Platform Engineer II

Firefly Aerospace, Inc.

Cedar Park (TX)

Hybrid

USD 120,000 - 160,000

Full time

33 hours ago

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Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental, vision plans

Parental leave

Educational reimbursement

Short term disability

Flexible PTO

Employee stock ownership

Job summary

Firefly Aerospace, Inc. is seeking a Platform Engineer to lead the development of critical C++ platform software and firmware for onboard systems.

You will own core SDK components, interfaces, and tools, collaborating with hardware teams to integrate sensors and compute platforms for end-to-end operations. The role focuses on modern C++ within embedded Linux, with opportunities to expand into computer vision and spacecraft applications.

Qualifications

Bachelor's degree required or equivalent practical experience.
3+ years of professional software engineering experience developing complex production systems.
Experience in embedded Linux environments and integrating software with hardware, sensors, and external systems.
Proficiency in modern C++, including multithreading, memory management, debugging, and performance optimization.
Experience writing general systems software: IPC mechanisms, hardware buses and sensor interfaces (GMSL, I2C, SPI), and network protocols (TCP/IP).
Experience designing reusable libraries, APIs, platform services, or SDK components used across engineering teams.
Strong understanding of software architecture, algorithms, automated testing, and maintainable software design.
Ability to resolve complex system-level issues and communicate across software, algorithm, hardware, and systems engineering teams.
Master's or PhD in Computer Science, Robotics, Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related field.
Experience developing software or firmware for spacecraft, aerospace, robotics, autonomous vehicles, defense systems, or mission-critical applications.
Experience integrating cameras or perception sensors with embedded Linux, GPUs, FPGAs, or other heterogeneous compute platforms.
Familiarity with computer vision, visual navigation, state estimation, localization, mapping, or perception pipelines.
Experience with 3D geometry, coordinate transformations, camera models, or spatial data structures.
Proficiency in Python for tooling, automation, and testing.
Experience with flight software interfaces, telemetry and commanding, software- or hardware-in-the-loop testing, vehicle integration, or mission operations

Responsibilities

Design, develop, integrate, and test critical features within our onboard C++ software stack.
Build and maintain core components of the Sol3 SDK, including reusable C++ libraries, APIs, tools, and abstractions used across engineering teams.
Write general systems software involving inter-process communication (IPC), device and sensor interfaces (GMSL, I2C, SPI), and networking (TCP/IP, UDP, Spacelink, CCSDS).
Develop and optimize multithreaded, low-latency software for compute-, memory-, and bandwidth-constrained embedded environments.
Integrate cameras, sensors, heterogeneous compute platforms, and networking interfaces into reliable end-to-end systems.
Partner with hardware teams to test user flows and implement SDK-ready solutions.
Help integrate perception algorithms into Sol3 SDK core components and define interfaces between algorithmic and platform code.
Develop onboard applications supporting perception, navigation, and mission operations.
Support software-in-the-loop, hardware-in-the-loop, spacecraft integration, mission simulation, and flight operations activities.
Diagnose complex system-level issues spanning software, firmware, and hardware; contribute to architectural decisions and mentor engineers

Skills

Modern C++

Embedded Linux

Multithreading

Sensors integration

SDK development

Python

Education

Bachelor's degree in a related field

Master's degree

Tools

GMSL

I2C

SPI

APIs

Embedded Linux debugging tools

Job description

At Firefly, we’re focused on making space attainable for everyone – including you! Each team member’s passion, dedication, and innovative ideas have a direct impact on fueling our successful trajectory into space. And there’s no shortage of meaningful projects to work on at Firefly. With launch, lunar, and orbital vehicles, Firefly has a diverse line of business with opportunities to get hands‑on experience launching rockets, operating in space, and landing on the Moon.

Twenty-five years later, we remember the lives ...

314 1

In this Manufacturing Minute, our Tooling ...

285 8

As we head into the holiday weekend, we’re proud ...

1030 4

What does it take to make a lander space‑ready? ...

What’s hotter than a Texas summer? Our Miranda ...

746 5

POV: You`re an intern at an aerospace company.
...

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Our Values

Headquartered in the Lone Star State, Firefly’s hardworking team reflects Texas’ GO BIG culture in everything we do. We build big, achieve big, and dream big. We’re building launch vehicles and spacecraft to provide rapid, reliable space access. We’ve achieved some incredible wins, including the first successful commercial Moon landing. And we’re dreaming bigger than this planet with ambitions to Mars, Venus, and beyond. Our core values are what drive us along the way.

Passion

Fireflies believe in perseverance, responsiveness, and mentoring others with a focus on inspiring a better future.

Accountability

Fireflies act with integrity and take ownership of our actions, commitments, decisions, and outcomes.

Fireflies work in alignment across teams and communicate clearly with mutual respect for one another.

Fireflies deliver high-quality work through technical rigor and timely disciplined execution for our customers.

We take care of our Fireflies with some of the best benefits in the industry. Our mission to make space for everyone starts with our employees and allowing them to make space for their family, their career, and their future.

