Senior Flight Software Engineer

IonQ•San Francisco, CA

4d•$145,920 - $191,047•Hybrid

About The Position

Capella Space, now part of IonQ’s space business, operates one of the world’s most capable commercial synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite constellations, delivering all-weather, day-and-night imagery to government and commercial customers globally. As IonQ builds the physical infrastructure for the world’s first quantum-secured space network, spanning satellite operations and free-space optical communications, the Flight Software team is crucial for maintaining the constellation's daily operations. This role involves writing the software that runs the satellite fleet in orbit, collaborating closely with FPGA developers, electrical engineers, and other subsystem owners to design, build, and evolve flight code. The ideal candidate will have a proven track record with complex, safety-critical systems, strong systems-architecture judgment, and the experience to influence the team’s engineering roadmap, transforming sophisticated radar technology into reliable and user-friendly software.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in computer science, computer engineering, electrical engineering, or a related field or equivalent practical experience.
5+ years of relevant, hands-on engineering experience.
Ability to support a design through all software lifecycles including initial schematic review and architectural tradeoffs, preliminary and detailed design, implementation, integration, and test.
Experience working with real-time embedded systems - both hardware and software, including low-level drivers.
Hands on experience developing, testing, and debugging hard real-time software (bare-metal or RTOS).
Familiarity with embedded Linux, Linux kernel modules, and standard Linux tools.
Strong knowledge of programming compiled (C, C++) and scripted (Python, shell script, etc.) languages.
Experience writing software for microcontrollers and other embedded systems, e.g., Xilinx Zynq SoCs.
Familiarity with software configuration management.
Hand-on experience with lab equipment and electronics hardware, e.g., oscilloscopes, logic analyzers.
To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), Capella Employees must be a U.S. citizen, lawful U.S. permanent resident (i.e., current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State and/or the U.S. Department of Commerce, as applicable.

Nice To Haves

No prior space experience is required.

Responsibilities

Design, develop, and maintain flight software for a growing satellite constellation.
Collaborate with EE, FPGA, and ground software engineers to ensure seamless integration between hardware and software.
Lead code reviews and mentor teammates with constructive, high-standard feedback.
Write and maintain unit and integration tests to ensure robustness and reliability of the software.
Develop software documentation and provide cross-training to other team members.
Troubleshoot and resolve software issues quickly, including in live on-orbit operations.
Participate in the software development life cycle, from requirement analysis to deployment.
Support integration and operations teams with software-related queries.