Flight Team Lead

Bright Ascension Ltd; City of Edinburgh; Hybrid; GBP 48,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

36 days paid holiday

Health Cash Plan

Enhanced maternity and paternity pay

Company events and team building activities

Job summary

A cutting-edge aerospace company in Edinburgh is seeking a Flight Team Lead to oversee the development of flight software. The ideal candidate will provide technical leadership and manage a team of engineers, driving innovation and excellence across projects. Key skills include C programming for embedded systems and a collaborative spirit. This full-time position offers a competitive salary, flexible working hours, and opportunities for personal development, all aimed at pushing boundaries in the space industry.

Qualifications

• Experience with full lifecycle of software engineering.
• Ability to work with abstract software engineering concepts.
• Experience writing C for embedded platforms.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Flight Software team to develop and enhance flight software.
• Engage with customers to gather requirements for products.
• Drive product ownership while ensuring technical excellence.

Skills

Problem-solving

Programming skills in C

Understanding of operating system concepts

Team leadership

Communication skills

Education

Degree in Engineering or related field

Tools

Git

Linux

CI/CD tools

Job description

We are looking for an experienced andskilled Software Engineertolead our Flight Software teamas we approach our next exciting period of growth.

As a key member of our team,theFlightTeam Leadwillhaveownership of ourspacecraftflight software product,Flightkit.Flightkitis across-platform flight softwaredevelopment kitwhich helps usersrapidlyproducemodular, reusableflight software through amodel-based software engineering (MBSE) approach.As thetechnicalownerof theproduct,you wouldbe responsible forits ongoing development;andwould work with customers,engineersand product management to shapeitfor success.

The Flight Team Leadwillalso drive the development ofnew products within the flight software area.In this role you wouldprovide vital engineering input while working with our commercial team to define,plan and deliverthese ambitious new products to our customers.

The role requiresa motivational leaderto manage ateam of engineers:workingwith them onchallenging technical problemsandacting as a role model of engineering excellence.As a team lead, you would also helpyour team tounderstand the wider commercial context of their work, encouraging them to develop and growinline withtheir interests.

We see this role as being full time, although this is negotiable. Ideally, we would like this role to be based inEdinburgh on a hybridto allow for regular interaction with the teams responsible forProductManagement,CustomerDelivery andOperations, Finance,People,SalesandMarketing.

What you will do

As a member of the Product Engineering team, reporting to the Head of Product Engineering, your key responsibilities would be:

Technical leadership

• Apply your excellent engineering skills to produce elegant designs and solutions tomeeta wide variety of technical challengesin flight software development.
• Communicatethese designs and solutionsto others, especially the engineers on your team,to help raise the quality of flight software solutions across our business.
• Use your broad experience of software engineering toassistwithimplementation and troubleshootingwhere othershave run into difficulty.
• Workwith your team tobuilda strong culture of qualityanddrive-uptechnical standards.Diligentcode reviews,a solidunderstanding of effectiveembeddedsoftware testingandtheuse of analysis toolswould all form part of your repertoire.

Product ownership

• Take pride in the products you develop andchampiontheir capabilitiesin conversations withinternal and externalcustomers.
• Engage with customers and stakeholders to understand the various requirements on your products. You willbe usethat understanding to develop your product roadmaps alongside commercial team members.
• Combine your understanding of your customers’ needswithyourowncreativeand innovative approachtogeneratenew ideasand features which willmake your products a joy to use.
• As theFlightkitproduct owner, you would set the standard by which flight software and flight software development processes are judged across our business.

Technical management

• Takean activeroleinteammanagement processes to helpplanwork,control developmentrisksandshape the delivery of features.
• Help your team developself-management skills bymaintaininga focus on risk management, simple and effective implementations, and a resistance to overengineering.
• Provide technical solutions to management difficulties through the effective use of CI pipelinesandexcellentend-to-end documentationof user needs, developmenttasksand product releases.

Team leadership

• Provide line management and pastoral team leadership to the engineers on your team by supporting career development, holding regular 1:1 meetings and conducting annual reviews.
• Lead by example,demonstratingexcellent development practices, while encouraging a constructive dialogue in all technical decisions.
• Foster a culture of collaboration, continuous improvement and knowledge sharing within the team, and between the team and others.
• Helpmaintaina focus on realistic planning and continuous delivery among team members.

