Senior Software Engineer (Space Communications)

About Northwood

Northwood is on a mission to transform connectivity between Earth and space, bringing the benefits of space to the masses through innovations in space communications technologies. If you're passionate about building quickly and seeing your work deployed globally with real impact, we want you at Northwood.

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 manufacturing to global data transfer. We seek versatile candidates who want to contribute across multiple areas while having a solid foundation in one or two 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, they aren’t expected to own everything listed) :

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

Ensure low-latency and high-throughput data distribution across different platforms, with an end goal of building Northwood’s Software Defined Wide-Area-Network (SD-WAN) capabilities

Cloud orchestration & distributed systems design

Lead the design and architecture of distributed systems which orchestrates our global ground network across both cloud and on-premises environments

Stack design & inter-service communication : Develop the entire stack design, focusing on inter-service communication protocols to ensure seamless integration and operation

API, database & front end development

Design and build robust APIs for customer and internal interactions

Develop intuitive front-end interfaces using modern web technologies

Build a scalable data backend - integrating into ETL pipelines to help make data more actionable

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

6+ 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, Haskell, 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

Compensation and Benefits

Compensation is determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data. Individual base pay is determined case-by-case and may vary based on job-related skills, education, experience, and technical capabilities. In addition to a competitive base salary, Northwood offers long-term incentives such as company stock, stock options, cash awards, and discretionary performance bonuses. Benefits include equity, healthcare, unlimited vacation, retirement savings, and professional development opportunities.

Additional Information

To conform to the U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), you must be :

A U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident of the U.S.

A protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3).

Eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Northwood is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment with Northwood 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.

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