Principal Software Engineer

Blackve; Albuquerque, Northern (NM, KY); Hybrid; USD 160,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity participation

401(k) plan

Flexible time off

Job summary

BlackVe, Inc. is hiring a Principal Flight Software Engineer to design, develop, and deliver embedded flight software for spacecraft. You will make foundational architecture decisions, write performance-critical code, and set technical direction for operations on orbit.

You will collaborate with systems and hardware engineers from requirements through integration and testing, mentoring junior engineers and shaping the software team's culture. Albuquerque, NM-based role with potential travel.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of professional experience developing embedded software for spacecraft flight software.
• Deep expertise in C/C++ for real-time, resource-constrained systems.
• Experience with spacecraft avionics buses and interfaces (SpaceWire, MIL-STD-1553, CAN, SPI, I2C, UART).
• Knowledge of flight software architecture patterns: command dispatch, telemetry, fault protection, sequencing, and mode management.

Responsibilities

• Architect embedded flight software for spacecraft avionics and fault management.
• Develop software for real-time embedded platforms.
• Translate requirements into flight software designs and own them through test and integration.
• Define and enforce flight software architecture patterns and interfaces.
• Collaborate with GNC, power, thermal, comms, and payload engineers to integrate software with hardware.
• Design and execute software verification and validation activities, including unit tests and hardware-in-the-loop testing.
• Support integration, environmental testing, and on-orbit commissioning.

Skills

Embedded software

C/C++

Real-time systems

Spacecraft avionics buses

System integration

Software verification

DoD clearance

Tools

VxWorks

RTEMS

FreeRTOS

Zephyr

SpaceWire

CAN

MIL-STD-1553

UART

Job description

Position Title: Principal Software Engineer

Clearance Requirement: Must be able to obtain a Top-Secret security clearance. U.S. citizenship is required to obtain a clearance.

About Us: BlackVe, Inc. is a mission-first, dynamic, and innovative national security-focused company focused on emerging space and advanced technologies dedicated to pushing the boundaries of engineering excellence in support of our government customers.

Job Description: We're hiring a Principal Flight Software Engineer to contribute to the design, development, and delivery of embedded flight software for our spacecraft. This is a senior individual contributor role with outsized influence — you'll make foundational architecture decisions, write performance-critical code, and set the technical direction for how our vehicles operate on orbit. You'll work closely with systems and hardware engineers from requirements through integration and test, and your software will fly.

Key Responsibilities and Essential Job Functions:

• Architecting and implementing embedded flight software for spacecraft avionics, including command and data handling, fault management, and mode control
• Developing software for real-time or near-real-time, resource-constrained embedded platforms
• Translating system and subsystem requirements into flight software designs, and owning those designs through implementation, test, and integration
• Defining and enforcing flight software architecture patterns, coding standards, and interface contracts
• Collaborating with GNC, power, thermal, comms, and payload engineers to integrate flight software with hardware and subsystem firmware
• Designing and executing software verification and validation activities, including unit test, hardware-in-the-loop testing, and flight software qualification
• Supporting integration, environmental test, and on-orbit commissioning of flight software
• Mentoring junior engineers and contributing to the technical culture of the software team

Required Qualifications:

• 10+ years of professional experience developing embedded software, with significant time spent on spacecraft flight software
• Deep expertise in C and/or C++ for real-time, resource-constrained embedded systems
• Experience with spacecraft avionics buses and interfaces (e.g., SpaceWire, MIL-STD-1553, CAN, SPI, I2C, UART)
• Strong understanding of flight software architecture patterns: command dispatch, telemetry, fault protection, sequencing, and mode management
• Experience with software integration and test on flight or flight-like hardware, including hardware-in-the-loop environments
• Ability to work across disciplinary boundaries with systems, GNC, and hardware engineers
• U.S. citizenship and ability to obtain a DoD security clearance

Preferred Qualifications:

• Hands-on experience with RTOS environments (e.g., VxWorks, RTEMS, FreeRTOS, Zephyr) or bare-metal development
• Flight heritage — software you wrote has operated on orbit
• Experience with software-defined or reprogrammable spacecraft architectures
• Familiarity with autonomous or semi-autonomous spacecraft operations (onboard planning, event-driven tasking, or adaptive fault management)
• Experience with formal verification, model-based development, or runtime assurance techniques for safety-critical software
• Exposure to GPU, FPGA, or heterogeneous compute platforms in a flight context
• Familiarity with flight software frameworks (e.g., cFS, F Prime, or comparable in-house frameworks)
• Experience in a small-team or startup environment where you wore multiple hats

Location and Travel Requirements:

This position is based in Albuquerque, NM, with occasional travel to other company locations or partner facilities as needed.

Why Join Us:

• Mission first-Always. We prioritize delivering results that directly support space and intelligence community programs and national security objectives.
• We operate as one team, grounded in trust, accountability, and open collaboration, where individuals actively support one another to achieve shared mission success.
• Work on high-impact programs across space, ISR, and advanced technology domains supporting DoD and IC customers.
• Ownership-driven culture is founded in teamwork where every employee is an owner, with equity participation and a direct stake in our success.
• Competitive compensation and benefits package, including flexible time off; 401(k) with company contribution
• Constant opportunities for program and professional impact.

This position may include access to technology and/or data that is subject to U.S. export controls pursuant to ITAR and EAR. To comply with federal export controls, all persons hired must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, U.S. lawful permanent resident, refugee or asylee as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(A)(3), or must otherwise be eligible to obtain the required authorization from the U.S. Department of State and/or U.S. Department of Commerce as applicable.