Senior Flight Software Engineer — Real-Time Flight Controls

Front Door Defense; Long Beach, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 154,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

PTO & sick leave

Parental leave

Learning stipend

Job summary

Relativity Space is seeking a Senior Flight Software Engineer in Long Beach, CA to lead the development of high-reliability flight software for the Terran R vehicle. You’ll architect core software, work with GNC, embedded software, and avionics teams, and mentor junior engineers.

You will focus on meeting system and performance requirements such as latency, jitter, and control frequency, while integrating sensor data (GPS, IMU, radar) and telemetry routing to ground stations.

Qualifications

• Undergraduate or graduate degree in a relevant engineering field and 5+ years production development experience.
• Proficiency in Rust, C++, and/or other system languages with strong CS fundamentals.
• Expertise in Linux OS concepts (memory management, CPU shielding, scheduling).
• Experience with networking concepts including TCP/IP and UDP.
• Familiarity with software development processes: source control, bug tracking, and CI/CD.

Responsibilities

• Architect and deliver core flight software with focus on latency, jitter and control frequency.
• Collaborate with GNC, Embedded Software, and Avionics to integrate sensors and actuators.
• Develop telemetry systems and data routing to ground stations and data centers.
• Mentor junior engineers and define team standards and best practices.
• Support testing infrastructure including HITL and HOOTL.

Skills

Rust

C++

Linux OS concepts

Networking (TCP/IP, UDP)

Algorithms & data structures

CI/CD

Source control

Education

Electrical Engineering

Computer Engineering

Computer Science

Aerospace Engineering

Tools

Git

CI/CD tools

HITL/HOOTL

Job description

Relativity Space is seeking a Senior Flight Software Engineer in Long Beach, CA to lead the development of high-reliability flight software for the Terran R vehicle. You’ll architect core software, work with GNC, embedded software, and avionics teams, and mentor junior engineers.

You will focus on meeting system and performance requirements such as latency, jitter, and control frequency, while integrating sensor data (GPS, IMU, radar) and telemetry routing to ground stations.