What You'll Do As a
Staff Flight Software Engineer at Inversion, you will report directly to the
Engineering Manager of Arc Vehicle Software. In this role, you will be a principal software architect and technical authority for the flight software running on our next-generation Arc hypersonic reentry vehicle. You will own the flight software architecture end-to-end, solving unprecedented technical challenges at the intersection of embedded hardware, safety-critical control loops, and autonomous flight state machines.
Key Responsibilities - Architect, write, and maintain high-reliability, fault-tolerant flight software in for the Arc vehicle.
- Own the software architecture for critical vehicle state transitions, fault-management, power conservation, and autonomous mission execution.
- Lead the integration and optimization of complex multi-rate Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) algorithms from the Reentry and Accurate Landing teams into the core C++ flight software loop.
- Establish company-wide embedded C++ development standards, coding guidelines, and software architectural patterns.
- Drive hardware-software boundary definition, board bring-up, and low-level debugging on target flight computer processors.
- Design and lead the development of highly automated Software-in-the-Loop (SIL) and Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) test suites to achieve robust code coverage.
- Mentor senior and mid-level software engineers, fostering a culture of rigorous software engineering and technical excellence.
- Collaborate with cross-functional system architects to define telemetry formats, communication protocols, and hardware interface controls.
Required Qualifications - Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or equivalent technical experience.
- Typically 9+ years of professional experience developing embedded, real-time, or safety-critical software.
- Expertise in systems programming languages (C / C++ / Rust) in a Linux-based development environment.
- Deep understanding of embedded Linux, deterministic software execution, multi-threading, and memory management in resource-constrained environments.
- Proven track record of architecting and deploying flight software or high-reliability autonomous software on hardware that has successfully operated in flight or harsh environments.
- Strong background in low-level drivers, networking, and hardware interface protocols (such as CAN, Ethernet, SPI, UART, or RS-422).
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills with a proven ability to lead complex software design reviews.
Desired Qualifications - Experience developing flight software for spacecraft, launch vehicles, or safety-critical autonomous aerospace platforms.
- Familiarity with physical system modeling, 6DOF simulations, or GNC algorithm execution.
- Extensive experience with modern CI/CD systems, software test automation, and embedded compiler toolchains.
- Prior experience in a fast-paced aerospace startup.
Our office headquarters is located in Playa Vista, CA. This position requires in office presence.The California annual base salary for this role is currently $165,000 - $236,000. Pay Grades are determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data. Individual pay will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: interviews and an assessment of several factors that are unique to each candidate, job-related skills, relevant education and experience, certifications, abilities of the candidate and internal equity.
ITAR Compliance: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. Learn more about the ITAR here.
