Ground Software Lead

Position: Ground Software Lead

Location: Broomfield CO

Position Type: Full-time On-site

Mission: High Frontier Architect Develop Deploy and Operate Ground Software

At Karman were building spacecraft that will take us beyond Earth orbit. For the High Frontier mission we need a Ground Software Lead to architect develop and maintain the architecture of ground systems ensuring scalability reliability and mission success. This is a critical role for an engineer who thrives on end-to-end ownership of ground systems.

This role is highly visible with deliverables that affect engineering across all disciplines.

What it takes to be successful in this role:

As Karmanplus Ground Software Lead youll serve as a technical authority for spacecraft ground software. Youll architect the infrastructure and tools to enable rapid development deployment and operations of our spacecraft. This involves ground station interfacing command and control software and spacecraft telemetry backstorage.

This is a highly technical hands-on role that requires strong programming experience and systems-level thinking. Youll work directly with the Flight Software Mission Design GNC and AI&T teams helping shape spacecraft architecture and driving key design decisions from the software side. The ideal candidate will be fluent in compiled languages scripting languages networking protocols and containerization.

Youll be responsible for the complete lifecycle of the software you create including design development testing support and operations.

What Youll Do

• Design and develop distributed systems to support command and control of the spacecraft
• Implement software solutions to enable reliable transmission and data processing for our low bandwidth high latency spacecraft communications
• Develop tools that allow for test execution across multiple environments: simulated hardware hardware-in-the-loop and vehicle-in-the-loop
• Implement networking technologies to direct data across spacecraft ground stations and operators
• Partner with flight software mission design GNC and AI&T engineers to translate mission needs into scalable ground system designs
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to define system requirements and architecture delivering high quality technical solutions
• Establish best practices in coding design and testing standards
• See your software through from start to finish: from establishing core needs to prototyping developing and testing; to on-orbit rollout and beyond

What You Bring

• Bachelors or masters degree in a relevant field such as Computer Science Software Engineering or Aerospace Engineering
• Proficiency in programming languages such as C Python Ruby Rust or Java
• Strong understanding of networking protocols and distributed computing concepts
• Experience with common serialization encapsulation and message schema strategies
• Familiarity with containerization and orchestration platforms
• Knowledge of data storage and processing technologies such as SQL MongoDB InfluxDB and Kafka
• Experience with logging and monitoring systems such as Elasticsearch and Grafana
• Expertise in Git-based workflows CI/CD pipelines and containerized orchestration
• Experience with deployment and configuration control systems such as Ansible
• Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills
• Practiced skills in communication and collaboration
• Ability to produce clear well-structured and well-documented software designs
• Willingness to partner with team members for design sessions pair programming and documentation

Bonus If You Have

• Aerospace background supporting satellite spacecraft constellation or launch vehicle ground/mission operations
• Deep knowledge of microservice architectures and distributed systems
• Experience with Ground Station as a Service providers such as KSAT AWS Ground and Atlas
• Experience with command and control software such as COSMOS OpenMCT etc
• Knowledge of CCSDS standards including Space Packet Protocol COP-1 and CFDP

Additional Information

We Offer

Our cash compensation amount for this role is targeted at $130000.00 - $180000.00 annually in this location. Final offer amounts are determined by multiple factors including candidate experience and expertise and may vary from the amount listed above.

Top Benefits & Perks

As a member of the Karman team youll enjoy an impressive benefits package:

• Equity Incentives - Participate in our shared success.
• Medical Dental and Vision Plans for top tier plans with additional buy-up plan options.
• Short-term Disability and Long-term Disability covered by Karman
• Basic Life Insurance covered by Karman
• 401k plan
• Unlimited Paid Time Off - We focus on what you get done not how many hours or days you work.

Location & Work Environment

This position is full-time in-person at our offices & lab in Broomfield CO. If you reside in locations outside of daily commuting distance you will be considered however no relocation or travel assistance will be provided by Karman for this position. This position operates in an office environment. This entails working inside in an office space wherein you may be provided with a public work station (cubicle) or private the performance of the duties and responsibilities of this job you will be required to view a computer terminal for prolonged periods of time.

Travel

Occasional travel to work site locations may be expected. Overnight stays may be required from time to time for training seminars conferences meetings events or visits to onsite locations.

Disclaimer

This job posting is not intended to contain a comprehensive listing of activities duties or responsibilities that are required. Karman reserves the right to change or assign additional duties responsibilities and activities at any time with or without notice.

Hiring Practices

Karman is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. We do not discriminate in hiring or any employment decision based on race color religion national origin age sex (including pregnancy childbirth or related medical conditions) marital status ancestry physical or mental disability genetic information veteran status gender identity or expression sexual orientation or other applicable legally protected characteristic. We are also committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our application procedures. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability you may contact .