Senior Flight Software Engineer (Rust) for Spacecraft

Cowboy Space Corp.; San Carlos (CA); On-site; USD 200,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Health benefits

401(k)

Paid time off

10 holidays

Parental leave

Relocation assistance

Office lunch

Job summary

Cowboy Space Corp. is hiring a Senior Flight Software Engineer to own the payload flight software on our spacecraft. You will lead architecture, design patterns, and on-orbit readiness for attitude control, command handling, telemetry, and data storage.

Applicants should have 5+ years on high-reliability systems, strong Rust/C/C++ skills, and experience with real-time embedded design, HIL testing, and flight software leadership. On-site roles in California or Seattle are available.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience developing flight software or software for high-reliability, safety-critical systems
• Experience with software flown on orbit or equivalent deployment demonstrating flight-quality considerations
• Strong systems programming in Rust, C, or C++, with focus on Rust
• Experience with real-time and embedded systems, including fault-tolerant designs
• Experience designing and implementing state machines, command/telemetry handling, or similar spacecraft software functions
• Experience with hardware/software integration and testing on real hardware
• Demonstrated ability to lead technically: setting architecture, establishing conventions, mentoring engineers

Responsibilities

• Lead payload flight software from architecture to on-orbit operations
• Develop and test Rust flight software for attitude and pointing, command handling, telemetry/storage
• Define software architecture, patterns, and conventions for the team
• Maintain flight-quality software: determinism, fault tolerance, testability
• Design and implement fault detection, isolation, and recovery (FDIR) behaviors
• Build automated test infra including simulation and HIL testing
• Collaborate with systems engineers to define interfaces and behavior
• Support spacecraft integration, environmental tests, and launch operations

Skills

Rust

C

C++

Flight software

Leadership

Education

Bachelor's or advanced degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related field

Tools

Simulation environments

HIL testing

Job description

Cowboy Space Corp. is hiring a Senior Flight Software Engineer to own the payload flight software on our spacecraft. You will lead architecture, design patterns, and on-orbit readiness for attitude control, command handling, telemetry, and data storage.

Applicants should have 5+ years on high-reliability systems, strong Rust/C/C++ skills, and experience with real-time embedded design, HIL testing, and flight software leadership. On-site roles in California or Seattle are available.