Software Engineer, Level 3 — Space Resources Program

BLUE ORIGIN • Los Angeles, CA

2d • Onsite

About The Position

This role is part of Advanced Concepts and Enterprise Engineering (ACE), supporting Blue Origin’s mission of millions of people living and working in space for the benefit of Earth. The team fosters innovation and drives engineering workflows of the future, shared solutions and standards, simplicity and lower costs, and manufacturable design. In this hands-on, on-site role based at our Los Angeles facility, you will collaborate closely with the Space Resources Program team, owning subsystem-level software scope with minimal day-to-day oversight. We are looking for an experienced, self-motivated software engineer who brings technical expertise, leadership capabilities, and an unwavering commitment to quality and safety. You will communicate technical rationale and risk trade-offs while delivering high-quality software in a safety- and mission-critical environment. The pace at Blue Origin is brisk, with rapid cycles of design, analysis, and integration aimed at delivering scalable solutions. We need someone who is adaptable, proactive, eager to learn, and uncompromising on safety and quality. Creativity, a spirit of innovation, and the ability to manage changing requirements are key to thriving on our inclusive, open-minded, and forward-thinking team. Passion for our mission is required!

Requirements

• B.S. degree or higher in computer science, computer engineering, electrical engineering, robotics engineering, aerospace engineering, mathematics, physics, or a related field.
• 5+ years of professional experience delivering embedded and/or mission/safety-critical software, owning features from design through verification.
• Proficiency in C/C++ (embedded/RTOS/Linux) and Python (tools/automation); strong experience with Git and collaborative development workflows.
• Hands-on and theoretical understanding of software and computational science principles, concepts, algorithms, and engineering beyond tool use.
• Demonstrated experience with real-time embedded software development concepts (e.g., concurrency, timing, determinism) and robust error handling.
• Demonstrated ability to integrate and debug across software, firmware, and hardware boundaries, and to lead root-cause investigations within your scope.
• Experience developing or integrating state estimation and planning algorithms for autonomous or robotic systems.
• Experience working in a structured environment with requirements, interfaces, verification planning, and test evidence.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; able to present technical rationale and risk trade-offs for peer and senior review, and receptive to the input of others.
• Ability to take technical ownership, assist team members as needed, and collaborate to identify and resolve technical problems.
• An internal drive to deliver high-quality results, with the ability to seek out requirements and propose solutions.
• 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

• M.S. degree in computer science, computer engineering, electrical engineering, robotics, aerospace engineering, mathematics, physics, or a related field.
• Applied experience with real-time operating systems and/or bare-metal embedded systems, including software design, development, and verification.
• Embedded systems software experience (command/telemetry frameworks, time synchronization).
• Bonus for flight and/or ground segment experience (mission control tooling, link testing, ground station integration, CCSDS-like protocols).
• Hands-on experience building and operating HIL benches and automated regression in CI/CD; familiarity with static/dynamic analysis and code quality tooling.
• Experience implementing or validating fault management approaches informed by hazard analysis, FMECA, or FDIR concepts.
• Experience with robotic middleware or messaging frameworks for modular software communication and integration (e.g., DDS or equivalent tools).
• Familiarity with secure communications practices and/or implementing cybersecurity controls for mission/ground systems.
• Understanding of control logic implementations and the ability to determine which tools are appropriate for a given problem.
• Experience with data acquisition systems, measurement theory, and instrumentation and control systems.
• Experience debugging low-level (platform and driver) code and/or auto-generated code.
• Experience with application performance monitoring and analysis.
• Experience using artifact management tools such as DOORS or Jama.

Responsibilities

• Own the design, implementation, and verification of assigned real-time systems and test infrastructure software components (e.g., command handling, telemetry, mode/state management, timing/synchronization, device control, health monitoring).
• Develop test infrastructure software to enable robust, real-time, safety-critical operation of multiple subsystems working in parallel.
• Implement and verify fault management behaviors for your scope (limit checks, safe responses, retries/timeouts, watchdog patterns, degraded modes) aligned to system hazards and mission objectives.
• Deliver configuration-controlled software releases including unit/integration tests, as-built notes, and release documentation.
• Develop and maintain ground software for commanding, telemetry ingest/display, data archiving, and operator tooling, with an emphasis on reliability and repeatability for mission operations.
• Support end-to-end connectivity and compatibility testing; produce test reports and operator procedures for your scope.
• Interface with broader software teams to evaluate existing mission and product architectures and aid in the selection of appropriate software architectures.
• Collaborate with hardware, systems, and quality assurance teams to align software functionality with requirements and perform hardware integration, ensuring robust and safe end-to-end functionality.
• Stand up and improve Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL) benches and automated regression suites; integrate avionics and instruments to enable end-to-end verification.
• Lead troubleshooting at the hardware/software interface; perform root-cause analysis on significant anomalies and drive corrective actions to closure with cross-functional partners.
• Contribute to the design, implementation, and integration of advanced algorithms, leveraging AI/ML where appropriate, to support and accelerate autonomy, process optimization, and anomaly detection within safety-critical systems.
• Develop or integrate state estimation and planning algorithms to support autonomous and robotic subsystems.
• Develop and maintain software requirements, acceptance criteria, and interface control documents (ICDs) for owned components; ensure traceability to higher-level system requirements and ConOps.
• Contribute to the software V&V plan and verification matrix; execute verification, document results, and support gated reviews and change control with audit-ready artifacts.
• Produce technical documentation for software architecture, design, and verification plans.
• Ensure compliance with industry safety and certification standards for critical systems.
• Operate in an agile rhythm: provide estimates, support sprint planning and backlog grooming, communicate progress and risks, and coordinate dependencies across systems, GNC, avionics, mission ops, and quality/mission assurance.
• Participate in and help raise the bar for code reviews, coding standards, branching/release practices, and test/coverage expectations; mentor junior engineers through reviews and lab support.
• Provide input to project managers to help plan, track progress, and adjust scope to meet software goals.
• Continuously learn and integrate new technologies and methodologies to enhance development processes and product capabilities.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision, basic and supplemental life insurance, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability, 401(k) with a company match of up to 5%, and an Education Support Program.
• Stock Options for all regular employees (working at least 20 hours/week)
• Up to four (4) weeks per year based on weekly scheduled hours, and up to 14 company-paid holidays.

What This Job Offers

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