Space for You

Unlimited PTO for exempt employees
3-month sabbatical for every 5 years of service
Medical, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance
Mental health services
Paid military leave

Space for Your Family

12 weeks paid maternity leave
4 weeks paid spouse leave
$20k towards family planning: fertility, surrogacy, adoption
Dog friendly workplace

Space for Your Career

$10k/year towards trade school or college
Ongoing coaching to advance leadership skills
- Employee‑ownership with stock bonuses
- 4% Safe Harbor 401(k) matching
- $10k bonus for home purchase in Cedar Park, Texas

Job Openings

From launch technicians to propulsion engineers, Firefly has open roles across the company. We’re looking for passionate, bright innovators to join our team and help make space an achievable dream for everyone.

Firefly Aerospace is a space and defense technology company on a mission to reliably and repeatedly launch, land, and operate space systems from Earth to the Moon and beyond. As the partner of choice for critical space missions, Firefly is the first commercial company to launch a satellite to orbit with 24-hour notice and the first company to achieve a successful Moon landing. Headquartered in north Austin, Texas, Firefly is looking for passionate, hardworking innovators to join our team and help fuel our successful trajectory into space.

SUMMARY

Our computer vision system that landed on the moon combines a flexible, multi-camera hardware architecture with onboard perception, navigation, and state estimation. Firefly is seeking a Platform Engineer to lead the development of critical C++ platform software and firmware across our onboard software stack.

In this role, you will build the systems software, libraries, and interfaces that connect perception algorithms with cameras, compute hardware, and flight software. You will own core components of our customer‑facing SDK, develop general onboard applications, and work hands‑on with hardware teams to integrate sensors and compute platforms into reliable end‑to‑end systems. You will work at the intersection of modern C++ software engineering, embedded systems, and spacecraft operations to create a reliable, reusable platform capable of supporting missions beyond the laboratory—and beyond Earth.

The ideal candidate brings deep expertise in modern C++ and low‑level systems software, an interest in expanding into computer vision and spacecraft applications, and an appetite for solving complex problems where software, hardware, and mission requirements meet.

This position is strongly preferred to be based onsite at Firefly Aerospace’s facility in Littleton, Colorado, with Austin, Texas, also available as an onsite option. Fully remote candidates may be considered for highly qualified individuals, provided they can travel to Austin for approximately one week every other month—up to six weeks annually—to support Assembly, Integration & Test (AI&T) activities and mission operations. Additional travel may occasionally be required based on program needs

RESPONSIBILITIES

Design, develop, integrate, and test critical features within our onboard C++ software stack
Build and maintain core components of the Sol3 SDK, including reusable C++ libraries, APIs, tools, and abstractions used across engineering teams
Write general systems software involving inter-process communication (IPC), device and sensor interfaces (GMSL, I2C, SPI), and networking (TCP/IP, UDP, Spacelink, CCSDS)
Develop and optimize multithreaded, low‑latency software for compute‑, memory‑, and bandwidth‑constrained embedded environments
Integrate cameras, sensors, heterogeneous compute platforms, and networking interfaces into reliable end‑to‑end systems
Partner with hardware teams to test user flows from their perspective and implement solutions that can be integrated into the SDK
Help integrate the perception team's algorithms into Sol3 SDK core components, defining maintainable interfaces between algorithmic and platform code
Develop onboard applications supporting perception, navigation, and mission operations
Support software‑in‑the‑loop, hardware‑in‑the‑loop, spacecraft integration, mission simulation, and flight operations activities
Diagnose complex system‑level issues spanning software, firmware, and hardware; contribute to architectural decisions, conduct technical reviews, and mentor other engineers

QUALIFICATIONS

Required

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Robotics, or a related technical field; equivalent practical experience may be considered
3+ years of professional software engineering experience developing complex production systems
Experience developing and debugging software in embedded Linux environments and integrating software with hardware, sensors, and external systems
Strong proficiency in modern C++, including multithreading, memory management, debugging, and performance optimization
Experience writing general systems software: IPC mechanisms, hardware buses and sensor interfaces (e.g., GMSL, I2C, SPI), and network protocols (e.g., TCP/IP)
Experience designing reusable libraries, APIs, platform services, or SDK components used across engineering teams
Strong understanding of software architecture, algorithms, automated testing, and maintainable software design
Demonstrated ability to resolve complex system‑level issues and communicate effectively across software, algorithm, hardware, and systems engineering teams
Master's or PhD in Computer Science, Robotics, Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related field
Experience developing software or firmware for spacecraft, aerospace, robotics, autonomous vehicles, defense systems, or other mission‑critical applications
Experience integrating cameras or perception sensors with embedded Linux, GPUs, FPGAs, or other heterogeneous compute platforms
Familiarity with computer vision, visual navigation, state estimation, localization, mapping, or perception pipelines
Experience with 3D geometry, coordinate transformations, camera models, or spatial data structures
Proficiency in Python for tooling, automation, and testing
Experience with flight software interfaces, telemetry and commanding, software‑ or hardware‑in‑the‑loop testing, vehicle integration, or mission operations

Firefly offers outstanding benefits for our employees, including generous health, dental and vision plans with low plan deductibles, parental leave, educational reimbursement, short term disability, and flexible PTO options.
To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.
Firefly Aerospace, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Firefly is governed based on 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

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