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AdAstra Talent Advisors · 3 months ago

Staff Flight Software Engineer

Bay Area, CA

Full-time

Onsite

Lead/Staff

$190K/yr - $230K/yr

8+ years exp

AdAstra Talent Advisors is a headhunting and talent advising firm focused on the Climate, Space, and Defense sectors of Hard Tech. They are seeking a Staff Flight Software Engineer to serve as a primary contributor to the flight software design, working to shape system interfaces and component interactions.

Management Consulting

No H1B

U.S. Citizen Only

Responsibilities

Develop & Integrate: Implement embedded flight software modules in C++ on RTOS or space-grade frameworks; carry features from concept through flight-ready validation

System Validation: Plan and execute comprehensive hardware/software integration tests, including fault-injection scenarios and performance benchmarking

Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with hardware engineering, GNC, and operations to define interfaces, manage fault conditions, and implement mitigation workflows

CCSDS TT&C Integration: Develop and validate CCSDS-compliant Telemetry, Tracking & Command (TT&C) subsystems—implement frame assembly/disassembly, packetization, CRC/error-control coding, and end-to-end link workflows

Optimization & Reliability: Profile and tune software for CPU, memory, and I/O efficiency; contribute to FDIR logic and scheduler enhancements to maximize on-orbit reliability

Mentorship & Best Practices: Coach mid-level engineers through design reviews and code walks; promote coding standards, automated testing, and CI/CD pipelines

Documentation & Tooling: Produce clear technical artifacts - ICDs, test plans, runbooks - and help build digital tools for telemetry analysis and on-orbit diagnostics

Qualification

C/C++ embedded softwareRTOSSpace-grade frameworksCCSDS TelemetryTelecommandHardware/software validationReal-time schedulingCommunication protocolsCross-team collaborationTechnical documentationMentorship

Required

8+ years developing C/C++ embedded software on RTOS or space-grade frameworks (cFS, F', TASTE, etc.)

Proven track record executing full-system hardware/software validation and fault-injection test campaigns

Deep expertise with RS-422/485, Ethernet, I2C, or similar communication buses in embedded environments

Solid understanding of real-time scheduling, FDIR principles, and performance profiling under resource constraints

Excellent written and verbal skills for cross-team collaboration and technical documentation

Hands-on experience implementing CCSDS Telemetry (TM) and Telecommand (TC) packet standards, including header/payload formats, Virtual Channel multiplexing, and CRC/error-control procedures