Spaceflight Embedded Flight Software Engineer

Master in Integrated Building Systems ETH Zürich; Zürich; Vor Ort; CHF 120.000 - 180.000; Vollzeit

Zusammenfassung

ETH Zurich Space is seeking a Flight Software Systems Engineer to join a multidisciplinary team developing space missions and instruments. You will contribute from concept through verification and operations, implementing embedded software in C/C++ on resource-constrained platforms, interfacing with avionics, payload, and ground systems.

The role is fixed-term for two years with potential extension, based in Zurich.

Qualifikationen

• Master’s degree in computer science, electrical engineering, computer engineering, aerospace engineering, robotics, or a related field.
• 5+ years of professional experience in flight software, embedded software, or mission-critical software systems.
• Strong programming skills in C and C++ for resource-constrained embedded targets.
• Experience with real-time operating systems, embedded Linux, or bare-metal development.
• Experience in software systems engineering, including architecture definition, functional decomposition, hardware-software allocation, requirements management, and interface control.
• Ability to translate mission and spacecraft requirements into software specifications, operational concepts, and verification strategies.
• Experience integrating flight software with avionics hardware, sensors, actuators, communication buses, payloads, or ground systems.
• Understanding of telemetry and telecommand, onboard data handling, timing, autonomy, fault management, and spacecraft operations.
• Hands‑on experience with software integration, debugging, automated testing, and hardware-in-the-loop environments.
• Experience with configuration management, version control, release processes, technical baselines, and requirements traceability.
• Strong analytical, organizational, and communication skills, with the ability to work effectively in multidisciplinary and multicultural teams.
• Knowledge of radiation effects, redundancy, memory protection, watchdogs, and FDIR.
• Excellent command of English; German is an advantage but not required.

Aufgaben

• Take technical ownership of flight software developments and act as the primary software interface to systems engineering, avionics, payload teams, mission operations, and external platform providers.
• Translate mission concept of operations into spacecraft behaviors and define flight software architectures and functional decompositions.
• Allocate hardware-software functions, and define associated software requirements and interfaces.
• Translate mission and system requirements into software specifications, interface control documents, operational concepts, and verification plans.
• Develop embedded flight software in C and C++ and supporting tools and test scripts (e.g., Python), including device drivers, telemetry and telecommand handling, onboard data management, application software, and fault-management functions.
• Integrate flight software with onboard computers, sensors, actuators, payload electronics, communication interfaces, ground systems, and externally supplied spacecraft platforms.
• Set up and maintain flat-sat flight software testbeds.
• Perform software-related trade studies covering processing capacity, memory, timing, bandwidth, autonomy, reliability, and fault tolerance.
• Develop real-time, event-driven, autonomous, synchronization, and GNC-related software functions where required.
• Establish and maintain software baselines, configuration control, versioning, build automation, continuous integration, release management, and requirements traceability.
• Develop and execute flight software unit tests, conduct integration, software-in-the-loop, processor-in-the-loop, hardware-in-the-loop, and system-level verification and validation activities.
• Support software risk management, anomaly investigation, non-conformance handling, and technical review boards.
• Support spacecraft and payload assembly, integration, and test activities, commissioning, in-flight software updates, telemetry analysis, and mission operations.
• Contribute to technical reviews, early-stage mission concepts, proposals, and software feasibility studies.
• Provide technical guidance to junior engineers, researchers, and student teams.

Kenntnisse

C/C++

RTOS

Embedded Linux

Python

Telemetry/Telecommand

Software architecture

Requirements engineering

Interface definition

Debugging

Ausbildung

Master's degree in CS/EE/CE/Aerospace/Robotics

Tools

SpaceWire

CAN

ECSS/NASA standards

Jobbeschreibung

ETH Zurich Space is seeking a Flight Software Systems Engineer to join a multidisciplinary team developing space missions and instruments. You will contribute from concept through verification and operations, implementing embedded software in C/C++ on resource-constrained platforms, interfacing with avionics, payload, and ground systems.

The role is fixed-term for two years with potential extension, based in Zurich.