Ground Station Software Engineer

Cowboy Space • Kent, WA

7d

About The Position

Cowboy Space Corporation is building infrastructure for space-based solar energy and the orbital economy. Its modular satellites are designed to collect sunlight in Low Earth Orbit and support energy transmission, on-orbit computing, and optical data transport.

The Ground Station Software Engineer will own software that provides the communications backbone between Earth and space. The software is written in Python and Go and is intended to deliver secure, highly reliable communications. The role involves developing and integrating software across ground-station operations and infrastructure, commercial and internally developed hardware, simulation and testing frameworks, and mission operations. The engineer will also help prepare for a near-term on-orbit demonstration, making pragmatic scope and risk tradeoffs.

The position is based with Cowboy Space Corporation’s team in San Carlos, California. Applicants must meet the stated U.S. export-control eligibility requirements for access to space technology.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field.
• At least 2 years of experience building production software systems.
• Strong programming skills in languages such as Python or Go.
• Experience working close to hardware, distributed systems, or real-time systems.
• Solid understanding of systems fundamentals, including operating systems, networking, and concurrency.
• Experience working in fast-paced, engineering-driven environments.
• To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, applicants must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with real-time operating systems software, embedded systems, or robotics.
• Background in aerospace, autonomous systems, or high-reliability environments.
• Experience building simulation frameworks or hardware-in-the-loop testing systems.
• Familiarity with Linux-based systems and low-level debugging.
• Experience with cloud infrastructure or distributed systems for mission operations.
• Track record of owning systems end-to-end in high-ownership environments.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop distributed software systems for ground-station network operations and core infrastructure services.
• Test and integrate software systems that run on commercial and internally developed hardware.
• Build simulation and testing frameworks to validate system behavior before deployment.
• Collaborate with hardware engineers to integrate, test, and debug systems end-to-end.
• Write performant, reliable code for resource-constrained and mission-critical environments.
• Develop internal tools to support testing, automation, and operational workflows.
• Participate in system bring-up, integration, and launch-preparation activities.
• Monitor and support on-orbit operations, including debugging and performance optimization.
• Contribute to system architecture decisions across software and hardware boundaries.
• Balance speed, reliability, and scalability in a fast-paced development environment.
• Investigate anomalies across hardware and software boundaries, perform root-cause analysis, and drive fixes to closure.
• Mentor engineers and review designs and code to improve overall software quality.
• Help drive the team toward a near-term on-orbit demonstration, making pragmatic scope and risk tradeoffs.

Benefits

• Equity in Cowboy Space Corp.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance for employees and eligible dependents.
• 401(k) retirement savings plan.
• Paid time off.
• 10 paid holidays per calendar year.
• Paid parental leave.
• Relocation assistance, if applicable.
• Daily lunch in the office and a fully stocked kitchen with beverages and snacks.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level