​​Principal Software Design Engineer I​

About the position

The Principal Software Design Engineer I is a technical leadership role focused on designing and implementing software for mission systems, including satellites and ground stations. This position requires expertise in software development, system integration, and mentoring junior engineers, while also providing support for software quality assurance and customer needs post-production.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement software to build and integrate mission systems including satellites, ground stations, and mission operations centers.
• Architect, design, develop, code, test, debug, and document space system software.
• Act as a subject matter expert on space software systems throughout the organization.
• Review code and system designs for efficiency and stability.
• Analyze code for efficiency, stability, and scalability.
• Integrate and validate new product designs.
• Provide expert guidance to direct product design.
• Support software quality assurance and optimize I/O performance.
• Provide post-production/in-orbit customer support.
• Interface with hardware design and development engineers.
• Mentor junior team members.
• Assess third-party and open-source software.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree with a minimum of 9 years of industry experience or a Master's degree with a minimum of 7 years of experience.
• Experience in developing multiple flight software systems.
• Hands-on development and troubleshooting experience with software systems and hardware (e.g., motors, power distribution units).
• Programming experience in C or C++.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience with products for aerospace applications.
• Experience with satellite operations or mission data systems, including COSMOS.
• Familiarity with NASA's cFS flight software framework.
• Knowledge of reading electronics schematics and component data sheets.
• Experience with ARM processors and fully-featured microcontrollers.
• Experience in design and development of a Software Development Kit (SDK).