Essential skills & experience

We see experience with the following as essential to the job:

• Experience with the fulllifecycle of software engineering in a team environment, from requirements captureanddesignthrough todevelopmentand testing.
• Ability to work with abstract software engineering concepts and design patterns across languages and environments.
• Excellentproblem-solving andprogramming skillsusing portableC across multiple platforms.
• Experiencewriting C for software running on at least one embedded platform.Ofparticular relevanceareARM Cortex-M-baseddevices.
• Very goodunderstanding ofoperating system concepts and multi-tasking approaches in a variety of contexts.
• Experience with low-level hardware interactions, including theability to read and interpret documentation for hardware peripherals, communication protocols and offboard devices.
• A wealth of experience of software systems which you can draw on when diagnosing and debugging issuesencounteredduringdevelopment orreported by customers.
• Experience of at least one other programming language besides C. Ofparticular relevanceare Java and Python.
• Experience developing software using Git in a Linux environment, and an understanding of CI/CD principles.
• Demonstrable ability to learn new engineering approaches and technologies quickly and effectively.

Personal skills

We’re especially looking for someone who has:

• A passion forcreativeproblemsolving andan appreciation for thebalance betweenpragmatismandelegance which great engineering requires.
• Diligence and good attentiontodetailin all areas of your work.
• The ability to self-direct, set your own priorities andmanage conflicting demands on your time.
• Theabilitytocommunicateclearlywithcolleaguesofdifferenttechnicalskill levels,attitudesand backgroundsinbothtechnical and commercial conversations.
• The desire tomake a strong contribution to the business, financially but also in terms of team culture and values. You enjoy making an impact and shaping howyour organisation works.
• A curiosity towardsnew skills,new technologiesand new ways of working.

We think that the following skills would definitely be valuable in this role:

• Experience ofspacecraft flight software engineering, spacecraft systems engineering or spacecraft operations would all bebeneficial, though not essential.
• Familiarity with embedded Linux distributions andtools such assystemd,BusyBoxandYocto. Experience building kernels, working with device treeoverlaysand producing filesystem images would also be valuable.
• Ability to work directly with embedded hardware and debug issues withinterrupt- and DMA-driven devicedrivers for UART, SPI, I2C and CAN communications.
• Familiarity withFreeRTOS,RTEMSor other resource-constrained real-time operating systems.
• Understanding of software testing approachesand how they can be appliedto embedded systems.Ofparticular relevanceareCMockand Unity.
• The ability toautomate development processes where necessary using scripts written in bash,Pythonor otherappropriate languages.
• Experience with CI/CD pipeline design, Docker, GitLabandother DevOpstechnologies would be a definite advantage.

What we can offer you

• A competitive salary in the range of £48k-£65k depending on experience, with regular reviews.
• A fantastic opportunity to join a growing, innovative, employee-centred business pushing boundaries in the space industry.
• Flexible hours and hybrid working, enabling you to create your ideal work life balance.
• 36 days paid holiday per annum.
• Enhanced Company Sick Pay and Long-Term Sickness cover.
• A Health Cash Plan to cover costs such as dental, physio and optical.
• Life Assurance cover (x4 salary).
• As a member of the Bright Ascension team you would have a stake in the business through our Employee Benefit Trust.
• Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay.
• Opportunities for international travel for exhibitions and trade shows.
• Investment in you and your skill development and the opportunity to attend relevant events and conferences to aid career / skill development.
• Company events and regular activities for social engagement and team building.
• An open, supportive, inclusive environment where you can explore your ideas and make a big difference to the product and business.

About Bright Ascension

We are a fast growing, innovative company changing the way that software is developed in the space industry. With customers across the world, ranging from universities and space agencies, to commercial organisations and start-ups, our core technologies enable our customers to develop and operate space-based systems and services faster, more cost effectively and more reliably.

Innovation is at the heart of what we do and it is our team which drives that innovation; this is reflected in our commitment to employee ownership, which gives all of us a voice, and a stake, in our current and future success. With offices in Dundee, Edinburgh and Bristol we now have more than 50 members of staff and plans to expand significantly over the next 12 months. We are at a very exciting time in our ambitious growth plans and have fantastic opportunities for talented individuals to join our team.

Our Values

We worked together to identify and shape the values that underpin everything we do, our actions, our vision and all things Bright Ascension.

Enjoy what you do and have fun. Be curious and be fearless. Unconventional ideas and passion are the paths to true innovation.

Sharing knowledge helps the team thrive. Start a dialogue and win through teamwork. Success comes through collaboration and support.

Respect & Integrity

Recognise differences and accept opinions. Integrity, respect and high standards create unbreakable trust and builds reputation.