Head of Onboard Compute Software

Cowboy Space Corporation; San Carlos (CA); On-site; USD 200,000 - 285,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity in Cowboy Space Corp.

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

401(k) retirement savings plan

Paid time off

Relocation assistance

Job summary

Cowboy Space Corp. is seeking a Head of Compute Software to lead architecture, development, and deployment of software powering our space-based compute platforms.

You’ll own end-to-end software strategy for onboard compute systems, including real-time control and high-bandwidth data handling in orbit. You will build and lead a high-impact team, collaborate across hardware and mission teams, and own critical architecture decisions under strict latency, power, and reliability constraints.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of software engineering experience with distributed/embedded/high-performance computing.
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field.
• Experience designing and shipping complex software systems (distributed platforms, embedded systems, or real-time).
• Experience leading technical projects or teams with increasing scope and ownership.
• Strong understanding of system architecture and hardware/software co-design.

Responsibilities

• Define the technical vision and roadmap for onboard compute software across spacecraft platforms.
• Lead design of real-time, distributed, and fault-tolerant software for space environments.
• Own system architecture across operating systems, middleware, networking, and application layers.
• Build and lead a team of software engineers, setting technical direction and execution velocity.
• Drive end-to-end software development from architecture and prototyping through deployment and in-orbit operations.
• Collaborate with hardware, GNC, RF, and spacecraft teams to ensure tight hardware/software integration.
• Develop systems for real-time control, autonomy, and high-throughput data processing onboard satellites.
• Optimize software for performance, reliability, and efficiency within constrained compute, power, and thermal environments.
• Establish robust testing, simulation, and validation frameworks (hardware-in-the-loop, mission simulation).
• Guide build-vs-buy decisions, tooling, and infrastructure for onboard and ground software systems.
• Participate in system-level trade studies balancing performance, latency, reliability, and resources.
• Represent compute software in design reviews and executive discussions.

Skills

Distributed systems

Embedded systems

Real-time systems

System architecture

Team leadership

Hardware-software co-design

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s in CS/CE

Job description

Cowboy Space Corp. is seeking a Head of Compute Software to lead architecture, development, and deployment of software powering our space-based compute platforms.

You’ll own end-to-end software strategy for onboard compute systems, including real-time control and high-bandwidth data handling in orbit. You will build and lead a high-impact team, collaborate across hardware and mission teams, and own critical architecture decisions under strict latency, power, and reliability constraints.