Senior Software Engineer

LeoLabs, Inc.; United States; Remote; USD 117,000 - 195,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible remote/hybrid opportunities

Impactful missions with real-world use

Unlimited PTO

Competitive salary and equity

Comprehensive health, dental, and V/C

Job summary

LeoLabs is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to advance cloud systems that power space-domain awareness. You will design and deliver mission‑critical software across multiple systems, collaborating with radar, data science, and software teams to meet demanding customer requirements.

The role emphasizes full‑stack development, reliability, and scalable architectures, with opportunities to leverage AI to enhance software quality and security.

Qualifications

• BS in Computer Science or Software Engineering or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years of professional software engineering experience building cloud-scale systems.
• Experience delivering distributed backend services, cloud deployments, and observability practices.
• Proficiency in Python, Go, or similar languages; strong API design knowledge.
• Experience with generative AI in software development and on-call rotations.

Responsibilities

• Develop full-stack software for key initiatives, including DOD/IC contracts.
• Collaborate with radar systems engineers and data scientists to deliver high‑performance solutions.
• Translate customer needs into engineering requirements through stakeholder discussions.
• Ensure reliability, observability, security, and performance across production systems.
• Own critical portions of the system end-to-end, including operation and on-call support.
• Leverage generative AI to improve software quality and security.

Skills

Cloud software

Python/Go

Distributed systems

DevOps/CI‑CD

Generative AI for software

Education

BS in Computer Science / Software Engineering

Tools

AWS/GCP/Azure

Postgres/MySQL

Kafka/SQS

Kubernetes

Containers

Job description

Why LeoLabs?

At LeoLabs, we’re building the living map of activity in space. Through our proprietary global radar network and AI-enabled analytics platform, we collect millions of measurements daily on more than 25,000 objects in low Earth orbit (LEO). Our radar-powered intelligence protects billions in assets, monitors adversarial behavior, and ensures safe operations for commercial and government missions.

We’re not just building technology, we are redefining global security, safety, and transparency in space. As orbital activity accelerates and threats grow more complex, LeoLabs is a trusted partner for Space Domain Awareness, Space Traffic Management, and Satellite Operations for top-tier space operators and allied defense organizations.

If you’re looking to work on mission-critical challenges at the forefront of aerospace, national security, and AI, your impact starts here.

LeoLabs is seeking a Senior Radar Software Engineer to develop, integrate, and optimize software systems supporting advanced radar operations and space domain awareness missions. This role will work closely with radar systems engineers, signal processing engineers, data scientists, and software developers to deliver high-performance radar capabilities that support mission‑critical customer requirements.

The ideal candidate has experience developing software for radar, sensor, defense, aerospace, or real‑time data processing systems and enjoys solving complex technical challenges in a fast‑paced environment.

The Opportunity:

LeoLabs is seeking a highly experienced and technically driven Senior Software Engineer to join our cross-functional Cloud Software team. In this role, you will contribute to a collaborative, high‑impact group of engineers building the software that powers real‑time decisions for protecting and managing satellites and other objects in low‑earth orbit.

As a Senior Software Engineer on our team, you will design and deliver mission‑critical software and be a key contributor in ensuring that our system meets our customers’ needs. You will develop software from multiple systems, helping the team to deliver reliable, secure, and high‑performance solutions.

The Cloud Software team has responsibility for a wide variety of technical domains, including software for:

• Maintaining orbits and tracking custody on every object in Low-Earth Orbit
• Providing high‑level insights and analytics for our customers
• Leveraging large volume data pipelines for custom AI/ML model training
• Orchestrating and schedule tasking for our global radar network
• Exposing UIs and APIs with strict uptime SLAs for data delivery and visualization

We partner closely with radar and product teams to build cohesive, powerful platform capabilities.

*This is a remote position; however, candidates should be located in the San Francisco Bay area or the Denver, CO area and must hold an active TS/SCI clearance for periodic SCIF access.

Responsibilities:

• Leverage LeoLabs’ leading dual‑use systems to support critical space missions.
• Develop full‑stack software for key software initiatives, particularly for DOD/IC contracts.
• Participate in stakeholder discussions and translate customer needs into engineering requirements.
• Ensure reliability, observability, security, and performance across production systems.
• Own critical portions of our system’s through the full development lifecycle, including operation, monitoring, and on‑call support.
• Make use of generative AI to raise the bar on the quality and security of our software.

RequiredQualifications:

• Active US TS/SCI clearance and experience delivering on mission for DOD/IC customers
• S. in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or equivalent experience
• 5+ years of professional software engineering experience, with significant time building cloud‑based systems at scale
• Demonstrated experience building, deploying, and operating distributed backend services
• Experience and enthusiasm with using generative AI for software development
• Proficiency in Python, Go, or a similar language
• Understanding of architecture patterns, service boundaries, message‑driven workflows, and API design
• Experience with cloud environments (AWS/GCP/Azure) and containerized deployments
• Expertise with relational databases (Postgres/MySQL) and message brokers (Kafka, SQS, or similar)
• Experience with observability and CI/CD practices
• Experience with relational databases (Postgres/MySQL) and message brokers (Kafka, SQS, or similar)
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to work with stakeholders across teams
• Willingness to participate in on‑call rotations for critical systems

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience building production frontend applications with TypeScript, JavaScript, or comparable modern web technologies
• Experience deploying into US federal systems
• Experience with Kubernetes in cloud environments
• Background in Math/Physics, AI/ML, or Orbital Mechanics
• Experience operating in a high‑availability or mission‑critical environment

What Success Looks Like:

Within 1 month, you’ll:

• Complete onboarding and gain deep context on LeoLabs’ mission and architecture
• Review key software systems and operational practices
• Be introduced to our US Federal contract work strategy and how your work contributes to its success
• Contribute initial improvements or fixes that demonstrate your technical approach and engineering standards

Within 3 months, you’ll:

• Contribute to constructive design reviews and actively support teammates
• Own medium‑sized software features end‑to‑end with minimal guidance
• Deliver key software features towards the execution of our US Federal contracts

Within 6 months, you’ll:

• Participate in key requirements discussions for complex features
• Take ownership of major services or system components
• Deliver major software features for key revenue‑generating projects

Within 12 months, you’ll:

• Influence strategic technical direction for Cloud Software team
• Help blaze the trail for our growing sensor‑orchestration and integration software products
• Be a trustworthy team member as our US Federal contract work expands

Compensation

The base salary range for this position is up to $194,700 + bonus + stock options + benefits

Compensation Note: The salary range for this position is benchmarked based on the designated primary work location for the role. Final compensation may vary depending on the selected candidate’s work location, applicable market data, experience, qualifications, and other job‑related factors.

PerksandBenefits

• Global workforce: flexible remote/hybrid opportunities
• Work on complex, meaningful missions with real‑world impact
• Unlimited paid time off for most roles
• Competitive salary and equity packages
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision coverage
• Access to the forefront of commercial space operations and defense innovation

ITAR Requirements

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. More information regarding ITAR can be found at DDTC’s website.

Vendor Notification

LeoLabs does not engage external staffing agencies or third‑party recruiting firms for this role. Unsolicited candidate submissions will not be considered.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.