Flight Software Engineer Verified today
About Katalyst
Katalyst builds spacecraft that rendezvous with, capture, and service other spacecraft in orbit. Our first vehicle is flying real proximity operations now. The flight software running it is what you would own: the core platform every subsystem, sensor, and radio on the vehicle talks through.
What you will do
- Own core flight software subsystems end to end: telemetry and messaging, command and sequencing, fault detection and recovery, hardware interfaces (UART, CAN, TCP/IP, RS-422), and radios
- Write modern C++ on Linux flight computers and Python where appropriate, keeping code memory-safe and thread-safe under schedule pressure
- Take changes from design through review, flatsat and hardware-in-the-loop verification, deploy, and on-orbit behavior. Close them verified and handed over, not demoed
- Run point on anomalies: diagnose from telemetry and logs, decide what is safe to command, then fix the class of defect, not just the instance
- Make the team stronger: review flight code with rigor, hand systems off with lasting documentation, and coach less experienced engineers
- Defend your design decisions to GNC, avionics, operations, and leadership with data
What we need
- Deep, hands-on C++ on real-time or resource-constrained systems (RTOS or embedded Linux) that had to work
- Fault-tolerant thinking: how modules fail, how the vehicle stays safe and commandable, how it recovers without ground intervention
- The habit of finishing: you close what you commit to, verify before calling it done, and communicate early if a date slips
- The instinct to challenge assumptions with data and convince people. Engineers here make the call and defend it
- BS in computer science, computer engineering, aerospace, electrical engineering, or equivalent proficiency
- US person (ITAR required). No security clearance required; this is commercial servicing
- Experience guide by level: Engineer 2+ years, Senior 6+ years, Principal 10+ years. Real-time software on real hardware that worked matters more than years on paper
Nice to have
- cFS, custom middleware, or spacecraft and robotics frameworks
- Radios, CCSDS, or spacecraft comms stacks
- SIL/HIL test infrastructure you built or ran
- Rust or safety-critical process experience (MISRA, NASA-STD-8739.8)
- Pose estimation, relative navigation, or vision-consumer integration
Role details
Location: Broomfield, Colorado, onsite. Full-time. This position may be filled at Engineer, Senior, or Principal level depending on experience.
Compensation: Engineer $105,000 - $150,000, Senior $160,000 - $210,000, Principal $200,000 - $250,000, base plus equity. Long-term incentives through Employee Stock Option and Equity Plan, relocation bonus, and discretionary bonuses also available. Comprehensive medical, vision, and dental coverage. Unlimited Paid Time Off.
Must be willing to work extended hours and weekends as needed.
Interview process
Three conversations and one working session, all with the team in the room. Short screen, 45-minute technical conversation, then 2-hour on-site with a synthetic codebase seeded with a real orbital bug, your choice of problem track and level, using any tools you normally would. You present and defend your work to a small panel and walk through ops scenarios. Every stage scheduled within 5 business days of the last. We fly you in for the on-site and accommodate any needs you have.