Senior Software Engineer (Space Communications)

Employer description

About Northwood:

Northwood is a modern space infrastructure company bringing the benefits of space to the masses through advanced communications technology. We are building a global network of phased array ground stations that enable real-time, reliable communication for satellite missions such as national security, global connectivity, and disaster response. With a vertically integrated approach, Northwood designs, builds, and rapidly deploys scalable systems that power the next generation of space missions. If you like solving complex challenges and seeing your work deployed around the world with real impact, Northwood is the place to do it.

Role:

As a Software Engineer at Northwood, you will be pivotal in designing, implementing, and optimizing the global service that delivers connectivity to our customers. You will have ownership over key areas - ranging from control of our antenna systems to the customer APIs that enable booking time on our network. An ideal candidate is someone who likes to work across areas of responsibility and can dive deep into high priority challenges.

Northwood is a full-stack company, with software development spanning everything from embedded systems and high speed networking to distributed web services. We seek versatile candidates who want to contribute across multiple areas while having a solid foundation in a few core areas of focus. Key areas of focus include—but are not limited to—the following (new team members will have the opportunity to work across these areas):

Cloud orchestration & distributed systems design

Lead the end-to-end architecture of a global, distributed control plane that schedules hundreds of satellite passes per hour across mixed AWS/on-prem nodes

Mentor teams on fault-tolerant patterns and land design RFCs that become Northwood standards

API, database & front end development

Build and own customer-facing and internal control-plane APIs – craft, version, and operate the endpoints that let users search, reserve, update, and cancel satellite passes at multi-thousand-request scale

Design and implement the underlying workflow-orchestrator that coordinates satellite communications across sites, reconciles conflicts, and enables autonomous coordination across the worlds largest ground network

Architect the real-time TT&C / data-transfer interfaces – deliver a secure, bidirectional streaming channel that carries command uplink, telemetry downlink, and supports near-real-time data delivery across Northwood’s global ground network.

Edge systems (ground station)

Design and implement control systems for our ground station hardware, you will write software that interacts with everything from embedded systems to RF modems

High bandwidth data movement

Architect and optimize data pipelines for efficient movement of data between ground stations and various end environments

Architect a Tbps-class SD-WAN overlay (WireGuard + QUIC) that transparently shifts traffic between sites, S3-compatible buckets and customer VPCs, with per-flow QoS and FEC.

Monitoring & alerting systems

Create comprehensive monitoring and alerting solutions for software and infrastructure

Implement tools to ensure continuous uptime and rapid issue resolution

Global telemetry capabilities 

Transform our telemetry data into actionable insights, enabling predictive diagnostics to address issues before they arise; keep our customers informed about relevant operations in real time

Infrastructure, security & pipelines

A global network requires global deployments, and Northwood is committed to building a secure, reliable, and stable pipeline. This infrastructure empowers our developers to deploy changes continuously—without the risk of disrupting the system or relying on ‘testing in prod.’

Production line software & testing

Develop software for production line bring-up and testing

Automate testing procedures to ensure hardware and software reliability

Working alongside mechanical/RF/EE/FPGA and SW engineers to ensure system correctness, performance, and reliability before leaving our manufacturing line

Simulation & orchestration software

Create simulations that model satellite and network design

Create simulation tools for testing and validating system performance 

Design and implement software that orchestrates our global antenna network and data plane 

Basic Qualifications:

5-7+ years of professional software development experience (this doesn’t have to be from a full-time role—there are many ways to gain valuable experience, and we’d love to hear about yours - tell us about internships, projects out of the classroom, or any personal projects)

Completed bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Math or other related major (soft-requirement, tell us why you didn’t pursue a degree, and what you’ve done in it’s place)

Preferred Qualifications:

While we don’t expect you to have every skill listed below, we do expect you to take ownership of one or more areas and drive decisions and implementations where your strengths lie.

Programming Languages (General):

Proficiency in one or more of the following:

Rust, Golang, C/C++

Open to other languages that are suitable for distributed systems and/or high-performance computing and interested in strong opinions on the right language for various applications

Strong problem-solving abilities

Excellent communication and collaboration skills

Ability to work in a fast-paced, dynamic environment

Domain specific skills:

Distributed Systems & Cloud Computing:

Experience designing and implementing distributed systems

Knowledge of cloud services (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud) and orchestration tools

Familiarity with microservices architecture and serverless computing

Hardware Interaction & FPGA:

Experience with hardware control systems

Familiarity with FPGA programming and orchestration

Understanding of embedded systems development (FreeRTOS, Zephyr)

Data Movement & Networking:

Proficiency in architecting data pipelines for high-throughput environments

Understanding of network programming and IP protocols

Experience with high-speed communications (10GigE+)

API & Front-End Development:

Experience in building RESTful APIs

Proficiency with front-end technologies:

JavaScript/TypeScript

Frameworks: Angular, React, or similar.

Knowledge of UI/UX best practices

Monitoring & Alerting Tools:

Experience with monitoring solutions (Prometheus, Grafana, ELK Stack)

Familiarity with alerting systems and incident response

Infrastructure & Security:

Proficiency with Infrastructure as Code tools (Terraform, Ansible)

Understanding of security best practices and compliance requirements

Experience managing CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, GitLab CI/CD)

Databases & Data Processing:

Experience with time-series databases (InfluxDB, TimescaleDB)

Proficiency with relational databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL)

Knowledge of data processing frameworks

Simulation

Experience designing/implementing simulations for physical models (think satellite orbits) or network movement

Orchestration:

Experience designing/implementing orchestration engines for distributed nodes (think robotics, long running jobs, data pipelines, etc…)

Testing & Automation:

Experience with automated testing frameworks

Familiarity with production line testing software

Additional Requirements:

This position requires successfully obtaining and maintaining a Top Secret Security Clearance as a condition of employment. While the clearance may not be immediately necessary upon hire, we encourage you to initiate the application process promptly upon accepting this offer. Your ability to secure the necessary clearance is essential for fulfilling key responsibilities of the role. Should you be unable to obtain it, Northwood Space reserves the right to modify or terminate your employment to align with operational needs.

Additional Information:

If you need a reasonable accommodation as part of your application for employment or interviews with us, please let us know.

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Northwood Space is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Northwood Space is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.