Senior Flight Software Engineer - Spacecraft Embedded Systems

AST SpaceMobile; Lanham (MD); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

AST SpaceMobile is seeking a Senior Flight Software Engineer in the United States to lead embedded software for spacecraft systems. You will design, develop, and test flight software, work with HDL/FPGA designs, and coordinate with hardware, FPGA, and systems teams to deliver robust capabilities.

The role requires 6+ years in embedded/flight software, strong C/C++, RTOS expertise, and experience with real-time, resource-constrained environments.

Qualifications

• 6+ years of professional experience in embedded software or firmware development.
• Strong proficiency in C and C++, including modern C++ standards (C++11+).
• Experience with software architecture, design, debugging and testing.
• Experience for embedded and resource-constrained systems.
• Experience with FPGAs and/or SoCs.
• HDL experience: Verilog or VHDL.
• Experience in RTOS environments (FreeRTOS or similar).
• Knowledge of embedded communication protocols (RS-232, RS-485, CAN, SPI).
• Experience with Linux and command-line tools.
• Ability to read schematics and troubleshoot hardware interfaces.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, test, integrate, and maintain embedded flight software across the lifecycle.
• Develop core flight software for spacecraft and embedded systems.
• Modify HDL-based designs to meet system requirements.
• Integrate microcontroller software for spacecraft command, telemetry, and control.
• Develop software for real-time, resource-constrained environments.
• Contribute to architecture decisions and technical tradeoffs.
• Coordinate with cross-functional teams to implement new capabilities.
• Support hardware/software integration, verification, and testing.
• Perform debugging and root-cause analysis across software/hardware interfaces.
• Lead code reviews, design reviews, and documentation efforts.
• Track milestones, deliverables, and dependencies.

Skills

C/C++ proficiency

RTOS

Linux

Multithreading

Concurrency

Debugging

Embedded systems

Real-time systems

Education

Electrical Engineering

Computer Engineering

Aerospace Engineering

Computer Science

Software Engineering

Tools

Verilog

VHDL

SWD

JTAG

Git

CMake

Ninja

Job description

AST SpaceMobile is seeking a Senior Flight Software Engineer in the United States to lead embedded software for spacecraft systems. You will design, develop, and test flight software, work with HDL/FPGA designs, and coordinate with hardware, FPGA, and systems teams to deliver robust capabilities.

The role requires 6+ years in embedded/flight software, strong C/C++, RTOS expertise, and experience with real-time, resource-constrained environments.