Manager, Flight Software - Project Sunrise – Orbital Data Centers
About The Position
Blue Origin’s Advanced Concepts and Enterprise Engineering (ACE) team supports the company’s mission of enabling millions of people to live and work in space for the benefit of Earth. ACE fosters innovation, future-focused engineering workflows, shared solutions and standards, simplicity, lower costs, and manufacturable design. Blue Origin is developing Project Sunrise, a constellation of orbital data centers. The Manager of Flight Software will lead a high-performing team responsible for the core software of Sunrise satellites. The role will shape the software architecture supporting power management, active thermal control, large-scale deployment, and autonomous operations, and will help define the reliability and performance of the constellation.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical field.
- At least 8 years of experience in real-time embedded software development, including at least 3 years in a technical leadership or management role.
- Deep understanding of spacecraft flight software, with demonstrated experience in GNC, C&DH, or FDIR.
- Strong programming skills in C/C++ and experience with real-time operating systems (RTOS).
- Experience across the full software development lifecycle, from requirements through testing and deployment.
- Must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum.
Nice To Haves
- Master's degree or PhD in a relevant field.
- Experience with control systems for high-power electrical distribution or active thermal systems.
- Proven experience with GNC for large, flexible space structures.
- Knowledge of building and managing software for large-scale, fault-tolerant distributed systems.
- Experience with spacecraft autonomy or multi-satellite constellations.
- Familiarity with spacecraft communication protocols such as CCSDS or SpaceWire.
- Familiarity with software assurance standards such as NASA-STD-8739.8, NPR 7150.2, ECSS-Q-ST-80C, or DO-178C, and embedded coding standards such as the JPL Institutional Coding Standard, MISRA C/C++, or CERT C/C++.
- Experience with simulation environments and hardware-in-the-loop testing.
Responsibilities
- Lead and mentor flight software engineers, fostering technical excellence, innovation, and ownership.
- Own the architecture, design, and implementation of Command & Data Handling (C&DH) and Fault Detection, Isolation, and Recovery (FDIR) software.
- Architect and develop software for a high-power distribution system serving a multi-kilowatt AI compute payload.
- Design and implement control software for the active thermal system to manage heat dissipation for compute hardware.
- Oversee development of Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) software for deployment and attitude control of a large, complex spacecraft.
- Collaborate with hardware and systems engineers to define software requirements, interfaces, and operational concepts for spacecraft subsystems.
- Develop and implement the flight software verification and validation strategy, including unit, integration, and hardware-in-the-loop testing.
- Support on-orbit operations, anomaly resolution, and flight software troubleshooting.
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 and company results.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Manager
