Flight Software Engineer

Loft Federal’s Software group provides the on-orbit software that powers our satellite fleet — from the Linux services running on the Hub’s onboard computers, to the containerized workloads executing customer applications in low Earth orbit.

The applications developed by our team handle the low-level communication protocol details, exposing the connected devices behind standardized APIs used across mission operations. The team is also responsible for the automation and orchestration that allows Loft to safely and reliably operate the equipment at scale.

In this Flight Software Engineer role, you’ll help develop the software that connects diverse spacecraft hardware to the rest of the platform, and ultimately enables successful missions in orbit.

What you'll do:

• Design, implement, and refine software with a high degree of ownership, driving impactful features from concept through delivery while ensuring robustness and reliability.

• Review code, provide clear feedback, and enforce adherence to established development processes, style guides, and design standards to maintain consistency and quality across the codebase.

• Design and implement unit and integration tests for both self-authored and peer-authored code.

• Utilize version control systems to create feature branches, push code, and merge approved code into production branches.

• Contribute to the onboard software architecture through design proposals and collaborative review

• Participate in the review and enhancement of software development processes and design standards.

• Coordinate with downstream teams on the distribution and adoption of the latest releases.

• In addition to responsibilities within onboard software, you’ll have the opportunity to directly be involved in operating our on-orbit fleet of satellites.

Must Haves:

• US Citizen. TS clearance with SCI eligibility.

• 3+ years' software engineering experience, using programming languages including C/C++ (C++11 or newer) and Python.

• Proficiency with Git and collaborative development workflows

• Experience with continuous integration tools (GitLab-CI, Jenkins, or similar).

• Knowledge of build systems (e.g., Make, CMake).

• Understanding of distributed architecture.

• Familiarity with networking protocols (e.g., UDP, TCP, IP) and POSIX standards.

• Experience in developing multi-threaded applications.

• Previous team leader or manager role

Nice to Haves:

• Familiarity with additional programming languages, such as Go or Rust.

• Experience with embedded Linux operation, including Yocto, device trees, systemd, and Linux on ARM platforms.

• Proficiency with unit test frameworks (e.g., pytest, Googletest, Unity)

• Experience with middleware framework (gRPC, ZMQ/NATS, etc.)

• Experience with containerization technologies (Docker, K3S, systemd-nspawn)

• Experience with space systems and concepts

Some of Our Awesome Benefits:

• 100% company-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance option for employees and dependents

• Flexible Spending (FSA) and Health Savings (HSA) Accounts offered with an employer contribution to the HSA

• 100% employer paid Life, AD&D, Short-Term, and Long-Term Disability insurance

• Flexible Time Off policy for vacation and sick leave, and 12 paid holidays

• 401(k) plan and equity options

• Daily catered lunches and snacks in office

• Fully paid parental leave; 14 weeks for birthing parent and 10 weeks for non-birthing parent

• Carrot Fertility provides comprehensive, inclusive fertility healthcare and family-forming benefits with financial support

• Off-sites and many social events and celebrations

• Relocation assistance when applicable