Back-end Ground Software Engineer III - Lunar Permanence

BLUE ORIGIN•Denver, CO

11d•$150,931 - $230,513

About The Position

This role is part of Blue Origin’s Lunar Permanence business unit, which develops Blue Moon landers and related products. The Ground Software Engineer helps build, test, and integrate software for Lunar Permanence Mission Operations Centers used to operate lunar space vehicles. The role works closely with space vehicle and ground subsystem teams to develop, test, and deploy software enabling Earth-based operators to carry out mission-critical functions, including flight and ground system integration and testing, mission activity planning, telemetry processing and display, spacecraft health monitoring and fault detection, and operations training. The engineer designs, implements, verifies, and deploys mission operations and safety-critical software. Responsibilities span software architecture and implementation, system integration and qualification, documentation, testing with software- and hardware-in-the-loop simulators, and certified releases. The role also supports software operations and frequent updates during pre-flight testing, mission validation, training, spacecraft integration, and flight. A passion for safe human spaceflight and collaboration across disciplines is important.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or higher in software or an engineering-related field.
At least 5 years of software development experience.
Proven software development experience in Python and/or Rust.
Willingness to work and integrate with frontend developers and React-based frameworks.
Experience with the full lifecycle of software engineering, including system design, implementation and verification, system integration, and release.
Skills in software build automation, continuous integration, configuration management, verification, and deployment.
Experience designing and implementing scalable software architectures.
Familiarity with Linux and basic Unix system administration activities.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
Ability to work collaboratively in cross-functional teams.
Passion for spaceflight and space exploration.

Nice To Haves

At least 3 years of proven experience developing software supporting critical applications, such as aviation, spaceflight, nuclear power, or business-critical web services.
Experience crafting and developing software for aerospace operations.
Familiarity with infrastructure-as-code, services-as-code, and cloud technologies.
Understanding of space-based communications protocols, such as CCSDS.
Familiarity with cybersecurity practices for software system safety.
Compliance experience with NPR 7150.2x.
Experience with fault-tolerant software design, human error assessment and prevention, and fault tolerance.
Experience with spacecraft subsystems and associated software.

Responsibilities

Design, implement, test, verify, and deploy mission operations and safety-critical software systems supporting spaceflight operations.
Collaborate with teams representing space vehicle systems, mission-control infrastructure, operations, and other customers to define software requirements, architectures, and designs.
Develop rapid prototypes to prove concepts and quantify technical risks.
Coordinate with mission control infrastructure and mission system engineers to plan, develop, and lead system verification and qualification.
Produce and contribute to software architecture and design documentation, verification plans, user manuals, and training materials.
Follow software development processes that meet Blue Origin and customer-required standards for software safety and reliability.
Support frequent software update cycles for pre-flight testing, mission validation exercises, and operations training events.
Support mission control software maintenance, problem correction, and improvements during operator training, ground data system verification and certification, spacecraft integration, and flight.
Integrate software components; build and run unit- and system-level tests; validate with Software-in-the-Loop and Hardware-in-the-Loop simulators; and release certified code.

Benefits

Medical insurance
Dental insurance
Vision insurance
Basic and supplemental life insurance
Paid parental leave
Short- and long-term disability
401(k) with company match of up to 5%
Education Support Program
Stock options for regular employees working at least 20 hours per week
Paid time off of up to four weeks per year based on weekly scheduled hours
Up to 14 company-paid holidays
Depending on role type and job level, employees may be eligible for benefits and bonuses based on individual contributions or other factors; amounts and eligibility are not guaranteed.