Onboard Software Engineer - Hyperdrive

Loftorbital; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 170,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

401(k) and equity

Relocation assistance

Flexible time off

Parental leave

Lunches and snacks

International exposure

Job summary

Loftorbital is seeking an experienced onboard software engineer to join our mission-critical team in San Francisco. You will own software from concept through delivery, ensuring robustness and reliability for spaceborne systems.

You will review code, implement tests, and collaborate on architecture while coordinating releases with downstream teams. Opportunity to work on orbiting satellites and space missions.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of software engineering experience in C/C++ and Python.
• Proficient with Git and CI tools (GitLab-CI, Jenkins).
• Experience with Make, CMake, and ABI/API version control.
• Knowledge of distributed architectures and networking.
• Strong multithreading and Linux/embedded Linux development.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and refine software with ownership from concept to delivery.
• Review code and enforce standards for quality and consistency.
• Develop unit tests for self and peer code.
• Use version control to manage feature branches and releases.
• Contribute to onboard software architecture and design reviews.
• Collaborate to improve software development processes and standards.
• Coordinate with downstream teams for releases and adoption.
• In addition, contribute to operating our on-orbit satellite fleet when needed.

Skills

C/C++

Python

Git

GitLab-CI

Jenkins

Make

CMake

ABI/API version control

Distributed architecture

Networking: UDP/TCP/IP

Multithreading

Go

Rust

Embedded Linux (Yocto)

Device trees

systemd

Linux on ARM

pytest

Googletest

Unity

gRPC

ZMQ/NATS

Docker

K3S

systemd-nspawn

Tools

Git

Jenkins

Make

CMake

Yocto

Device trees

GCC/Clang

Job description

Wanna join the adventure?

Loft’s Onboard Software group provides the on-orbit software that powers our core products. This is responsible for monitoring and control of major space program elements, including:

• Flight Products computational environments (including physical and virtual processors);

• Interfaces with external equipment (imagers, RF, ISL); and

• Interfaces with the spacecraft bus.

Hyperdrive is the common platform powering every onboard service across our spacecraft.
The team builds the core capabilities other onboard services need to run mission logic—from interactions and housekeeping to events, automated fault detection and recovery, and lifecycle management.
By making complex spacecraft software consistent, observable, and resilient, Hyperdrive helps teams move faster while keeping missions safe in orbit.

• Design, implement, and refine software with a high degree of ownership, driving impactful features from concept through delivery while ensuring robustness and reliability.
• Review code, provide clear feedback, and enforce adherence to established development processes, style guides, and design standards to maintain consistency and quality across the codebase.
• Design and implement unit tests for both self-authored and peer-authored code.
• Utilize version control systems to create feature branches, push code, and merge approved code into production branches.
• Contribute to the onboard software architecture through design proposals and collaborative review
• Participate in the review and enhancement of software development processes and design standards.
• Coordinate with downstream teams on the release, distribution and adoption of latest releases.
• In addition to responsibilities within onboard software, you’ll have the opportunity to directly be involved in operating our on-orbit fleet of satellites.

• 5+ years' software engineering experience, using programming languages including C/C++ (C++11 or newer) and Python.
• Experience with version control systems such as Git
• Experience with continuous integration tools (e.g., GitLab-CI, Jenkins).
• Experience with build systems (e.g., Make, CMake).
• Experience with library management and ABI/API version control.
• Understanding of distributed architecture.
• Familiarity with networking protocols (e.g., UDP, TCP, IP) and POSIX standards.
• Experience in developing multi-threaded applications.

• Familiarity with additional programming languages, such as Go or Rust.
• Experience with embedded Linux operation, including Yocto, device trees, systemd, and Linux on ARM platforms.
• Proficiency with unit test frameworks (e.g., pytest, Googletest, Unity)
• Experience with middleware framework (gRPC, ZMQ/NATS, etc.)
• Experience with containerization technologies (Docker, K3S, systemd-nspawn)

• 100% company-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance option for employees and dependents
• Flexible Spending (FSA) and Health Savings (HSA) Accounts offered with an employer contribution to the HSA
• 100% employer paid Life, AD&D, Short-Term, and Long-Term Disability insurance
• Flexible Time Off policy for vacation and sick leave, and 12 paid holidays
• 401(k) plan and equity options
• Daily catered lunches and snacks
• International exposure to our team in France
• Fully paid parental leave; 14 weeks for primary caregiver and 10 weeks for secondary caregiver
• Carrot Fertility provides comprehensive, inclusive fertility healthcare and family-forming benefits with financial support
• Off-sites and many social events and celebrations
• Relocation assistance when applicable

* Research shows that while men apply to jobs where they meet an average of 60% of the criteria, women and other underrepresented people tend to only apply when they meet 100% of the qualifications. At Loft, we value respectful debate and people who aren’t afraid to challenge assumptions. We strongly encourage you to apply, even if you don’t check all the boxes.

Who We Are

Loft: Space Made Simple.

Founded in 2017, Loft provides governments, companies, and research institutions with a fast, reliable, and simple way to deploy missions in orbit.

We integrate, launch, and operate spacecraft, offering end-to-end missions as a service across Earth observation, IoT connectivity, on-orbit AI, national security missions, and more. Leveraging our existing space infrastructure and an extensive inventory of satellite buses, Loft is reducing years-long integration and launch timelines to months. With more than 30 missions flown, Loft’s flight heritage and proven technologies enable customers to focus on their mission objectives.

With a growing fleet on track to reach 30 satellites by 2027, we are scaling up quickly across our offices in San Francisco, CA | Golden, CO | and Toulouse, France to meet accelerating demand for space infrastructure.

As an international company your resume will be reviewed by people across our offices so please attach a copy in English.