Engineering Manager, Ground Software

True Anomaly, Inc.; Denver (CO); On-site; USD 160,000 - 270,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health coverage for you and dependents

Company equity

Generous PTO and holidays

Parental Leave

401(k) and retirement

Dog Fridays

Job summary

True Anomaly, Inc. is seeking an exceptional Engineering Manager, Ground Software to lead a cross-functional team developing our distributed ground software system.

You will define the architectural roadmap, drive strategic technical investments, and shape the product direction while growing engineers who will build the next generation of our platform. This high-impact leadership role offers world-class benefits, flexible work hours/location, and a generous stock options package.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of software engineering experience with 4+ years leading teams
• Hands-on depth in back-end (Elixir/OTP or equivalents) or front-end (React/TypeScript)
• Proven ability to hire and develop engineers in fast-moving environments
• Balance hands-on coding with people leadership
• Experience coordinating cross-functional teams for shared outcomes
• Strong understanding of distributed systems integration patterns
• Experience establishing engineering processes and incident response

Responsibilities

• Build and lead a cross-functional squad of front-end, back-end, and full-stack engineers
• Own delivery, quality, and team health; run sprint rituals
• Conduct 1:1s and grow engineers along technical and management paths
• Make informed architectural decisions across the stack
• Drive the technical roadmap and assess where capabilities belong
• Champion investments in testing, observability, tooling, and debt reduction
• Partner with Product Owner on scope, timelines, and trade-offs
• Coordinate across Ground Software squads and with stakeholders
• Lead incident response and post-mortems to prevent recurrence
• Shape future squad patterns as the organization scales

Skills

Team leadership

Distributed systems

Elixir/OTP

React/TypeScript

Cross-functional collaboration

Communication

Security clearance

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS or related field

Tools

Elixir/OTP

Erlang/Go/JVM

React/TypeScript

gRPC/REST/WebSockets

Phoenix framework

Job description

OUR MISSION

True Anomaly delivers decisive capabilities for space superiority. We build autonomous spacecraft, advanced payloads, mission software, and space-based interceptors — enabling the U.S. and its Allies to secure the space environment and counter threats from the ultimate high ground.

OUR VALUES

Be the offset. We create asymmetric advantages with creativity and ingenuity.

What would it take? We challenge assumptions to deliver ambitious results.

It’s the people. Our team is our competitive advantage and we are better together.

BENEFITS & PERKS *

• Best-in-class healthcare: 100% company-paid medical, dental, and vision coverage for you and your dependents, with HSA/HRA options
• Generous time off: Flexible Time Off (FTO) for exempt employees, accrued PTO of up to 25 days for non-exempt employees, plus 12 paid holidays; Parental Leave; Sick Leave
• Fuel for your day: Daily catered lunch and unlimited snacks for in-office employees
• And more: 401(k) retirement plan, fitness reimbursement, and Dog Fridays
• Equity participation: Equity is included as part of our total compensation package, giving you an opportunity to share in the company’s success.
• *Do not apply to fixed term and temporary roles

YOUR MISSION

Software is the central nervous system for True Anomaly's engineering and product thesis. Software bridges the gap between military objectives, theoretical astrodynamics and the human and autonomous control of spacecraft and ground systems in time and space. True Anomaly is seeking an exceptional Engineering Manager, Ground Software to lead a team of talented engineers driving the direction and evolution of our distributed, multi-faceted ground software system.

This is a high-impact, strategic leadership role. You'll build and develop a cross-functional team of front-end, back-end, and full-stack engineers, define and drive the technical roadmap for your product area, lead cross-functional initiatives that span engineering, product, and operations, and establish the architectural and operating foundations that will scale our ground platform for years to come. You'll identify strategic technical investments, champion them across the organization, and lead their execution. You won't just ship features; you'll shape the product direction, influence company objectives, and grow the engineers who will build the next generation of our platform. When you see systemic issues affecting reliability, velocity, or quality, you'll diagnose root causes, build consensus around solutions, and drive organizational change to address them.

