Flight Software Engineer - Full Ownership of Satellite Code

Darwin Recruitment; California (MO); On-site; USD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

A spacecraft technology company in Los Angeles is seeking a hands-on Flight Software Architect to own the architecture from design through testing on real hardware.

You will build and maintain the flight software architecture, write drivers for FPGAs and GPIOs, interface with peripherals, manage CI/CD pipelines in GitLab, and run test campaigns on flatsat testbeds and flight units while coordinating with other engineers.

Qualifications

• Degree in computer science, engineering or related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• Five or more years of core flight software experience in aerospace, hands-on with spacecraft code and test.
• Proven track record leading flight software development on satellites.
• Proficiency in Python, C/C++, and embedded Linux.
• Experience with hardware protocols I2C, CAN, UART, RS485.
• Experience interfacing software with FPGAs and GPIOs.
• GitLab and CI/CD workflows.
• US person, eligible for DoD Top Secret clearance (sponsorship available).

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain the spacecraft flight software architecture, adding components and protocols for mission specific payloads.
• Own core system functions including telemetry collection, precise time stamping, rate group scheduling and bus communications.
• Write drivers and logic to interface with FPGAs and GPIOs, and make the volatile versus non-volatile memory decisions that protect data integrity.
• Develop boot behaviours, partition swapping logic and fail safe recovery modes.
• Manage the codebase and CI/CD pipelines in GitLab.
• Run test campaigns on flatsat testbeds and flight units.
• Provide technical direction to other engineers and work across teams to integrate subsystems with the main compute element.

Skills

Python

C/C++

Embedded Linux

Hardware protocols

FPGA interfacing

GitLab CI/CD

Education

Bachelor’s degree in computer science or engineering

Equivalent practical experience

Job description

A spacecraft technology company in Los Angeles is seeking a hands-on Flight Software Architect to own the architecture from design through testing on real hardware.

You will build and maintain the flight software architecture, write drivers for FPGAs and GPIOs, interface with peripherals, manage CI/CD pipelines in GitLab, and run test campaigns on flatsat testbeds and flight units while coordinating with other engineers.