Senior Firmware Engineer (Vehicle)

TL;DR

Senior Firmware Engineer (Vehicle): Create embedded software architecture for real-time, fault tolerant control of a 20kW+ spacecraft with an accent on low-level drivers, hardware integration, and scalability across satellite products. Focus on debugging complex HW/FW issues, building fault-tolerant systems, and mentoring engineers on best practices.

Los Angeles, CA. Must be a U.S. Person (U.S. citizen, permanent resident, or protected individual) per ITAR export control regulations.

Base salary range: $160,000 - $220,000 + equity

Company

Building the largest and highest-power satellites for LEO to deep space missions, backed by $450M from top investors, with mass production and launches planned through 2026-2027.

What you will do

• Develop embedded software architecture for real-time, fault-tolerant control of high-power spacecraft.
• Build low-level software interfacing with sensors, actuators, propulsion, attitude control, and power subsystems.
• Debug complex hardware/firmware issues using JTAG/SWD, logic analyzers, oscilloscopes, and custom hooks on ground and in-orbit.
• Scale software across satellite products by creating infrastructure and development processes.
• Mentor software engineers and instill embedded best practices.

Requirements

• 5+ years developing embedded software in Rust, C, or C++ targeting microcontrollers (ARM, RISC-V, or similar).
• Strong understanding of microcontroller memory subsystem, instruction pipeline, interrupts, and DMA.
• Experience collaborating with hardware teams and debugging complex HW/FW issues.
• Experience with Rust in hard real-time systems (bare-metal or RTOS).
• Developing peripheral drivers without vendor software.
• U.S. Person status required for ITAR compliance.

Nice to have

• Spacecraft flight software development.
• Maintaining software across multiple product revisions.
• Software verification, testing (HIL/SIL), performance analysis.
• Fault-tolerant design and test systems.

Culture & Benefits

• Comprehensive benefits: paid time off, medical/dental/vision, life insurance, paid parental leave.
• Fast-paced Series C space startup environment.
• Equity in the company.
• Encourages non-traditional career paths and diverse teams.