Flight Software Infrastructure Engineer
Job description
About the role
Join the Starlink flight software team to enhance the development and deployment of both ground and satellite software. You will identify and resolve bottlenecks in developer workflows, improve build system efficiency, and simplify interface complexities. Your work will directly enable faster, higher-quality software delivery for the Starlink constellation. You will act as a critical infrastructure partner to flight software engineers, ensuring their tools are robust and performant. You will analyze complex development pipelines to drive measurable improvements in speed and reliability. This role requires a proactive mindset to anticipate problems before they impact the constellation mission. You will collaborate closely with cross-functional teams to align technical solutions with operational goals. This position is based in Redmond, WA, and operates as a full-time engagement under ITAR regulations, requiring U.S. citizenship, national status, or equivalent eligibility.
About the role
As a , you will play a pivotal role in the Starlink constellation's software delivery pipeline. The position centers on maintaining and enhancing the infrastructure that allows flight software and GNC engineers to develop, build, and deploy code efficiently. You will be responsible for streamlining developer workflows by identifying and resolving bottlenecks that impede productivity. A core responsibility is improving build system efficiency to reduce cycle times and ensure reliable outputs. You will also simplify interface complexities between tools and teams, creating a more cohesive development environment. Your contributions will directly impact the speed and quality of software deployed to satellites in orbit. This is an infrastructure-focused role where your work enables the broader flight software team to operate at maximum efficiency.
Key facts
-
Location: USA
-
Engagement: Full-time
-
Salary: Level I: $125,000.00 - $145,000.00 per year; Level II: $145,000.00 - $175,000.00 per year
-
Team: Starlink Flight Software
---
What you'll do
In this role, you will maintain critical tools used to generate flight code for flight software and GNC engineers. You will ensure these tools remain reliable, scalable, and easy to use. Supporting core flight software features that span multiple satellite products will be essential, as will collaborating with developers to identify and resolve slow or error-prone aspects of embedded software development. You will create new tools and processes designed to make development and operational systems more efficient, accurate, and user-friendly.
Working closely with ground software teams, you will suggest changes to flight systems that simplify constellation operations and improve overall workflow. Automating repetitive tasks will be a key focus, aimed at reducing manual overhead and accelerating development cycles. You will diagnose performance regressions in build outputs to ensure optimal resource utilization and maintain high standards of efficiency. Documenting system architectures and workflows will help improve team scalability and knowledge sharing across the organization. Implementing monitoring for toolchain health will allow for rapid response to infrastructure failures, minimizing downtime. You will partner with software engineers to design solutions that balance functionality with simplicity, ensuring the tools meet real-world needs without unnecessary complexity.
What you'll do
- Maintain tools for generating flight code for flight software and GNC engineers.
- Support core flight software features used across various satellite products.
- Collaborate with flight software developers to identify and resolve slow or error-prone aspects of embedded software development.
- Create new tools and processes for efficient, accurate, and user-friendly development and operational systems.
- Work with ground software teams to suggest changes in flight systems that simplify constellation operations.
- Automate repetitive tasks to reduce manual overhead and accelerate development cycles.
- Diagnose performance regressions in build outputs to ensure optimal resource utilization.
- Document system architectures and workflows to improve team scalability and knowledge sharing.
- Implement monitoring for toolchain health to enable rapid response to infrastructure failures.
- Partner with software engineers to design solutions that balance functionality with simplicity.
---
Requirements
To be successful in this role, you must hold a Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, math, or another STEM field, or possess 2+ years of software development experience. You should have hands-on experience developing in C/C++, Python, or similar programming languages. Because this role works under ITAR regulations, you must be a U.S. citizen or national, a U.S. lawful permanent resident, a Refugee, or an Asylee, or be eligible to obtain the necessary U.S. Department of State authorizations. These requirements ensure compliance with aerospace and defense-related restrictions.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, math, or a STEM field, OR 2+ years of software development experience.
- Experience developing in C/C++, Python, or similar programming languages.
- Must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. lawful permanent resident, Refugee, or Asylee, or eligible to obtain required U.S. Department of State authorizations due to ITAR regulations.
Nice to have
- Familiarity with Bazel.
- Experience identifying and improving performance bottlenecks in build systems or embedded environments.
- Experience designing intuitive user interfaces for software engineers.
- Experience designing fault-tolerant, distributed, or real-time embedded systems.
- Experience with version control, continuous integration, and continuous delivery systems.
- Ability to work effectively in a dynamic environment with evolving needs.
- Strong communication skills for cross-team collaboration.
- Ability to work both independently and as part of a team.
Skills & tools
- C/C++
- Python
- Bash
- Bazel (preferred)
---
Practical notes
Compensation for this role includes base salary, potential long-term incentives such as stock or cash awards, discretionary bonuses, and access to an Employee Stock Purchase Plan. Benefits encompass comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage, a 401(k) plan, short and long-term disability insurance, life insurance, paid parental leave, and various employee discounts. You will accrue 3 weeks of paid vacation and are eligible for 10 or more paid holidays annually. Washington State employees also earn paid sick time. Company shuttles operate on weekdays for roundtrip travel from select Seattle locations to the Redmond office. The role requires willingness to work extended hours and weekends when necessary to meet mission-critical deadlines.