Software Architect

Sceye is seeking an experienced Software Architect to define and evolve the software architecture powering our stratospheric High-Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) fleet. This role owns the technical vision across avionics, ground systems, mission operations, and data platforms, ensuring our software is scalable, reliable, and ready to support a rapidly growing fleet of stratospheric airships. You will work directly with engineering leadership and cross-functional teams to translate mission requirements into robust, long-lived architecture.

Define and maintain the overall software architecture across flight, ground, and mission systems.

Set technical direction and coding standards for distributed teams working across avionics, backend, and data services.

Evaluate and select technologies, frameworks, and infrastructure patterns to support scalability and reliability.

Lead architecture reviews and design documentation for major new systems and features.

Partner with Product, Systems Engineering, and Flight Operations to translate mission and safety requirements into software design.

Design fault-tolerant, real-time systems suitable for command and control of remote, high-altitude vehicles.

Guide API design, service boundaries, and data models across the software stack.

Mentor senior and staff engineers on architectural best practices and long-term system health.

Drive decisions on build-vs-buy, cloud infrastructure, and on-prem/edge computing tradeoffs.

Identify technical debt and lead initiatives to modernize legacy systems without disrupting flight operations.

Participate in incident reviews for mission-critical systems and drive architectural remediation.

Ensure architecture decisions account for cybersecurity, data integrity, and regulatory considerations.

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field; Master's degree preferred.

10+ years of professional software engineering experience, including 3+ years in an architect or senior technical leadership role.

Proven track record designing large-scale, distributed, real-time, or safety-critical systems.

Deep expertise in at least one modern backend language (e.g., Python, Go, C++, Java) and familiarity with several others.

Strong understanding of cloud infrastructure (AWS, Azure, or GCP), containerization, and microservices architecture.

Experience with real-time or near-real-time telemetry, command-and-control, or IoT-style systems.

Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain architecture tradeoffs to technical and non-technical audiences.

Demonstrated ability to lead architecture across multiple teams and drive alignment among engineers and stakeholders.

Experience in aerospace, satellite, telecommunications, or other mission-critical industries.

Familiarity with avionics software standards (e.g., DO-178C) or similar safety-critical software practices.

Experience with event-driven architectures, message queues (Kafka, MQTT, RabbitMQ), and time-series databases.

Background in systems supporting remote or autonomous vehicles (satellites, UAS, HAPS).

Experience with Kubernetes and infrastructure-as-code tooling (Terraform, Pulumi).

Sceye is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected status.

We encourage individuals from all backgrounds to apply, especially those who bring unique perspectives and experiences that can help us grow and innovate. If you require reasonable accommodation during the application or interview process, please contact us—we're happy to assist.