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Principal Software Engineer – TeraWave RF and Optical Systems Verified today

Blue Origin · 3 Locations · RF & Comms · first seen 2026-09-03
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About the Role

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

As Principal Software Engineer, you will play a vital leadership role within a team of specialists and engineers, significantly contributing to the control and data plane architecture of the constellation. Your expertise in software development for constrained environments, real-time operating systems, high-speed data handling, and encryption will drive the development and maintenance of complex software solutions.

What You'll Do

  • Own software architecture and design for one or more system areas; represent them in cross-team discussions with chief architects and peer technical leaders; conduct trade studies and develop prototypes to identify architectural options
  • Collaborate with hardware, silicon, and systems engineering teams; lead integration campaigns to bring up system features, troubleshoot problems, and provide solutions
  • Lead critical systems design and implementation of multi-threaded embedded software in C/C++ to run on Linux/RTOS/Bare-metal platforms, hosted on multi-core SoCs on the TeraWave satellite payload and ground terminals
  • Define and develop strategies for scaling, fault-tolerance, and recovery
  • Define performance KPIs (processing latencies, throughput, algorithmic efficiency) and develop methods for measurements and optimization of resources (compute, memory, storage, network, and I/O)
  • Contribute to technical documentation, code reviews, and system architecture decisions
  • Champion embedded software development, testing, and troubleshooting best practices including CI/CD, test and data analysis automation, and TDD
  • Lead the team in delivering with speed and quality; mentor a team of highly skilled software engineers, fostering technical excellence and innovation

Minimum Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field
  • 7+ years of deep experience in embedded software development in C/C++ to run on Linux/RTOS/Bare-metal platforms
  • Strong proficiency in C++ object-oriented design and implementation
  • Hands-on expertise in embedded systems debugging using SW and HW tools (JTAG, SWD, CoreSight, Lauterbach/Trace32, J-Link, J-Trace etc.)
  • Experience with Linux networking and inter-core/processor communications between applications that use high-speed data-plane interfaces (Ethernet, Interlaken, JESD), DMA/RDMA, RoCE etc.
  • Experience leading software development teams and mentoring senior engineers
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills
  • 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 or PhD in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field
  • 10+ years of experience in embedded software development for mission-critical systems
  • Experience developing embedded software in one or more of these areas: satellite communications systems, space-based networks, cellular wireless, terrestrial telecommunications systems
  • Experience with one or more of these areas: software defined radios, RF transceivers and antenna systems control (preferably phased arrays, parabolic antennas), optical transceivers (ACOs, DCOs)
  • Experience developing drivers for proprietary and merchant silicon (DSPs, mixed signal processors, modems, etc.)
  • Experience with formal verification methods for safety-critical software
  • Knowledge of radiation-hardened computing environments and related software considerations

Location and Work Arrangement

This role will be onsite in one of these locations: Greater Seattle Area, WA; Bay Area, CA; or San Diego, CA. It is approved for temporary remote work exception while local sites are developed. Relocation assistance available. Travel may be required up to 10% of the time.

Compensation

Base Pay Range: $230,773.00 - $323,081.85 (CA and WA applicants; other site ranges may differ)