Flight Software Engineer

EVONA; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

EVONA is seeking a Flight Software Engineer to join a highly technical aerospace team building the software stack to operate spacecraft. This hands-on role offers significant ownership across flight software, embedded Linux, spacecraft interfaces and hardware integration.

You will implement reliable software, contribute to test systems, and collaborate across radio, data management, attitude control and safety.

Qualifications

• 3+ years building taskable software stacks (e.g., web servers or comparable systems).
• Experience with service-based architectures.
• Experience Linux drivers and the /dev interface.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills.
• Bias toward simplicity and maintainable software.

Responsibilities

• Spacecraft reliability, including observability instrumentation and tests to expose bugs.
• Product interface development for payload and ground interactions.
• Developing software interfaces with a product mindset where interfaces are part of the product.
• Cross-functional software engineering across radio, data management, attitude control and safety.
• Applying software engineering practices to limit complexity in modular systems.
• Developing and evolving the flight software service stack to operate the spacecraft.

Skills

Flight software

Embedded Linux

Linux drivers

Service-based architectures

Hardware interfaces

Tools

Docker

Rust

Python

MQTT

RPC

Job description

We're working with an early-stage aerospace company developing a new generation of compact, high-performance spacecraft. The team is building differentiated satellite technology designed to improve the scalability, reliability and economics of deploying and operating satellite constellations.

They are looking for a Flight Software Engineer to join a highly technical, multidisciplinary engineering team and help develop the software stack responsible for operating the spacecraft.

This is a hands-on position with significant technical ownership, working across flight software, embedded Linux, spacecraft interfaces, controls and hardware integration.

Responsibilities:

• Spacecraft reliability, including observability instrumentation, designing test systems to expose bugs, fixing bugs, and introducing/modeling best practices for reliable software.
• Product interface development, including designing clean interfaces for payload and ground interactions.
• Developing software interfaces with a product mindset, where the interfaces themselves are considered part of the product.
• Cross-functional software engineering across radio, data management, attitude control and system safety.
• Applying software engineering practices that limit complexity within task-oriented, modular systems.
• Developing and evolving the flight software service stack responsible for operating the spacecraft.

Ideal Experience:

• 3+ years of experience building taskable software stacks, such as web servers or comparable systems.
• Experience with service-based architectures.
• Experience designing software-to-software and software-to-human interfaces.
• Experience with Linux drivers and the /dev interface.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills.
• A bias towards simplicity and maintainable software.

Desirable (experience with some of the following would be beneficial):

• Docker.
• Rust and/or Python.
• MQTT and RPC.
• Serialization technologies such as Protobuf or FlatBuffers.
• Embedded Linux and hardware/software interfaces.
• Spacecraft flight software or satellite systems.
• Spacecraft mission concepts, including operations planning and attitude control.
• Attitude Determination and Control (ADC) concepts, mathematics or systems.
• IoT, robotics, autonomous systems or backend/distributed software controlling physical systems.