Blue Origin

Principal Software Engineer, Compute Architect, Orbital Data Centers

Blue Origin • $230K — $323K *
Aerospace & Defense
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related field.
  • 10+ years in software engineering, focusing on distributed systems or cloud infrastructure.
  • Expertise in building and operating distributed systems with cloud orchestration tools.
  • Experience in developing high-availability software services and APIs.
  • Strong system architecture skills with cloud-native technologies.
  • Proven leadership in complex software projects.
  • Demonstrated ability to reduce product latency.

Responsibilities

  • Define and validate spacecraft compute software architecture and design.
  • Build orchestration platforms for managing containerized workloads in space.
  • Design advanced scheduling algorithms under constraints such as power and thermal limits.
  • Develop control plane and APIs for multi-tenancy resource allocation and job submission.
  • Own software-defined networking and storage strategies.
  • Design systems for high availability and failure management in space conditions.
  • Lead technical strategy for the orchestration stack, from runtime to service layers.

Benefits

  • Medical, dental, and vision insurance, along with life insurance options.
  • Paid parental leave and short/long-term disability benefits.
  • 401(k) plan with company matching up to 5%.
  • Paid Time Off of up to four weeks per year plus 14 paid holidays.
  • Stock options available for all regular employees working 20 hours/week or more.
Full Job Description
Application close date:
Applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis until the requisition is closed.

This role is part of Advanced Concepts and Enterprise Engineering (ACE), supporting Blue Origin's mission of millions of people living and working in space for the benefit of Earth. The team fosters innovation and drives engineering workflows of the future, shared solutions and standards, simplicity and lower costs, and manufacturable design.

Job Summary

Join Blue Origin as we build infrastructure in space for the benefit of Earth. We're developing a satellite constellation of orbital data centers, Sunrise, designed to transform how compute infrastructure is deployed and leveraged.

As a Principal Software Engineer for Compute, you will be the chief architect and hands-on developer of the "operating system" for our space-based data centers. This is a senior, individual contributor role where you will operate with a high degree of autonomy to solve one of our most critical challenges: making a distributed fleet of computers in orbit function as a single, cohesive, and programmable platform. Your primary focus will be to define the spacecraft software stack to process AI jobs are received including, but not limited to planning, scheduling, management, storage, start-up/shut down, and handoffs. This will enable the craft to be best-in-class. You will have to be comfortable enabling high efficiency for multi-tenant workloads while being constrained on power, thermal, and connectivity.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:
  • Definition, architecture, design, test, and validation of spacecraft compute software.
  • Architect and build the orchestration platform for managing containerized workloads across a distributed fleet of orbital compute nodes.
  • Design and implement advanced scheduling algorithms to optimize for power, thermal constraints, workload priority, and data locality.
  • Develop the control plane, APIs, and related software that enable multi-tenancy, resource allocation, and job submission for workloads.
  • Own the software-defined networking and storage strategies
  • Design for a highly-available system that rapidly handle failures, intermittent connectivity, and complex orchestration across spacecraft.
  • Lead the technical strategy for the entire orchestration stack, from the container runtime and OS-level primitives to the highest-level service layers.
  • Lead validation and testing campaigns while working on aggressive timelines for deployment.
  • Work closely with hardware and application teams to co-design a platform that is performant, operable, and meets customer needs.

Minimum Qualifications:
  • Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a similar technical discipline.
  • 10+ years of software engineering experience with a focus on distributed systems, cloud infrastructure, or large-scale backend services.
  • Deep expertise in building and operating distributed systems, with strong experience in cloud orchestration (e.g., Kubernetes, Mesos, Nomad) and containerization (e.g., Docker).
  • Proven experience designing and developing large-scale, high-availability software services and APIs.
  • Strong system-architecture capabilities, particularly in the context of cloud-native technologies.
  • Experience providing technical leadership for complex software projects.
  • Proven demonstration of reducing latency across a product.

Preferred Qualifications:
  • Experience building custom schedulers, controllers, or operators for Kubernetes.
  • Deep knowledge of OS-level resource management and optimization.
  • Experience building Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) or Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) products.
  • Familiarity with service mesh technologies and software-defined networking.
  • Experience designing systems that are highly autonomous.
  • Startup experience or a similar environment where building from the ground up is required.
  • Familiarity with the latest compute hardware (GPUs, accelerators) and their integration into orchestrated environments.
  • Familiarity with the latest trends in distributed computing.

Additional Requirements:
  • Willingness to work extended hours and weekends as necessary to support critical project milestones.
  • Must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or eligible for authorization under U.S. export regulations.


Base Pay Range for:
CA applicants is $230,773.00 - $323,081.85CO applicants is $218,520.00 - $305,926.95WA applicants is $230,773.00 - $323,081.85VA applicants is $230,773.00 - $323,081.85

Other site ranges may differ

Benefits
  • Benefits include: Medical, dental, vision, basic and supplemental life insurance, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability, 401(k) with a company match of up to 5%, and an Education Support Program.
  • Stock Options for all regular employees (working at least 20 hours/week)
  • Paid Time Off: Up to four (4) weeks per year based on weekly scheduled hours, and up to 14 company-paid holidays.
  • Dependent on role type and job level, employees may be eligible for benefits and bonuses based on the company's intent to reward individual contributions and enable them to share in the company's results, or other factors at the company's sole discretion. Bonus amounts and eligibility are not guaranteed and subject to change and cancellation. Please check with your recruiter for more details.


About Blue Origin

Blue Origin is an aerospace company that develops rockets and spacecraft for commercial and government customers. The company's products include the New Shepard suborbital vehicle and the New Glenn orbital rocket. Blue Origin was founded in 2000 by Jeff Bezos and is headquartered in Kent, Washington.
Learn more about Blue Origin
Size
3,000 employees
Industry
Founded
2000

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