Senior Rust Flight Software Engineer for Spacecraft

Umbra; Santa Barbara (CA); On-site; USD 155,000 - 185,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible Time Off

Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, LTD

Stock Options

401k with 3% company contribution

Free Parking

Free lunch daily in office

Job summary

Umbra seeks a Senior Flight Software Engineer to lead embedded software development for mission‑critical spacecraft systems. You will specify software requirements, design robust architectures, and write implementation code in Rust or Modern C/C++.

You will oversee integration, testing, and documentation, guiding peers and ensuring flight hardware interfaces are solid. The role emphasizes leadership, systems thinking, and clear communication, with on‑site work options in Santa Barbara/Goleta,

Qualifications

• BS or higher in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field.
• 5+ years architecting high‑reliability software with Rust or Modern C/C++.
• 4+ years embedded software development with Rust or Modern C/C++.
• 2+ years developing concurrent code with asynchronous Rust.
• Proficient in Linux, RTOS, or bare‑metal environments.
• Experience leading software design, development processes, version control, bug tracking, and documentation.
• Experience building CI pipelines, automated testing, build/release management, and static/dynamic analysis tools.
• Able to travel up to 15% (between Umbra’s Virginia & Santa Barbara offices).

Responsibilities

• Drive yourself and your team to become better software engineers.
• Collaborate with cross‑disciplinary team to design, develop, and maintain reliable flight and payload software.
• Architect and implement software to meet high‑level system requirements and manage interfaces with spacecraft subsystems.
• Develop command and control software for spacecraft flight operations and payloads.
• Lead test campaigns from unit to automated system and subsystem testing.
• Document software operation and interfaces; integrate flight software with flight hardware through testing.
• Present high level technical concepts to non‑technical audiences.
• Take on additional professional duties as assigned.

Skills

Rust

C/C++

Linux

Embedded software

CI pipelines

Documentation

Leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree or higher in CS/CE or related

Tools

Yocto

Python

Job description

Umbra seeks a Senior Flight Software Engineer to lead embedded software development for mission‑critical spacecraft systems. You will specify software requirements, design robust architectures, and write implementation code in Rust or Modern C/C++.

You will oversee integration, testing, and documentation, guiding peers and ensuring flight hardware interfaces are solid. The role emphasizes leadership, systems thinking, and clear communication, with on‑site work options in Santa Barbara/Goleta,