Lead Flight Software Engineer

Role

• You’ll lead the team that owns the software that makes the spacecraft behave: real-time control flows, autonomy, mode management, FDIR, and the core flight applications that coordinate every subsystem.
• You’ll design and implement robust flight-software services on RTOS or Embedded Linux - turning mission requirements into deterministic, testable software - then take it from simulation all the way to launch and on-orbit operations.
• You’ll ensure our VLEO satellites stay safe and productive with strong fault tolerance, clean observability, and rapid iteration through over-the-air updates.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the flight software engineering team – recruit, coach, and direct the work of a team of software engineers to deliver the flight software elements of a novel spacecraft to operate in VLEO.
• Own the on-board flight-software stack – design, implement and test real-time C/C++ on RTOS or Embedded Linux
• Integrate subsystems end-to-end – define ICDs and build drivers/middleware over I2C/SPI/UART/CAN(-FD)/SpaceWire (as applicable).
• Build spacecraft behaviors & autonomy – implement mode management, sequencing, and autonomous FDIR for safe and productive operations.
• Deliver reliable real-time performance – manage concurrency, timing, CPU/memory budgets, and observability under tight constraints.
• Build verification infrastructure – prototypes, SIL/HIL test harnesses, simulations, and telemetry analysis tooling to validate designs early.
• Ship code from review to orbit – push through CI/CD, support integration and launch ops, and deliver secure over-the-air updates.
• Work across disciplines – collaborate with avionics, AOCS, comms and mission teams to trade compute, power, thermal, storage and link budgets.

Key Requirements

• 5+ years’ experience in development of flight software for spacecraft, including experience in leading engineers with flight software deliverables.
• Proven experience in building production embedded or real-time systems in C/C++ and/or Rust on RTOS or Embedded Linux for space systems.
• Strong grasp of real-time software: scheduling, interrupts, concurrency primitives, determinism, and designing for constrained CPU/memory.
• Proven ability to build reliable, testable systems: unit/integration testing, simulation-first development, HIL validation, and disciplined debugging.
• Hands-on experience integrating with hardware via common interfaces (I2C, SPI, UART, CAN(-FD), GPIO, etc.) and practical lab debugging.
• Solid software engineering fundamentals: architecture, code review, static analysis, CI/CD, configuration management, and observability/logging.
• Ability to own systems end-to-end: from requirements and design through implementation, verification, operations support, and iterative improvement.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience with spacecraft flight software frameworks, (e.g., cFS, F´, or building lightweight component-based equivalents).
• Familiarity with autonomy and fault management patterns for radiation/SEUs, watchdog strategies, redundancy, and safe-mode design.
• GNC/AOCS-adjacent experience: sensor/actuator pipelines, control-loop integration, estimation/filters, timing analysis.
• Digital-twin / simulator / SIL-HIL experience for end-to-end behavior validation and regression testing.
• On-orbit operations know-how: commissioning flows, anomaly response, telemetry triage, and OTA update strategies.

Why NewOrbit Space?

• Pioneering space technology - Your work on our RF gridded ion thrusters and VLEO satellite platform will redefine satellite operations and challenge traditional LEO.
• Ownership and impact - You'll have a level of ownership that's rare in the space industry, and you'll take part in the full lifecycle of satellite technology.
• Equity and competitive salary - Alongside a competitive salary you receive a company ownership stake, so you share in the technology you help build and in our collective success.
• Comprehensive benefits - Private health insurance with dental and optical cover, and annual health check-ups.
• Hybrid working - One dedicated remote day per week.
• Visa sponsorship and relocation support - We sponsor visas and provide relocation support for candidates moving to join us.