Senior Spacecraft Flight Software Engineer

HawkEye 360 (HE360) is seeking a Senior Spacecraft Flight Software Engineer to join the Space team in Herndon, Virginia.

You will develop flight software that powers our spacecraft and payloads, working directly with flight hardware from driver-level code through integrated system functionality .

This role offers the opportunity to directly influence mission success by architecting, implementing, testing, and optimizing software that flies on-orbit .

Reporting to the Spacecraft Bus Lead, you'll contribute to critical spacecraft systems including on-board compute r flight software (OBC FSW ), radio communications, command & telemetry, and payload operations.

This role is ideal for an engineer with proven spacecraft flight software experience who thrives in fast-paced environments and enjoys solving complex technical problems.

Your main responsibilities will be:

• Design and implement flight software in C/C++ for critical spacecraft functions including radio communications, onboard computer (OBC) systems, telemetry, command handling, payload tasking, and autonomous fault protection.
• Develop and integrate low-level embedded drivers for spacecraft subsystems across RTOS and embedded Linux platforms
• Support hardware bring-up and system integration, debugging interactions between software, processors, FPGAs, sensors, radios, and payload electronics.
• Conduct unit testing, integrated software testing, and hardware-in-the-loop verification to ensure reliability before launch.
• Build and maintain Python and C/C++ tools for ground support equipment, automated testing workflows, and data processing.
• Analyze on-orbit and ground test data to diagnose issues, validate performance, and drive continuous system improvements.
• Optimize software for Low-SWaP (Size, Weight, and Power) embedded environments, focusing on performance, efficiency, and resource utilization.
• Collaborate closely with Systems Engineering, RF, Electrical, AI&T, and Operations teams to ensure seamless multi-disciplinary integration.
• Participate in rapid development cycles, supporting design reviews, code reviews, and iterative hardware/software testing.

Your skills and qualifications: Essential education and experience:

• 3+ years of spacecraft flight software development experience on RTOS or embedded Linux platforms
• Strong Proficiency in C, Python, and version control (Git).
• Proven ability to solve complex technical problems with high attention to detail and minimal oversight.