Ground Software Lead

Karman+ - Launching the Regolith Age • Broomfield, CO

55d • $130,000 - $180,000 • Onsite

About The Position

At Karman+, we’re building spacecraft that will take us beyond Earth orbit. For the High Frontier mission, we need a Ground Software Lead to architect, develop, and maintain the architecture of ground systems, ensuring scalability, reliability, and mission success. This is a critical role for an engineer who thrives on end-to-end ownership of ground systems. This role is highly visible, with deliverables that affect engineering across all disciplines. As Karmanplus' Ground Software Lead, you'll serve as a technical authority for spacecraft ground software. You'll architect the infrastructure and tools to enable rapid development, deployment, and operations of our spacecraft. This involves ground station interfacing, command and control software, and spacecraft telemetry backstorage. This is a highly technical, hands-on role that requires strong programming experience and systems-level thinking. You’ll work directly with the Flight Software, Mission Design, GNC, and AI&T teams, helping shape spacecraft architecture and driving key design decisions from the software side. The ideal candidate will be fluent in compiled languages, scripting languages, networking protocols, and containerization. You'll be responsible for the complete lifecycle of the software you create, including design, development, testing, support, and operations.

Requirements

• Bachelor's or master's degree in a relevant field, such as Computer Science, Software Engineering, or Aerospace Engineering
• Proficiency in programming languages such as C++, Python, Ruby, Rust, or Java
• Strong understanding of networking protocols and distributed computing concepts
• Experience with common serialization, encapsulation, and message schema strategies
• Familiarity with containerization and orchestration platforms
• Knowledge of data storage and processing technologies such as SQL, MongoDB, InfluxDB, and Kafka
• Experience with logging and monitoring systems, such as Elasticsearch and Grafana
• Expertise in Git-based workflows, CI/CD pipelines, and containerized orchestration
• Experience with deployment and configuration control systems such as Ansible
• Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills
• Practiced skills in communication and collaboration
• Ability to produce clear, well-structured, and well-documented software designs
• Willingness to partner with team members for design sessions, pair programming, and documentation

Nice To Haves

• Aerospace background supporting satellite, spacecraft, constellation, or launch vehicle ground/mission operations
• Deep knowledge of microservice architectures and distributed systems
• Experience with Ground Station as a Service providers such as KSAT, AWS Ground, and Atlas
• Experience with command and control software such as COSMOS, OpenMCT, etc
• Knowledge of CCSDS standards, including Space Packet Protocol, COP-1, and CFDP

Responsibilities

• Design and develop distributed systems to support command and control of the spacecraft
• Implement software solutions to enable reliable transmission and data processing for our low bandwidth, high latency spacecraft communications
• Develop tools that allow for test execution across multiple environments: simulated hardware, hardware-in-the-loop, and vehicle-in-the-loop
• Implement networking technologies to direct data across spacecraft, ground stations, and operators
• Partner with flight software, mission design, GNC, and AI&T engineers to translate mission needs into scalable ground system designs
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to define system requirements and architecture, delivering high quality technical solutions
• Establish best practices in coding, design, and testing standards
• See your software through from start to finish: from establishing core needs to prototyping, developing, and testing; to on-orbit rollout and beyond

Benefits

• Equity Incentives - Participate in our shared success.
• Medical, Dental, and Vision Plans for top tier plans with additional buy-up plan options.
• Short-term Disability and Long-term Disability covered by Karman+
• Basic Life Insurance covered by Karman+
• 401k plan
• Unlimited Paid Time Off - We focus on what you get done, not how many hours or days you work.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 11-50 employees