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Staff Embedded Software Engineer Verified today

Relativity Space · Long Beach, CA · Software · first seen 2026-07-16
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About the Team

The Interplanetary Sciences Program expands access to scientific exploration across the solar system. It aims to make planetary research faster, more affordable, and more capable by rethinking how science missions are designed, built, and operated. By creating a sustainable model for interplanetary exploration, we transform space science from an occasional event into a continuous process of discovery.

About the Role

  • Own the application-level software on the optical terminal processor: thermal control loops, fast steering mirror control interface, and health monitoring, writing higher-level software that sits on top of FPGA gateware and interfaces to the payload network
  • Develop Linux device drivers and hardware abstraction layers for optical terminal components, including thermal sensors, actuators, and steering mirror interfaces
  • Build software interfaces between all communication subsystems (Ka-band, UHF, optical) and the data center, including packet parsers, protocol adapters, and OSI layer 2-3 implementations that connect externally developed radios to the payload network
  • Implement fault detection and recovery software for communication hardware, along with command, telemetry, and mode management software for each comms subsystem
  • Work at the system boundary where software meets real hardware, debugging integration issues across serial buses, Ethernet interfaces, and radio transceivers alongside electrical engineers and the FPGA gateware developer

About You

  • BS/MS in Computer Science or Electrical Engineering and 5+ years of relevant experience
  • Strong systems programming skills in C, with experience writing software that talks directly to hardware: device drivers, register-level interfaces, or bus protocol implementations
  • Experience with Linux device driver development and real-time or embedded software design
  • Solid network programming skills: sockets, packet handling, and layer 2/3 protocol implementation
  • Comfort implementing control loops in software and understanding enough digital communications to interface correctly with modem hardware

Nice to Have

  • Experience with spacecraft communication subsystem software or radio interface development
  • Familiarity with CCSDS packet structures and protocols
  • Hands-on experience with serial and bus interfaces to radio hardware: SPI, I2C, UART, and Ethernet-based control planes
  • Knowledge of optical communication terminal operation concepts or free-space optical link systems
  • Experience with thermal control loop implementation and tuning
  • Background in hardware abstraction layer design for systems with multiple hardware variants
  • Comfort in a hardware lab: serial consoles, logic analyzers, and debugging signal integrity issues alongside the electronics team

Compensation

Salary range: $181,000 to $271,000 USD. Compensation determined by experience, qualifications, and job-related factors. Relativity Space offers competitive salary and equity, generous PTO and sick leave, parental leave, and an annual learning and development stipend.