You do not need to have experience building space ground systems or experience in aerospace. You'll lead high-priority initiatives with strategic importance to the company and a chance to fundamentally impact the outcome of future conflict (and the future of the company), all while enjoying world-class benefits including platinum healthcare, flexible work hours/location, highly competitive compensation and a generous stock options package.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Build, lead, and develop a cross-functional squad of front-end, back-end, and full-stack engineers who own a Mosaic product area end-to-end
• Own the squad's delivery, quality, and team health, running sprint rituals that serve the work and protecting the team's ability to focus
• Run effective 1:1s, give timely and specific feedback, and grow engineers along both technical and management career paths
• Stay close enough to the code to earn trust and make informed decisions, contributing directly when the situation calls for it
• Drive the technical roadmap for your product area, including the recurring judgment of whether a new capability belongs in the product or in the shared Mosaic platform layer
• Champion strategic technical investments — testing, observability, internal tooling, debt reduction — and make the case for the engineering time they require
• Partner with the Product Owner as the technical counterpart in defining scope, timelines, and trade-offs
• Coordinate cross-team work with other Ground Software squads on shared APIs, components, and platform capabilities
• Manage the squad's relationship with Space Operations, the Simulation team, DevOps, and other stakeholders through structured channels
• Lead incident response when production issues affect operators, and drive blameless post-mortems that prevent recurrence
• Help define what a product-aligned squad looks like at Mosaic, establishing patterns that will shape future squads as the organization scales

QUALIFICATIONS

• 7+ years of software engineering experience, with 4+ years building and leading engineering teams that ship production software
• Hands-on technical depth in either modern back-end systems (Elixir/OTP, or comparable concurrent/distributed runtimes such as Erlang, Go, or the JVM) or modern front-end systems (React/TypeScript), with enough working knowledge of the other side of the stack to make informed architectural decisions and lead cross-functional work credibly
• Track record of hiring and developing high-performing engineers in fast-moving environments
• Demonstrated ability to balance hands-on technical contribution with people leadership
• Experience leading cross-functional teams or coordinating closely across functional boundaries on shared product outcomes
• Strong understanding of distributed systems integration patterns (gRPC, REST, WebSockets) and API contract design
• Experience establishing or evolving engineering processes — sprint operating models, code review standards, testing strategy, incident response
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to influence technical and non-technical stakeholders and represent engineering's interests to senior leadership
• Eligible for DoD Secret or TS/SCI clearance

PREFERRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, aerospace engineering, or a related discipline
• Direct experience with Elixir/OTP and the Phoenix framework, or with React/TypeScript at scale in production single-page applications
• Experience leading a team through a structural transition — functional to product-aligned, monolith to services, founding team to scaled organization
• Background in aerospace, defense, or other domains with mission-critical reliability requirements, classified work environments (SCIF), or operational software where the cost of a bug is measured in operator decisions
• Experience with real-time data systems, telemetry processing, command and control, or large-scale data visualization (Three.js, WebGL, or similar)
• Familiarity with cleared work environments and how security and accreditation constraints shape engineering workflows
• Active U.S. security clearance at any level

COMPENSATION

Base Salary: $160,000 to $270,000

Equity + Benefits including Health, Dental, Vision, HRA/HSA options, PTO and paid holidays, 401K, Parental Leave

Your actual level and base salary will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: job-related knowledge and skills, education, location, and experience.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

Work Location —This is an onsite role, we are seeking candidates based near Denver, CO or Long Beach, CA.

Work environment —the work environment; temperature, noise level, inside or outside, or other factors that will affect the person's working conditions while performing the job.

Physical demands —the physical demands of the job, including bending, sitting, lifting and driving.

This position will be open until it is successfully filled.

#LI-Onsite

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

True Anomaly is committed to equal employment opportunity on any basis protected by applicable state and federal laws. If you have a disability or additional need that requires accommodation, please do not hesitate to let us know.