Flight Software Test Lead Engineer - TeraWave Verified today

About TeraWave

Blue Origin is pioneering space-based communications with TeraWave, a revolutionary satellite constellation designed to deliver symmetrical data speeds of up to 6 Tbps anywhere on Earth. This multi-orbit system consists of optically interconnected satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) and medium Earth orbit (MEO).

The Role

You will lead a team of test engineers responsible for ensuring flight software reliability, safety, and performance across the TeraWave satellite platform. You will own the test strategy from component qualification through system-level integration, working with systems engineers, flight software developers, avionics engineers, fault management engineers, and peer test leads.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead design, development, and execution of comprehensive test plans and procedures for flight software across satellite bus and payload subsystems
• Define and maintain the FSW verification and validation strategy, including component qualification, integration, regression, and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing
• Architect and maintain scalable test execution frameworks in Python capable of operating across software-only environments, software and hardware bench environments, and full HWIL configurations
• Manage a team of test engineers, providing technical guidance, mentorship, and performance feedback
• Own end-to-end test campaign management: mapping requirements to test cases, tracking execution status and results, and producing verification documentation for milestone closeout
• Coordinate test campaigns using flight software testbeds, simulators, and hardware-in-the-loop rigs to validate software under nominal and off-nominal conditions
• Collaborate with FSW developers to establish testability requirements early in the design lifecycle
• Own defect tracking, root cause analysis, and closure processes for issues identified during test
• Support software qualification and certification activities, ensuring compliance with mission assurance and safety requirements
• Participate in test readiness reviews, test result reviews, and flight readiness reviews
• Drive continuous improvement of test processes, tools, and methodologies
• Support anomaly investigations and regression testing during on-orbit operations

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related technical field
• 7+ years of experience in software testing, verification and validation, or software quality engineering, with at least 2+ years in a technical leadership capacity
• Demonstrated experience testing embedded or real-time flight/mission-critical software
• Strong proficiency in Python for test script development and test execution architecture design, with ability to build frameworks functioning across multiple test environments
• Proven experience managing test campaigns with rigorous requirements traceability: mapping requirements to test cases, tracking results, and generating verification artifacts
• Experience with hardware-in-the-loop testing and simulation environments
• Familiarity with software development lifecycle processes for safety-critical or mission-critical systems
• Experience with requirements management and test traceability tools (e.g., DOORS, Jama, JIRA)
• Strong understanding of version control systems (Git) and CI/CD pipelines
• Must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in a relevant engineering discipline
• Experience testing flight software for satellites, spacecraft, or other aerospace vehicles
• Familiarity with satellite constellation operations, including onboard autonomy, fault management, and command and data handling (C&DH) systems
• Experience with flight software architectures (e.g., cFS, VxWorks, RTOS environments)
• Knowledge of communication protocols relevant to satellite systems (CCSDS, SpaceWire, CAN, MIL-STD-1553)
• Experience supporting on-orbit anomaly resolution and software patch/update campaigns
• Prior experience in a high-rate production environment supporting multiple concurrent satellite builds

Compensation

Base pay range varies by location: CO applicants $181,626.00 - $254,275.35; WA applicants $197,529.00 - $276,539.55. Other site ranges may differ.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision, basic and supplemental life insurance
• Paid parental leave, short and long-term disability
• 401(k) with company match up to 5%
• Education Support Program
• Stock options for all regular employees (20+ hours/week)
• Paid time off: up to 4 weeks per year and up to 14 company-paid holidays
• Performance-based bonuses and eligibility subject to company discretion