Principal Software Engineer

Description

The company is an end-to-end space business that builds rockets, spacecraft and critical subsystems. The work is hardware for real missions, and the team moves quickly.

The Space Systems division builds complete spacecraft and the payloads and components that go into them, including solar panels, flight software, star trackers, optical systems, separation systems and radios.

The division has supported more than 1,700 missions, from interplanetary exploration and in-space manufacturing to national security and defense work. Its spacecraft, payloads and components have flown to the Moon and Mars, with partners including NASA, the Space Development Agency and the U.S. Space Force.

The optical systems group tackles space domain and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance problems for Department of Defense and Intelligence Community customers. It builds on more than 20 years of electro-optical and infrared systems work and delivers responsive, scalable sensing across all orbital domains.

This Principal Software Engineer role sits with the optical systems group in Tucson, AZ. You will design flight software for spacecraft in Tranche 3 of the U.S. Space Development Agency's Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture.

The team works on hard problems under tight deadlines, and members help one another with every task, large or small.

Responsibilities

• Support payload flight software for the Space Systems programs.
• Bring new algorithms into harsh field environments on sensor systems with tight size, weight and power limits.
• Lead cross-functional teams in defining technical requirements and delivering integrated solutions.
• Set technical direction for all software work, from requirements through implementation, testing and deployment.
• Shape software architecture, design patterns, interfaces and technical standards so solutions scale, are easy to maintain and can be extended.
• Build performance-focused software that uses a range of accelerator technologies.
• Mentor engineers at every level, give technical guidance, and encourage engineering excellence and ongoing improvement.
• Help with technical planning, effort estimates, risk identification and dependency management, keep milestones on track, and report technical status and risks to stakeholders.
• Join a team of determined pioneers who take on difficult projects and help shape the future of space.

Requirements

• A bachelor's degree in computer science or computer engineering.
• 12+ years of embedded software engineering experience.
• Experience designing complex multithreaded applications.
• Experience designing flight software.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government security clearance.
• Nice to have: familiarity with high-performance and parallel processing.
• Nice to have: exposure to novel architectures such as FPGA and CUDA.
• Nice to have: familiarity with flight software system management.
• Nice to have: experience implementing algorithms.
• Highly desired: exposure to Python and MATLAB.
• Nice to have: familiarity with numerical computing principles.

Conditions

The role is based in Tucson, AZ.

The role may require long periods of sitting, standing, walking and computer work, plus occasional exposure to moderate noise, dust and fumes in production areas.

For US offices only: to meet US space technology export rules, including ITAR, you must be a US citizen, a lawful permanent resident (Green Card holder), lawfully admitted as a refugee or granted asylum, or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the US Department of State and/or Department of Commerce, as applicable.

For New Zealand offices only: background checks, including nationality checks, will be completed before any offer is made, because the role requires eligibility to access equipment and data regulated under US ITAR. You may be ineligible if you do not hold citizenship of Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland, the European Union or a NATO member country, or if you hold ineligible dual citizenship or nationality.