Senior Software Engineer, Build

Darwin Recruitment; Seattle (WA); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Darwin Recruitment is seeking a Senior Software Build Engineer to join a growing Satellite Embedded Software team developing next-generation spacecraft. This hands-on role focuses on building and maintaining the software infrastructure that enables reliable development, testing, and deployment of mission-critical embedded flight software.

You'll own end-to-end build systems, CI/CD pipelines, software configuration management, and developer tooling while contributing to device emulation, virtual

Qualifications

• 6+ years of experience developing and maintaining commercial or embedded software in production environments.
• Strong programming skills in Python and Bash, with experience writing clean, maintainable automation code.
• Experience with version control systems and continuous integration workflows.
• Strong knowledge of developer toolchains and build systems, including Git, GitLab, GitLab CI, Jenkins, and Jira.
• Extensive experience working with Linux development environments and embedded toolchains, including GNU toolchains, QEMU, Buildroot, and Yocto.
• Experience working within Agile or Scrum software development teams.
• Proven ability to deliver high-quality technical solutions within demanding project schedules.
• Strong troubleshooting, debugging, and root cause analysis skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work independently while collaborating effectively across multidisciplinary engineering teams.
• Eligibility to support programmes that may require U.S. citizenship.

Responsibilities

• Design, deploy, and maintain software build systems, configuration management processes, CI/CD pipelines, and cloud-based development infrastructure.
• Manage and optimise build environments using modern DevOps practices and cloud technologies, including AWS.
• Develop and maintain internal engineering tools, software emulation environments, and virtual device simulators to support embedded software development and testing.
• Drive software infrastructure improvements using Agile methodologies and project management tools such as Jira.
• Participate in sprint planning, stand-ups, technical reviews, and release planning activities.
• Collaborate with embedded software, systems, hardware, and test engineering teams to deliver reliable development tools and automation.
• Ensure software infrastructure is fully documented, tested, and validated to meet programme and quality requirements.
• Contribute to continuous improvement of software development, testing, release management, and deployment processes.
• Support additional engineering and software infrastructure initiatives as required.

Skills

Python

Bash

Git

GitLab

GitLab CI

Jenkins

Jira

Linux

QEMU

Buildroot

Yocto

Agile/Scrum

Debugging

Communication

Rust

C/C++

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related discipline

Master's degree or PhD in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or related discipline

Tools

AWS

Jira

Job description

We are seeking a Senior Software Build Engineer to join a growing Satellite Embedded Software team developing next-generation spacecraft. This is a hands-on technical role focused on building and maintaining the software infrastructure that enables reliable development, testing, and deployment of mission-critical embedded flight software.

You'll take ownership of end-to-end build systems, CI/CD pipelines, software configuration management, and developer tooling, while also contributing to device emulation, virtual test environments, and automation that support spacecraft software development. Working closely with embedded software engineers, systems engineers, and cross-functional programme teams, you'll play a key role in improving engineering productivity and software quality across multiple satellite programmes.

The preferred location for this position is Washington State with a hybrid working arrangement. Candidates who can work on-site 1-2 days per week are preferred.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, deploy, and maintain software build systems, configuration management processes, CI/CD pipelines, and cloud-based development infrastructure.
• Manage and optimise build environments using modern DevOps practices and cloud technologies, including AWS.
• Develop and maintain internal engineering tools, software emulation environments, and virtual device simulators to support embedded software development and testing.
• Drive software infrastructure improvements using Agile methodologies and project management tools such as Jira.
• Participate in sprint planning, stand-ups, technical reviews, and release planning activities.
• Collaborate with embedded software, systems, hardware, and test engineering teams to deliver reliable development tools and automation.
• Ensure software infrastructure is fully documented, tested, and validated to meet programme and quality requirements.
• Contribute to continuous improvement of software development, testing, release management, and deployment processes.
• Support additional engineering and software infrastructure initiatives as required.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
• 6+ years of experience developing and maintaining commercial or embedded software within production environments.
• Strong programming skills in Python and Bash, with experience writing clean, maintainable automation code.
• Experience with version control systems and continuous integration workflows.
• Strong knowledge of developer toolchains and build systems, including Git, GitLab, GitLab CI, Jenkins, and Jira.
• Extensive experience working with Linux development environments and embedded toolchains, including GNU toolchains, QEMU, Buildroot, and Yocto.
• Experience working within Agile or Scrum software development teams.
• Proven ability to deliver high-quality technical solutions within demanding project schedules.
• Strong troubleshooting, debugging, and root cause analysis skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work independently while collaborating effectively across multidisciplinary engineering teams.
• Eligibility to support programmes that may require U.S. citizenship.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree or PhD in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related discipline.
• Experience working directly with embedded hardware and hardware validation.
• Familiarity with FPGA development environments and build tools, including Verilog or HDL workflows.
• Knowledge of embedded hardware interfaces such as GPIO, I2C, PHY, RS-422, or high-speed networking technologies including 10 Gigabit Ethernet.
• Experience supporting real-time or fault-tolerant embedded systems.
• Working knowledge of C/C++ or Rust.