Lead Embedded Software Engineer, Satellite Systems

Terranorbitalcorporation; Irvine (CA); On-site; USD 160,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

100% Company-paid medical, dental, and

Vision coverage

401(k) Match

Flexible Time Off (FTO)

Education Reimbursement

Job summary

Terran Orbital is seeking an experienced Staff Embedded Software Engineer to join our team in Irvine, CA. You will report to the Embedded Software & FPGA Manager and help develop high‑reliability software for satellite systems and payloads.

You will lead junior engineers, design and maintain embedded software, and collaborate across engineering teams to define robust requirements. Travel up to 10% for reviews and collaboration may be required.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience developing C/C++ applications for embedded, high‑performance, or mission‑critical systems.
• Experience with bare‑metal and/or RTOS‑based designs (FreeRTOS, internal schedulers, embedded Linux, etc.).
• Experience with electronic test equipment and embedded debug tools (oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, hardware debuggers).
• Deep understanding of microcontroller architectures, peripheral subsystems, and low‑level interface design across multiple MCU families.
• Experience with serial communication protocols (CAN, RS‑232/422/485, I2C, SPI, PCI).
• Highly motivated, self‑starting, responsible, thorough, and able to perform duties autonomously without supervision.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• U.S. Person or lawful permanent resident to comply with U.S. government space technology export regulations.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor a team of junior software engineers, providing guidance and tasking.
• Develop and maintain embedded software for satellite modules.
• Collaborate with cross‑functional engineering teams to define and refine software requirements.
• Architect, design, develop, and maintain reliable, fault‑tolerant embedded software.
• Serve as the technical lead for multiple satellite programs.
• Create and maintain unit tests using Test Driven Development methodologies.
• Develop and automate system‑level tests.
• Build software for specialized payloads, including imagers, image processors, communication devices, and astronomical science instruments.
• Integrate and test software in simulation, flight‑replica, flight‑vehicle, and hardware‑in‑the‑loop environments.
• Represent Terran Orbital in technical working groups and customer interactions.
• Support occasional travel (up to 10%) to customer or vendor sites for design reviews and collaborative technical work.

Skills

C/C++

Embedded systems

RTOS

Microcontroller

Serial protocols CAN

Hardware debugging

Strong communication

US Person / LPR

Education

Bachelor’s degree in CE/EE/CS

Tools

GCC

GDB

Bash

Python

Oscilloscopes

Spectrum analyzers

Job description

Terran Orbital is seeking an experienced Staff Embedded Software Engineer to join our team in Irvine, CA. You will report to the Embedded Software & FPGA Manager and help develop high‑reliability software for satellite systems and payloads.

You will lead junior engineers, design and maintain embedded software, and collaborate across engineering teams to define robust requirements. Travel up to 10% for reviews and collaboration may be required.