Senior Software Project Engineer II

CesiumAstro; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Health & retirement plans

Job summary

CesiumAstro is seeking a Senior Software Project Engineer II to join a fast-paced aerospace software team. You will drive firmware/software lifecycle execution for embedded systems, collaborate across engineers, program managers, and customers, and lead planning, standups, and status reporting.

The role requires strong communication, hands-on embedded development experience, and a track record in software project management within a high-reliability environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor or higher in CS/EE/CE.
• Minimum 6 years in software with at least 1 year embedded software experience.
• At least 3 years in software project management.
• Excellent communication tailored to audiences.
• Familiarity with board-level hardware design processes.
• Experience with Agile and V-model lifecycle approaches.
• Solid background in firmware/software lifecycle management and tooling such as Jira.

Responsibilities

• Create software development plans subject to cost and schedule constraints.
• Lead planning meetings, retrospectives, and daily standups.
• Communicate project status to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Represent the software team to programmatic stakeholders.
• Maintain software issue tracking and project artifacts (Jira).
• Prioritize features based on stakeholder input and constraints.
• Interface with customers and vendors as needed.
• Ensure consistent software development lifecycle execution.
• Continuously improve software project execution processes.

Skills

Communication

Embedded software development

Software project management

Agile and V-model experience

Education

BS or MS in Computer Science / Electrical Engineering / Computer Engineering

Tools

Jira

Job description

Please Note: To conform with the United States Government Space Technology Export Regulations, the applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., conditional resident, asylee or refugee (protected individuals as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

At CesiumAstro, we are developers and pioneers of out-of-the-box communication systems for satellites, UAVs, launch vehicles, and other space and airborne platforms. We take pride in our dynamic and cross-functional work environment, which allows us to learn, develop, and engage across our organization. If you are looking for hands‑on, interactive, and autonomous work, CesiumAstro is the place for you. We are actively seeking passionate, collaborative, energetic, and forward‑thinking individuals to join our team.

We are looking to add a Senior Software Project Engineer II to our team. If you enjoy working in a startup environment and are passionate about developing software for satellites, spacecraft, and aerospace systems, we would like to hear from you.

The CesiumAstro software team designs complex firmware and software for state‑of‑the‑art aerospace systems. As a member of the software engineering team, you will help facilitate and improve the execution of the software development lifecycle at CesiumAstro. You will collaborate with software engineers, program managers, customers, and other stakeholders to plan and manage execution in a fast‑paced engineering environment.

Activities include maintaining backlog health, holding software standups, and communicating project status to diverse stakeholders. The ideal candidate has experience managing embedded system firmware development in high‑reliability systems. Experience with both agile and traditional design methodologies is desirable, including agile and v‑model flows. Further, the ideal candidate has some first‑hand embedded system software development experience.

Job Duties And Responsibilities

• Create software development plans subject to cost and schedule constraints.
• Lead periodic planning meetings, retrospectives, and daily standups.
• Communicate project status to a wide variety of technical and non‑technical stakeholders.
• Represent the software engineering team to programmatic stakeholders.
• Maintain software issue tracking systems and projects such as Jira.
• Prioritize feature development based on varied and sometimes conflicting stakeholder inputs.
• Interface to external parties including customers and vendors.
• Ensure consistent and correct software development lifecycle execution.
• Continuously improve software project execution processes.

Job Requirements And Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science (BS) or Master of Science (MS) degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or Computer Engineering.
• A minimum of 6 years of experience required including at least 1 year of embedded software development experience and at least 3 years of software project management experience.
• Excellent communication skills, especially in tailoring to a target audience.
• Familiarity with board‑level hardware design processes as they pertain to software development.
• Knowledgeable on multiple software product lifecycle and management approaches including Agile and V‑model.
• Competency with software lifecycle management tools such issue tracking (Jira preferred), requirements management, configuration management, etc.
• Experience project managing firmware development.

Preferred Experience

• Experience designing products for deployment into aerospace systems.
• Experience with government contract program management.
• Experience with requirements‑driven engineering processes.
• Experience with DO‑178C Software Certification.

CesiumAstro considers several factors when extending an offer, including but not limited to, the role and associated responsibilities, a candidate’s work experience, education/training, and key skills. Full‑time employment offers include company stock options and a generous benefits package including health, dental, vision, HSA, FSA, life, disability and retirement plans.

CesiumAstro is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, protected Veteran Status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

Please note: CesiumAstro does not accept unsolicited resumes from contract agencies or search firms. Any unsolicited resumes submitted to our website or to CesiumAstro team members will be considered property of CesiumAstro, and we will not be obligated to pay any referral fees.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.