Space Ground C2 Software Engineer - Mission-Critical

Slope; Costa Mesa (CA); On-site; USD 166,000 - 220,000; Full time

Job summary

Anduril Industries is seeking a Software Engineer for Space Ground Software to build, deploy, and operate the ground‑side services that plan and control real space missions. You will develop modular capabilities on the Lattice platform to support DoD and IC customers across the space domain, architecting C2 services and integrations for orbital and ground systems.

Ideal candidates have 4+ years in backend and distributed systems, strong experience with Go/Rust/C++, and hands-on work with

Qualifications

• 4+ years building backend and distributed systems.
• Experience with Go, Rust, or C++ and gRPC/Protobuf.
• Experience shipping/operating production services on containers/Kubernetes.
• Experience integrating software with physical systems.
• Eligible to obtain and maintain an active U.S. Top Secret SCI security clearance.

Responsibilities

• Own software solutions end-to-end — from API design through deployment to production operation.
• Build and operate backend services across the Space C2 stack (Go, gRPC/Protobuf).
• Write and evolve protobuf API contracts, coordinating interface changes across teams.
• Deploy and run services in secure government cloud on containers/Kubernetes and participate in on-call.

Skills

Backend systems

Go/Rust/C++

gRPC/Protobuf

CI/CD in prod

Code review

Education

--------

Tools

Kubernetes

CI/CD pipelines

Job description

Anduril Industries is a defense technology company with a mission to transform U.S. and allied military capabilities with advanced technology. By bringing the expertise, technology, and business model of the 21st century’s most innovative companies to the defense industry, Anduril is changing how military systems are designed, built and sold. Anduril’s family of systems is powered by Lattice OS, an AI-powered operating system that turns thousands of data streams into a realtime, 3D command and control center. As the world enters an era of strategic competition, Anduril is committed to bringing cutting-edge autonomy, AI, computer vision, sensor fusion, and networking technology to the military in months, not years.

ABOUT THE TEAM

Anduril's Space team is dedicated to expanding our AI-powered capabilities into the final frontier, enhancing Space Domain Awareness, Space Control, and Command and Control for U.S. military and allied partners. We're developing fully integrated hardware and software systems, including Lattice for Space Missions and modular payloads, to address growing threats in space and ensure our Guardians maintain a decisive advantage in this contested warfighting domain.

The Lattice for Space C2 (LSC2) team owns the ground command-and-control platform — the services that interface directly with radios, ground-station networks, and flight computers to execute satellite missions in production.

ABOUT THE JOB

As a Software Engineer on Space Ground Software, you will build, deploy, and operate the command-and-control software that flies real space missions — the ground-side services that plan missions, command spacecraft, ingest and serve telemetry, drive antennas and ground stations, and keep deployed satellite systems running in production. You will develop modular capabilities on top of the Anduril Lattice software platform to support DoD and IC customers across the space domain, architecting Space C2 services, infrastructure, algorithms, and integrations that span both orbital and ground systems. The Anduril Space C2 capability development will involve integration with legacy systems that have been part of our nation's critical defense for decades, as well as new space systems being added to the set of orbital and ground-based capabilities.

We work with mission partners and operators to deploy reliable and robust capabilities on operationally-relevant fielding timelines to meet complex challenges across the DOD and IC.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• Own software solutions end-to-end — from API/proto design through deployment to production operation — and be on the hook when they run in front of customers
• Build and operate backend services across the Space C2 stack (Go, gRPC/Protobuf): command & telemetry, mission and plan management, ground-station and antenna brokering, space-to-ground protocol stacks, file transfer, and access control
• Write and evolve protobuf API contracts, coordinating interface changes across teams
• Deploy and run services in secure government cloud on containers/Kubernetes, and participate in on-call and incident response for live missions
• Integrate with spacecraft and ground infrastructure — software-defined radios, antenna pointing, ground-station providers, space-to-ground data links, and astrodynamics (orbit propagation, maneuver planning, satellite state)
• Build and run software-in-the-loop (SITL) simulation to validate end-to-end operations before live passes
• Integrate with legacy systems to unlock 21st-century capabilities
• Review your teammates' code and uphold a high quality bar — rigorous, high-volume code review is a core part of the job on this team
• Collaborate across multiple teams to plan, build, and test complex functionality
• Create and analyze metrics for debugging and monitoring; triage issues, root cause failures, and coordinate next-steps
• Partner with end-users to turn needs into features while balancing user experience with engineering constraints

