Professional development fund

Job summary

Kepler Communications seeks a senior-level contract engineer to design and maintain embedded Linux flight software for space and ground assets. You will influence system design, build environments, and interfaces with mission-critical reliability.

You will own embedded Linux builds (Yocto/OpenEmbedded), develop C/C++ software for space platforms like Zynq MPSoCs/Versal, and contribute to flight software that handles command, telemetry, fault tolerance, and on-orbit operations.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or equivalent.
• 7+ years of embedded development experience in aerospace or relevant industry.
• Strong proficiency in C/C++ with experience in resource-constrained, mission-critical systems.
• Strong embedded Linux experience including application development, system integration, debugging, kernel modules, device trees, and drivers.
• Experience owning and maintaining embedded Linux build systems using OpenEmbedded/Yocto.
• Experience developing Linux-based software for Xilinx Zynq MPSoCs, Versal SoCs, or comparable platforms.
• Understanding of flight software concerns such as fault tolerance and deterministic behavior.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to use Git.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop embedded Linux applications and platform software for space and ground systems.
• Develop flight software for command/control, telemetry, fault detection, and on-orbit operations.
• Own and maintain embedded Linux build environments using OpenEmbedded/Yocto.
• Design and integrate flight software interfaces with ground software using HTTP APIs, ZeroMQ, and Protocol Buffers.
• Provide technical leadership and participate in code reviews.

Skills

Embedded Linux

C/C++

Yocto/OpenEmbedded

Xilinx Zynq MPSoCs/Versal

Flight software

Git

Kernel modules/Device trees

Deterministic behavior

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or Electrical Engineering

Tools

OpenEmbedded/Yocto

Git

HTTP APIs/ZeroMQ/Protocol Buffers

Job description

Kepler Communications is building the world's first commercial optical data relay satellite constellation. This senior-level contract role focuses on developing and maintaining flight software and embedded Linux software for space and ground-based assets across a growing spacecraft fleet, with direct influence on system design and operations.

What You'll Do

• Design and develop reliable, high-quality embedded Linux applications and platform software for both space and ground systems
• Develop flight software applications supporting spacecraft command and control, telemetry, fault detection and recovery, resource management, and on-orbit operations
• Own and maintain embedded Linux build environments using OpenEmbedded/Yocto, including layers, recipes, system images, SDKs, and build troubleshooting
• Design and integrate flight software interfaces with ground software using HTTP APIs, ZeroMQ message buses, and Protocol Buffers
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to junior engineers; participate in software and code review processes

What You Need

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or equivalent
• 7+ years of embedded development experience in aerospace or relevant industry
• Strong proficiency in C/C++ with experience developing reliable software for resource-constrained, mission-critical systems
• Strong embedded Linux experience including application development, system integration, debugging, kernel modules, device trees, and drivers
• Experience owning and maintaining embedded Linux build systems using OpenEmbedded/Yocto
• Experience developing Linux-based software for Xilinx Zynq MPSoCs, Versal SoCs, or comparable platforms
• Understanding of flight software concerns such as fault tolerance, deterministic behaviour, resource constraints, and operational reliability
• Excellent communication skills and ability to use git

Nice to Have

• Master's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field
• Experience developing software for aerospace applications
• Experience deploying and supporting containerized software using Kubernetes on embedded Linux systems
• Experience with NVIDIA Jetson-class hardware
• Experience developing multi-stage bootloaders
• Python development experience

Competitive compensation with robust equity plan, comprehensive health/dental/vision insurance including dependents, unlimited vacation, supportive parental leave, company-wide holiday shutdown, semi-annual parties, in-office team events, relocation packages available, $1,500 annual professional development fund