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Northwood · 2 weeks ago

Senior Software Engineer (Space Communications)

Torrance, CA

Full-time

Onsite

Senior Level

5+ years exp

Northwood is on a mission to transform connectivity between Earth and space, bringing the benefits of space to the masses through innovations in space communications technologies. As a Software Engineer, you will be pivotal in designing, implementing, and optimizing the global service that delivers connectivity to customers, overseeing various key areas including control systems and APIs.

AerospaceHardwareSatellite Communication

Diversity & Inclusion

No H1B

Security Clearance Required

U.S. Citizen Only

Responsibilities

Designing, implementing, and optimizing the global service that delivers connectivity to our customers

Ownership over key areas - ranging from control of our antenna systems to the customer APIs that enable booking time on our network

Lead the end-to-end architecture of a global, distributed control plane that schedules hundreds of satellite passes per hour across mixed AWS/on-prem nodes

Mentor teams on fault-tolerant patterns and land design RFCs that become Northwood standards

Build and own customer-facing and internal control-plane APIs – craft, version, and operate the endpoints that let users search, reserve, update, and cancel satellite passes at multi-thousand-request scale

Design and implement the underlying workflow-orchestrator that coordinates satellite communications across sites, reconciles conflicts, and enables autonomous coordination across the worlds largest ground network

Architect the real-time TT&C / data-transfer interfaces – deliver a secure, bidirectional streaming channel that carries command uplink, telemetry downlink, and supports near-real-time data delivery across Northwood’s global ground network

Design and implement control systems for our ground station hardware, you will write software that interacts with everything from embedded systems to RF modems

Architect and optimize data pipelines for efficient movement of data between ground stations and various end environments

Architect a Tbps-class SD-WAN overlay (WireGuard + QUIC) that transparently shifts traffic between sites, S3-compatible buckets and customer VPCs, with per-flow QoS and FEC

Create comprehensive monitoring and alerting solutions for software and infrastructure

Implement tools to ensure continuous uptime and rapid issue resolution

Transform our telemetry data into actionable insights, enabling predictive diagnostics to address issues before they arise; keep our customers informed about relevant operations in real time

A global network requires global deployments, and Northwood is committed to building a secure, reliable, and stable pipeline

Develop software for production line bring-up and testing

Automate testing procedures to ensure hardware and software reliability

Working alongside mechanical/RF/EE/FPGA and SW engineers to ensure system correctness, performance, and reliability before leaving our manufacturing line

Create simulations that model satellite and network design

Create simulation tools for testing and validating system performance

Design and implement software that orchestrates our global antenna network and data plane

Qualification

Distributed SystemsCloud ComputingAPI DevelopmentData MovementMonitoring ToolsProgramming LanguagesInfrastructure as CodeDatabasesSimulationProblem-solvingCommunication SkillsCollaboration SkillsFast-paced Environment

Required

5-7+ years of professional software development experience

Completed bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Math or other related major

A U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident of the U.S

A protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3)

Eligible to obtain the required authorizations/clearances from the U.S. Department of State

Preferred

Proficiency in one or more of the following programming languages: Rust, Golang, C/C++

Strong problem-solving abilities

Excellent communication and collaboration skills

Ability to work in a fast-paced, dynamic environment

Experience designing and implementing distributed systems

Knowledge of cloud services (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud) and orchestration tools

Familiarity with microservices architecture and serverless computing

Experience with hardware control systems

Familiarity with FPGA programming and orchestration

Understanding of embedded systems development (FreeRTOS, Zephyr)

Proficiency in architecting data pipelines for high-throughput environments

Understanding of network programming and IP protocols

Experience with high-speed communications (10GigE+)

Experience in building RESTful APIs

Proficiency with front-end technologies: JavaScript/TypeScript

Experience with frameworks: Angular, React, or similar

Knowledge of UI/UX best practices

Experience with monitoring solutions (Prometheus, Grafana, ELK Stack)

Familiarity with alerting systems and incident response

Proficiency with Infrastructure as Code tools (Terraform, Ansible)

Understanding of security best practices and compliance requirements

Experience managing CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, GitLab CI/CD)

Experience with time-series databases (InfluxDB, TimescaleDB)

Proficiency with relational databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL)

Knowledge of data processing frameworks

Experience designing/implementing simulations for physical models (think satellite orbits) or network movement

Experience designing/implementing orchestration engines for distributed nodes (think robotics, long running jobs, data pipelines, etc.)

Experience with automated testing frameworks

Familiarity with production line testing software

Company

Northwood

Northwood was founded by Bridgit Mendler, Griffin Cleverly, and Shaurya Luthra with the mission to expand access to space by transforming satellite backhaul infrastructure.

Founded in 2023

Torrance, California, USA

11-50 employees