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Strong engineering background from industry or school, ideally in areas/fields such as Computer Science, Software Engineering, Mathematics, or Physics
• 4+ years building backend and distributed systems, primarily in a systems language (Go, Rust, or C++), with networked services using gRPC/Protobuf — and comfortable working primarily in Go
• Experience shipping and operating production services on containers/Kubernetes, with real CI/CD and cloud deployment — you've run what you've built, not just written it
• Experience integrating software with physical systems — hardware control, embedded interfaces, protocol implementation, or real-time data pipelines
• Ability to quickly understand and navigate complex systems and detailed requirements, and to solve complex technical problems with little oversight
• Strong collaboration and code-review discipline, with clear communication and good documentation/training habits
• A desire to work on critical software that has a real-world impact
• Eligible to obtain and maintain an active U.S. Top Secret SCI security clearance

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Space/aerospace domain experience: telemetry & commanding, ground stations and antenna systems, RF/waveform/link-layer, orbital mechanics, or GNC
• Experience with space C2 software systems and spacecraft operations
• Experience with CCSDS protocols (TM/TC framing, CFDP, virtual channels) or similar layered communication standards
• Experience with binary protocol parsing — deserializing wire formats, implementing framing layers, or working with annotation-driven codecs
• Previous exposure to software-defined radios, RF modems, or satellite communication equipment
• Experience with deployment and infrastructure-as-code tooling such as Kubernetes, FluxCD, Helm, Terraform, or Nix, and government cloud (e.g., Azure Gov)
• Experience operating live systems (on-call, incident response) and building observability/metrics
• Nix-based build systems or reproducible/hermetic build toolchains
• Familiarity with time systems (UTC, TAI, GPS time) and coordinate frames (ECI, ECEF, ENU)
• Previous exposure to space-related simulation and hardware-in-the-loop integration
• Comfort working in secure/compliance-constrained (CUI, TS, gov) environments

US Salary Range

$166,000—$220,000 USD

The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a wide range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary offer may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations. Highly competitive equity grants are included in the majority of full time offers; and are considered part of Anduril's total compensation package. Additionally, Anduril offers top-tier benefits for full-time employees, including:

Benefits

At Anduril, we invest in our people. Our comprehensive, competitive benefits package (available at little to no cost to employees) ensures you’re supported in health, recovery, and whatever comes next. For more information, Explore Our Benefits.

Protecting Yourself from Recruitment Scams

Anduril is committed to maintaining the integrity of our Talent acquisition process and the security of our candidates. We've observed a rise in sophisticated phishing and fraudulent schemes where individuals impersonate Anduril representatives, luring job seekers with false interviews or job offers. These scammers often attempt to extract payment or sensitive personal information.

To ensure your safety and help you navigate your job search with confidence, please keep the following critical points in mind:

• No Financial Requests: Anduril will never solicit payment or demand personal financial details (such as banking information, credit card numbers, or social security numbers) at any stage of our hiring process. Our legitimate recruitment is entirely free for candidates.

• Please always verify communications:
  • Direct from Anduril: If you receive an email from one of our recruiters, it will only come from an @anduril.com address.
  • Via Agency Partner: If contacted by a recruiting agency for an Anduril role, their email will clearly identify their agency. If you suspect any suspicious activity, please verify the agency's authenticity by reaching out to [e-mail].

• Exercise Caution with Unsolicited Outreach: If you receive any communication that appears suspicious, contains grammatical errors, or makes unusual requests, do not engage. Always confirm the sender's email domain is @anduril.com before providing any personal information or clicking on links.

• What to Do If You Suspect Fraud: Should you encounter any questionable or fraudulent outreach claiming to be from Anduril, please report it immediately to [e-mail]. Your proactive caution is invaluable in protecting your personal information and upholding the security and trustworthiness of our recruitment efforts.

Data Privacy

To view Anduril's candidate data privacy policy, please visit https://anduril.com/applicant-privacy-notice/.

By submitting your application, you consent to Anduril Industries using a third-party service provider to conduct pre-employment risk, integrity, and due diligence screening and assessing potential risks as part of your application process. This third-party service provider provides risk-intelligence services that may include analysis of sanctions and watchlists, adverse media, public-record information, and other lawful open-source or commercial data sources. This third-party service provider does not act as a consumer reporting agency. Use of this provider helps to ensure compliance with applicable laws and protect technology, intellectual property, and organizational security.