Principal Application Software Engineer

K2 Space; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 190,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Unlimited paid time off

Medical/dental/vision coverage

Life insurance

Paid parental leave

Job summary

A pioneering aerospace startup in Los Angeles seeks experienced engineers for their enterprise software team to develop mission-critical software for spacecraft. The role involves creating reliable software solutions and collaborating across engineering disciplines to turn ambitious space projects into reality. Competitive salary ranges from $190,000 to $230,000, along with a comprehensive benefits package including unlimited paid time off and medical coverage. Don't hesitate to apply if you have a passion for space and software development!

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, information technology, mathematics or a STEM discipline or 15+ years of experience in software engineering.
• 10+ years in full stack development, platform engineering, or API development.
• 5+ years of experience with AWS, Azure, or GCP.
• 5+ years with CI/CD tools like GH Actions, Jenkins, or Gitlab CI/CD.
• Strong experience with REST API or gRPC.

Responsibilities

• Develop highly reliable software solutions across K2 Space.
• Create applications that improve spacecraft design and operations.
• Own product development lifecycle from inception to delivery.

Skills

Full stack development

Platform engineering

API development

AWS

CI/CD

Docker

Kubernetes

C#

Java

Go

SQL

REST API

Terraform

Education

Bachelor's degree in computer science or related field

Tools

PostgreSQL

Docker

Kubernetes

Job description

K2 Space is building large, high-powered spacecraft for the next generation of space development. Backed by Lightspeed Venture Partners, Altimeter Capital, and many others ($200M raised to date), we intend to mass produce the highest-powered satellite platforms ever built for missions across LEO to Deep Space.

The rise of launch vehicles like Falcon 9 and Starship enables the move from an era of mass constraint to one of mass abundance. We believe this new era requires spacecraft with a fundamentally different design in order to fully utilize the massive rockets coming to market.

We’re a team that believes the future lies in building large, high-powered satellites that can handle multiple orbits. This is a necessity if we ever want to develop the solar system, and become a Kardashev Type II (K2) civilization.

If you are a motivated individual who thrives in a fast-paced environment and you're excited about contributing to the success of a groundbreaking Series B space startup, we’d love for you to apply.

The Role

Our enterprise software team builds the digital backbone that powers K2 Space’s satellite design, manufacturing, and mission operations. We develop tools that connect engineering, production, and mission control into a seamless ecosystem — enabling our hardware to get from concept to orbit faster than ever before.

We’re looking for engineers who are curious, collaborative, and driven to deliver mission-critical software that helps turn ambitious space projects into reality.

Responsibilities

• Develop highly reliable software solutions used across K2 Space — from factory floors to mission control.
• Create and evolve applications that improve how we design, build, and operate our spacecraft.
• Partner closely with engineers, business partners, and leaders across disciplines to understand their challenges and design efficient solutions.
• Develop prototypes test concept and progress to full fledge software products.
• Own full-lifecycle product development from inception to happy customers.
• Lead architecture reviews, design discussions, and code reviews with your unique perspective.
• Lead software architecture design, deployment strategy, coding standards, and quality processes.
• Evaluate and make decisions regarding engineering options while balancing tradeoffs.
• Advocate, defend and convert other engineering leaders to your own solutions.
• Use data to drive prioritization of work and design of solutions to create the largest positive impact.
• Actively contribute to building a culture of transparency, empathy, integrity, and engineering excellence.
• Actively mentoring other staff members and help team members build good culture and engineering practices.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, information technology, mathematics or a STEM discipline or 15+ years of professional experience in software engineering.
• 10+ years of experience in full stack development, platform engineering, or API development.
• 5+ years of experience with AWS (or Azure, GCP)
• 5+ years of in-depth working experience with CI/CD such as GH Actions, Jenkins, Gitlab CI/CD.
• Working experience with Docker.
• In-depth working experience with Kubernetes (prefer AWS EKS).
• Expert working experience with one or more of the following static typed programming languages such as C#, Go, Java, C++, TypeScript.
• 5+ years of experience with structured database such as PostgreSQL, SQL Server, Snowflake or similar technologies
• Working experience with unstructured database such as NoSQL, Amazon DynamoDB, MongoDB or similar.
• Strong working experience with REST API or gRPC.
• Strong working experience with binary management platforms such as JFrog Artifactory, AWS CodeArtifact or similar technologies.
• Experience with infrastructure orchestration and management tools (Terraform, Ansible, Puppet).

Nice to Have

• Experience with Next.js, React, Angular, or similar frameworks.
• Working experience with testing tool such as Cucumber and Cypress.
• Experience designing scalable, high-performance software systems.
• Knowledge of build systems and package management tools (e.g., Make, Gradle, npm, pip).
• Familiarity with data streaming technologies like Apache Kafka, RabbitMQ, or similar.

Compensation and Benefits

• Base salary range for this role is $190,000 - $230,000 + equity in the company
• Salary will be based on several factors including, but not limited to: knowledge and skills, education, and experience level
• Comprehensive benefits package including unlimited paid time off, medical/dental/vision/ coverage, life insurance, paid parental leave, and many other perks

If you don’t meet 100% of the preferred skills and experience, we encourage you to still apply! Building a spacecraft unlike any other requires a team unlike any other and non-traditional career twists and turns are encouraged!

If you need a reasonable accommodation as part of your application for employment or interviews with us, please let us know.

Export Compliance

As defined in the ITAR, “U.S. Persons” include U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents (i.e., Green Card holders), and certain protected individuals (e.g., refugees/asylees, American Samoans). Please consult with a knowledgeable advisor if you are unsure whether you are a “U.S. Person.”

The person hired for this role will have access to information and items controlled by U.S. export control regulations, including the export control regulations outlined in the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR). The person hired for this role must therefore either be a “U.S. person” as defined by 22 C.F.R. § 120.15 or otherwise eligible for a federally issued export control license.

Equal Opportunity

K2 Space is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with K2 Space 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.