Staff Embedded Software Engineer (Aerospace)

Location: Long Beach, California, United States

Hiring range: $181,000–$271,000 USD annually

Company

hirify.global develops rockets, spacecraft systems, and infrastructure for commercial launch and interplanetary scientific exploration.

What you will do

• Own application-level software for optical terminal processors, including thermal control loops, steering mirror control, and health monitoring.
• Develop Linux device drivers and hardware abstraction layers for thermal sensors, actuators, and optical terminal components.
• Build interfaces connecting Ka-band, UHF, and optical communication subsystems with payload networks and data-center systems.
• Implement packet parsers, protocol adapters, OSI layer 2–3 functionality, command and telemetry systems, and mode management.
• Develop fault detection and recovery software for communication hardware.
• Debug integration issues across serial buses, Ethernet interfaces, and radio transceivers with electrical and FPGA engineers.

Requirements

• BS or MS in Computer Science or Electrical Engineering and 5+ years of relevant experience.
• Strong C systems programming skills and experience with device drivers, register-level interfaces, or bus protocols.
• Experience developing Linux device drivers and real-time or embedded software.
• Solid network programming skills, including sockets, packet handling, and layer 2/3 protocol implementation.
• Ability to implement software control loops and interface with modem hardware.

Nice to have

• Spacecraft communication subsystem or radio interface development experience.
• Familiarity with CCSDS packet structures and protocols.
• Experience with SPI, I2C, UART, Ethernet control planes, optical communication terminals, or free-space optical links.
• Experience tuning thermal control loops and designing hardware abstraction layers for evolving hardware variants.
• Hardware laboratory experience with serial consoles, logic analyzers, and signal integrity debugging.

Culture & Benefits

• Autonomous, ownership-driven work with cross-functional collaboration.
• Opportunity to contribute to rockets, factories, and interplanetary science systems from an early product stage.
• Competitive salary and equity.
• Generous paid time off and sick leave, parental leave, and an annual learning and development stipend.