Team Lead - Flight Software - Electron

Description

The company builds rockets, spacecraft, and critical subsystems, with the aim of connecting and protecting the world and extending human reach to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

The team's software runs the launch vehicle and spacecraft avionics during launch and on orbit, handles telemetry and commands, and contains the guidance, navigation, and control software and algorithms. It is built in house, so engineers can watch their code fly.

The team sits within the GNC department. You will lead five engineers who build, maintain, and support software for the launch vehicle, the spacecraft, and the associated ground communication systems. You will report to the Director of Electron Engineering. The role is hands on: you will set long-term direction for the flight software, grow your engineers, and make decisions that favour vehicle reliability and efficiency, while still writing and reviewing code.

Responsibilities

• Define and manage long-term goals for the flight software, and take responsibility for delivering high-quality software on schedule.
• Lead development of avionics embedded software for the launch vehicle and spacecraft, ground communication software, and avionics simulations, including hardware-in-the-loop.
• Approve software requirements, architecture designs, and readiness criteria for backlog items.
• Write code and unit tests, review merge requests, and document how the team's software works.
• Reduce software-related risk to the vehicle and the business, making risk and reward trade-off decisions with input from quality, senior engineering, and production.
• Run trade studies and solve complex technical problems where the standard approach does not work.
• Spot risks early and change course when needed to keep development on track.
• Lead a team of five flight software engineers, running stand-ups, architecture meetings, and stakeholder meetings that stay focused and useful.
• Recruit and retain people on the team.
• Keep the wider business updated on status and blockers, and work across teams to remove them.
• Propose new ways of working, new equipment, and better processes.
• Support your direct reports through regular one-to-ones, performance reviews, goal setting, and continuous two-way feedback.
• Create and approve training materials, teach courses on the software, and coach engineers on the job.
• Stand in for the Director when needed, working with minimal supervision.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or Electrical Engineering, or demonstrated equivalent knowledge.
• At least 5 years of experience in a software engineering discipline.
• Leadership experience in a software team delivering critical work.
• Strong C/C++ development skills.
• Experience developing embedded software.
• Experience developing Linux applications.
• Experience developing networked applications.
• Experience with Git and Jira, or another issue tracker.
• Clear written and verbal communication, including explaining technical topics to people with less experience in the field.
• Bonus: Linux kernel development.
• Bonus: experience with Scrum.
• Bonus: FPGA development.
• Bonus: Python.
• Ownership mindset, able to drive tasks and projects to completion independently.
• Comfortable in ambiguous, fast-changing environments where requirements shift quickly.
• Balance speed with quality, moving quickly while keeping appropriate rigour.
• Willing to take on any task needed for mission success.
• Bias for action: work hands on with code, hardware-in-the-loop testing, and flight data to get results early.

Conditions

Based at the Auckland production complex.

Domestic and international travel may be required.

For US offices only: to comply with US space technology export rules, including ITAR, you must be a US citizen, a lawful US permanent resident, lawfully admitted to the US as a refugee or granted asylum, or eligible to obtain the required authorisations 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 carried out before any offer is made. You must be eligible to access equipment and data regulated by 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.