Sr. Software Engineer, Command & Control

Job description

WHAT YOU’LL BE DOING 👨‍💻👩‍💻 🛰 🛰 You will be responsible for developing the backend Command & Control (C2) software that connects Quindar’s platform to satellite vehicles. Quindar enables users to operate large, heterogeneous constellations, and in this role you will build the systems that allow an ever-growing variety of spacecraft to communicate reliably with our platform while abstracting that complexity away from our users so they can focus on their core mission. At its core, this is a machine-to-machine communications and systems integration problem. You will work with binary protocols, command and telemetry definitions, data transport, serialization and encoding, stateful communication, hardware interfaces, and the operational realities of communicating with remote systems where reliability matters. You will bring or develop expertise in aerospace C2 concepts and industry standards such as CCSDS, CSP, CFDP, XTCE, and MIB. Direct experience with these standards is valuable, but it is not a prerequisite. We are equally interested in engineers who have solved similar problems in adjacent domains—including telecommunications, networking, robotics, industrial automation, IoT, defense systems, distributed infrastructure, or other complex hardware/software systems—and are excited to apply that experience to spacecraft operations. You will collaborate with a multidisciplinary team to onboard new satellite vehicles into Quindar, translating spacecraft-specific interfaces and protocols into reliable, maintainable integrations with our platform. You will also help develop the abstractions, tooling, and architecture that allow us to support many different spacecraft without building every integration from scratch. Ultimately, you will contribute to Quindar’s mission of simplifying space operations and enabling our customers to utilize their satellites like servers. This is a hybrid role with 2 days in our Arvada, CO, Washington, D.C., or Seattle, WA office. We aim to maximize the benefits of in-person collaboration while maintaining a flexible schedule with a significant amount of remote work. TECH SKILLS - Proficiency in backend or systems programming languages such as Python and Rust - Experience building software that communicates with, controls, or processes data from remote machines, embedded systems, hardware assets, or other complex systems - Experience implementing or integrating machine-to-machine communication protocols, including concepts such as binary serialization, framing, packetization, transport, message routing, sequencing, acknowledgements, error handling, and state management - Experience with real-time or embedded software, distributed systems, networking, telecommunications, robotics, IoT, industrial systems, or hardware/software integration - Experience with satellite communication standards such as CCSDS, CSP, CFDP, and IP is preferred but not required; experience implementing comparable protocols or communication standards in another industry is highly relevant - Familiarity with structured command, telemetry, or interface definitions such as XTCE and MIB is preferred; experience with analogous schemas, IDLs, protocol definitions, message catalogs, or data models from other industries is equally relevant - Understanding of the challenges associated with reliable communication to remote or intermittently connected systems, including bandwidth constraints, latency, retries, fault handling, and observability - Understanding and experience integrating encryption algorithms such as AES-256 GCM, AES-256 CFB, AES-256 ECB, NSA Type 1 PEGASUS, and NSA Type 1 CARIBOU is a plus - Experience with Kubernetes platforms and DevSecOps practices, particularly collaboration between software development and platform engineering teams, is preferred - Experience with relational and/or time-series databases - Familiarity with Git and GitHub or similar version-control workflows - Experience working with or contributing to open-source software is a plus SOFT SKILLS - Strong technical analysis, systems thinking, and troubleshooting skills - Highly adaptable; you will integrate a wide variety of missions into Quindar’s software and will need to quickly understand unfamiliar interfaces, protocols, hardware, and operational constraints - Ability to recognize common abstractions across different systems and protocols rather than treating every integration as a one-off implementation - Foresight for designing C2 systems that can scale across many vehicles, protocols, and missions - Independent self-starter who can take ownership of technically ambiguous integration problems and drive them to completion - A high standard for software maintainability, quality, resilience, observability, and performance - Strong cross-functional communication skills and the ability to distill complex technical information for both internal and customer-facing audiences - Curiosity and willingness to learn the aerospace domain; we value engineers who can bring lessons from other industries and rapidly develop expertise in spacecraft operations BACKGROUND QUALIFICATIONS - Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience - 3+ years of professional experience developing software for satellite command and control, telecommunications, networking, robotics, embedded systems, industrial automation, IoT, defense systems, or similarly complex machine-to-machine / hardware-software systems - Demonstrated experience taking a protocol, interface specification, or hardware integration from documentation through implementation, testing, troubleshooting, and production operation - Prior aerospace experience is not required. Candidates with strong systems and communications experience in adjacent industries who are interested in learning spacecraft C2 are encouraged to apply.