Engineering Manager

BBBH93879_1763487714
  • Up to £200000.00 per annum
  • Santa Barbara, California
  • Permanent
Role Overview
Hands-on Engineering Manager to lead a team of 5-8 flight software engineers responsible for the embedded software running on a large, high-resolution Earth-observation satellite constellation. Reports to the Director of Software Engineering.
Core Responsibilities
  • Direct management, mentoring, and growth of the flight software team
  • Own the full development lifecycle of safety-critical, space-qualified flight software
  • Drive architecture and technical roadmap for real-time embedded systems
  • Ensure reliability, fault tolerance, radiation hardening, and performance in orbit
  • Partner with hardware, ADCS, payload, and ground-segment teams
  • Enforce rigorous processes (code reviews, CI/CD, testing, MISRA/DO-178C compliance)
  • Hands-on coding and debugging when needed (primarily C/C++, some Python)
Required Experience
  • 8+ years in software engineering, with 3+ years in embedded/flight software for space or aerospace
  • 3+ years managing or technically leading embedded/software teams
  • Deep expertise in RTOS (FreeRTOS, RTEMS, VxWorks, etc.), bare-metal C/C++, and low-level drivers
  • Proven work on satellite flight software (ADCS, C&DH, payload interfaces, TT&C, etc.)
  • Familiarity with radiation effects, SEU/SEL mitigation, CCSDS, and space-grade testing
  • Experience shipping flight code that has flown successfully
Nice-to-Have
  • Small-sat or CubeSat mission experience
  • Secure boot, encryption, or space-cybersecurity implementations
  • ML on-orbit or advanced autonomy features
  • Orbital mechanics or simulation experience
Compensation & Benefits
  • Base: $180k - $250k (flexible based on experience)
  • Meaningful equity
  • Full medical/dental/vision (100% premiums covered)
  • 401(k) match, unlimited PTO, hybrid schedule
  • Relocation assistance available

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