Head of Compute Software

Cowboy Space•San Carlos, CA

6d•Onsite

About The Position

Cowboy Space Corp. is building the infrastructure to power and connect the orbital economy. Our satellites operate in Low Earth Orbit to collect sunlight and enable a new class of capabilities—from transmitting energy via infrared lasers (space-to-earth and space-to-space), to powering on-orbit compute, to delivering secure, high-bandwidth optical data. By rethinking how energy and data are generated and distributed in space, we’re unlocking entirely new ways to operate both in orbit and on Earth. Founded in 2024 by Baiju Bhatt (co-founder of Robinhood), Cowboy Space Corp. is backed by leading investors and built by a team from top aerospace and defense organizations. We’re moving quickly to solve complex technical challenges and build a new category of space infrastructure. We are looking for a Head of Compute Software to lead the architecture, development, and deployment of the software systems that power our space-based compute platforms. This role will own the end-to-end software strategy for onboard compute systems, including real-time control, distributed processing, and high-bandwidth data handling in orbit. You will define and build resilient, high-performance software that operates under strict latency, power, and reliability constraints. You will work closely with hardware, spacecraft, and mission teams to ensure seamless integration between software and the underlying compute platforms. This is a critical leadership role with significant ownership over system architecture, team building, and execution.

Requirements

10+ years of experience in software engineering, with a focus on distributed systems, embedded systems, or high-performance computing
Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field
Experience designing and shipping complex software systems (e.g., distributed platforms, embedded systems, or real-time systems)
Strong background in one or more of the following: Distributed systems or cloud/edge computing, Embedded systems or avionics software, High-performance computing (HPC) or data processing systems, Real-time or low-latency systems
Experience leading technical projects or teams with increasing scope and ownership
Strong understanding of system architecture and hardware/software co-design

Nice To Haves

Experience building software for aerospace, satellite systems, or other mission-critical environments (e.g., aviation, defense, autonomous systems)
Background in edge computing or distributed systems operating in constrained, disconnected, or high-latency environments
Familiarity with operating systems, resource management, and performance optimization under strict hardware and power constraints
Experience designing or operating systems that must be highly reliable in failure-prone environments (e.g., intermittent connectivity, partial system failures, degraded modes)
Experience with real-time or near real-time distributed systems, including scheduling, orchestration, and low-latency processing
Background in networking systems, including handling unreliable links, custom protocols, or high-latency communication environments
Experience building platform or infrastructure layers that support higher-level applications (e.g., compute platforms, internal developer platforms, orchestration systems)
Proven ability to build or scale systems from 0→1 in ambiguous, fast-moving environments
Experience working cross-functionally with hardware, embedded, or avionics teams to co-design tightly integrated systems
Prior experience in high-growth startups or deeply technical organizations where speed and ownership are critical
Strong intuition for making tradeoffs between performance, reliability, and development velocity in novel environments

Responsibilities

Define the technical vision and roadmap for onboard compute software across spacecraft platforms
Lead the design and development of real-time, distributed, and fault-tolerant software systems for space environments
Own system architecture across operating systems, middleware, networking, and application layers
Build and lead a team of software engineers, setting technical direction, development standards, and execution velocity
Drive end-to-end software development from architecture and prototyping through deployment and in-orbit operations
Collaborate cross-functionally with hardware, GNC, RF, and spacecraft teams to ensure tight hardware/software integration
Develop systems for real-time control, autonomy, and high-throughput data processing onboard satellites
Optimize software for performance, reliability, and efficiency within constrained compute, power, and thermal environments
Establish robust testing, simulation, and validation frameworks (including hardware-in-the-loop and mission simulation)
Guide build vs. buy decisions, tooling, and infrastructure for onboard and ground software systems
Participate in system-level trade studies balancing performance, latency, reliability, and resource constraints
Represent compute software in design reviews (PDR, CDR) and executive-level discussions