Flight Software Engineer (Platform)

Rendezvous Robotics; Golden (CO); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Medical, vision, dental

Paid vacation

Paid holidays

Parental leave

Job summary

Rendezvous Robotics, based in Golden, Colorado, is building electromagnetic self-assembling tiles for next‑gen spacecraft. We seek a Senior flight software engineer to own the flight software platform, including real-time scheduling, hardware abstraction, and subsystems integration.

You will work across hardware, software, and systems engineering to advance the company's avionics stack, with a focus on low‑level firmware, board bring‑up, and CI for embedded targets in a fast‑paced spaceflight

Qualifications

• Senior level only with 5+ years of relevant experience.
• Degree or equivalent experience in CS/CE/EE.
• Strong knowledge of C/C++ and how software runs on hardware.

Responsibilities

• Own the flight software platform the rest of the stack runs on.
• Develop hardware abstraction layers for board-agnostic software.
• Manage real-time Linux image builds, provisioning, and health services.
• Develop firmware close to hardware and deterministic sensor/actuator control.
• Build, test, and CI for flight software and onboard boards.

Skills

C++

C

Embedded Linux

Device drivers

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent in CS/CE/EE

Tools

F Prime

Yocto/Buildroot

CI/CD

Job description

Today, everything we send to space is constrained by what fits inside a rocket fairing. That's a fundamental bottleneck to building more capable spacecraft. Rendezvous Robotics is solving this problem with electromagnetic self-assembling tiles: modular spacecraft components that rendezvous, dock, and latch to assemble bigger and more powerful spacecraft than anything that can be folded to fit into a rocket.

We're a small team based in Golden, Colorado, executing on a clear path from flight demonstration to our first operational systems. Our work spans hardware, software, and systems engineering. We are looking for the best people in the world who want to build the next generation of advanced spacecraft.

Responsibilities & Ownership

• The flight software platform the rest of the stack runs on: the component framework, real-time scheduling, and the integration that wires subsystems together
• Hardware abstraction layers that enable board agnostic software development
• The real-time Linux our vehicles boot: image build pipelines, provisioning, device identity, process supervision, and the health and update services
• Firmware close to the hardware: deterministic control of sensors and actuators, and the serial protocols back up to the main compute
• Build, test, and CI for flight software, and bringing new boards into the software stack alongside the avionics team

Basic Qualifications

• Degree in computer science, computer engineering, or electrical engineering, or equivalent experience
• Senior level only 5+ years of relevant experience
• Strong C++ and/or C, with a real understanding of how software runs on hardware
• Embedded Linux: building, configuring, and debugging on resource-constrained systems
• Comfort at the lower layers: device drivers, serial buses (UART, SPI, I2C), and reading a datasheet to ground truth

Preferred Qualifications

• Component-based flight software frameworks such as F Prime, or other robotics and aerospace middleware
• Microcontroller firmware (STM32 or similar), real-time control, and RTOS or bare-metal work
• OS image build systems (Yocto, Buildroot) and provisioning or flashing pipelines
• Real-time scheduling, CPU pinning, and latency tuning
• CMake, CI for embedded targets, and hardware-in-the-loop testing

Compensation and Benefits

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, and experience. In addition to the base salary, you may also be eligible for long‑term incentives in the form of stock options. You will receive access to comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage, short‑ and long‑term disability insurance, life insurance, and paid parental leave. You may also accrue 3 weeks of paid vacation and will be eligible for 10 or more paid holidays per year.

To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.

Rendezvous Robotics is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Rendezvous Robotics is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.