Realtime Ground Systems Engineer - CCSDS & Telemetry

Northwood; Torrance (CA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Northwood is seeking a Ground Software Engineer to develop software for handling, processing, and delivering mission data across our satellite ground network. You will build systems ingesting data from modems, interpreting CCSDS protocols, and routing information between spacecraft operators and their missions.

You will own critical components from protocol implementation to deployment, collaborating with DSP, FPGA, and infrastructure teams to translate customer requirements into reliable,

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree with 2–5+ years or Master’s with 1–4+ years in CS/EE.
• Strong programming skills in Rust, C++, or Go.
• Experience in networking, telecommunications, real-time data processing, or distributed systems.
• Solid understanding of network protocols, binary data formats, serialization, buffering, and asynchronous processing.
• Experience spanning software across system boundaries (hardware, networks, interfaces).
• Ownership of a production software system from design through deployment.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain software for ingesting, processing, and routing telemetry, tracking, and command data.
• Implement CCSDS protocols, including space packets, transfer frames, synchronization, and data encapsulation.
• Develop high-performance data pipelines connecting software-defined radios, ground-station infrastructure, and customer endpoints.
• Build tooling for packet parsing, frame validation, buffering, recording, replay, monitoring, and debugging.
• Translate customer mission requirements into configurable data-handling workflows and interfaces.
• Collaborate with DSP and FPGA engineers to define interfaces between physical-layer processing and higher-level software.
• Test communications workflows using simulated, hardware-in-the-loop, and live satellite data.
• Own software through development, deployment, operational validation, and ongoing mission support.

Skills

Rust

C++

Go

Networking

Education

Bachelor’s degree (CS/EE)

Master’s degree (CS/EE)

Tools

CCSDS standards

Job description

Northwood is seeking a Ground Software Engineer to develop software for handling, processing, and delivering mission data across our satellite ground network. You will build systems ingesting data from modems, interpreting CCSDS protocols, and routing information between spacecraft operators and their missions.

You will own critical components from protocol implementation to deployment, collaborating with DSP, FPGA, and infrastructure teams to translate customer requirements into reliable,