Senior Ground Control & Data Engineer — Real-Time Ops

Fortastra Corporation; Torrance (CA); On-site; USD 130,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Unlimited PTO

Comprehensive Healthcare

Equity

401(k)

Social Events

Job summary

Fortastra Corporation is seeking a Sr. Ground Software Engineer to own ground control software, data infrastructure, and data visualization tools for flight operations and ground testing.

You will work across the full ground stack, from data ingestion to user-facing analytics, coordinating with the Flight Software team to integrate ground systems with spacecraft software. Requires on-site work and US citizenship with TS/SCI eligibility.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in CS/CE/EE/Aerospace/Robotics or related science.
• Experience in ground software, mission operations, or telemetry/command systems.
• Experience designing data infrastructure, databases, time-series stores, streaming pipelines, or message buses.
• Experience building data visualization and analysis tools for technical users.
• Proficiency in Python, C++, Go, or Rust.
• Experience with space systems or related vehicles.
• Strong networking and real-time/high-throughput data handling knowledge.
• Experience with cloud-based ground systems or mission control software.
• Exposure to DevOps and automated testing pipelines.
• Comfort using AI tools in the development workflow.
• Ability to work independently and in small, fast-moving teams.
• On-site work only; U.S. Citizenship and ability to obtain TS/SCI clearance.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop ground control software for commanding and monitoring spacecraft during flight operations and ground tests.
• Own data infrastructure that ingests, stores, and serves high-rate telemetry and test data reliably and at scale.
• Build data visualization and analysis tools that give engineers real-time and post-test insight into system behavior.
• Develop telemetry pipelines that handle both live streaming data and large historical datasets, with disciplined attention to reliability and data integrity.
• Work with flight software and avionics engineers to define command and telemetry interfaces that minimize risk and simplify integration.
• Build tooling that accelerates data review, anomaly detection, and post-test reconstruction.
• Support real-time operations during tests and flights, including console roles as needed.
• Generate and maintain clear documentation for ground software systems and interfaces with disciplined revision control.
• Collaborate with test and integration teams to ensure ground systems are buildable, testable, and serviceable, and support floor activities such as test setup and data verification.
• Identify and resolve issues related to data flow, system observability, and interactions between ground software and other spacecraft and test infrastructure

Skills

Python

C++

Go

Rust

Data infrastructure

Telemetry

Ground software

Data visualization

Realtime data handling

Cloud-based systems

DevOps

AI tools

Independent work

Education

B.S. in CS/CE/EE/Aerospace/Robotics or related science

Tools

Time-series databases

Streaming pipelines

Message buses

Telemetry tooling

Cloud platforms

Job description

Fortastra Corporation is seeking a Sr. Ground Software Engineer to own ground control software, data infrastructure, and data visualization tools for flight operations and ground testing.

You will work across the full ground stack, from data ingestion to user-facing analytics, coordinating with the Flight Software team to integrate ground systems with spacecraft software. Requires on-site work and US citizenship with TS/SCI eligibility.