Lead Flight/Embedded Software Engineer

About General Galactic

General Galactic designs, develops, and builds advanced spacecraft for the most demanding missions. Led by former SpaceX, Varda, and Relativity engineers, our vision is to expand access to high-energy orbits across LEO, MEO, GEO, and cislunar space with our proprietary Genesis propulsion technology. Based in Los Angeles, California, we’re leveraging paradigm-shifting energy technology to reshape the space domain.

Job Description

You will work closely with the founders and technical team to develop critical software for our product fleet, including vehicle SN1 in early 2026. You’ll have extreme ownership over your work, move quickly, and operate with high agency. As we grow, there will be opportunities to expand your role with the company.

You will lead all aspects of embedded and flight software development, testing, qualification, and deployment for General Galactic vehicles. Scope of work could include embedded software, RF and comms, PNT, operating system, hardware-in-the-loop test, etc. Responsibilities may be tailored to the candidate’s profile and could include:

- Design, implement, and maintain embedded software for microcontrollers and similar

- Architect and deliver core flight software with a focus on meeting system and performance requirements such as latency, jitter, & control frequency

- Implement, test, and integrate software for GNC algorithms, command and telemetry, mission management, health and status, and fault management in a real-time software framework

- Write clean, efficient, and testable code for real-time and safety-critical applications

- Implement communication protocols (UDP, multicast, Ethernet, etc.)

- Collaborate with hardware and avionics engineers to support full product development lifecycle

- Manage clear and concise documentation for code, ConOps, etc.

- Develop telemetry system that prioritizes, filters, stores and forwards, and encodes/decodes telemetry to RF format, and routes that data

- Collaborate with GNC engineers to integrate complex algorithms for vehicle ops

- Support avionics engineers in the development and integration of testing infrastructure such as HITL (Hardware-In-The-Loop) and HOOTL (Hardware-Out-Of-The-Loop)

Requirements

Successful applicants should have most of the following:

- BS in computer science, computer engineering, aerospace engineering, electrical engineering, or similar degree

- 5+ years of experience in development of software, with preference for aerospace applications - Demonstrated experience with C/C++, Git, Python, Grafana, or similar

- Experience with RTOS environments and satellite communications protocols

- Understanding of microcontroller architectures and interfaces

- Skilled in debugging and optimization (as well as hazard analysis and root cause analysis), memory management and scheduling, etc.

- Experience with developing software to a safety standard and achieving formal certification with a governing body (e.g. NASA, FAA, FDA, etc.)

- Experience in a fast-paced startup environment or similar

- Strong engineering background and first-principles approach to problem solving even with incomplete or partial information

Your salary and incentives will be determined individually on the basis of the following considerations: job-related knowledge and skills, education, and experience.

Base Range: $145,000 to $215,000/year + benefits + stock options plan

Very brief statements of fit/interest in this role are encouraged, please send to careers@gengalactic.com.

This position requires access to information protected under US export control laws, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations and/or the Export Administration Regulations. As such, US person status (including US citizens, U.S. permanent residents, individuals granted U.S. asylum status, or individuals admitted in U.S. refugee status) is a required qualification for this position.

General Galactic Technologies Corporation provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.