ACTGU000011 - Embedded Firmware Engineer
- Hawthorne, CA
- $100,000-175,000 per year
- Permanent
- Full-time
- Job Title: ACTGU000011 - Embedded Firmware Engineer
- Location: Hawthorne, CA
- Duration: Full-Time
- Pay Rate/Salary: $$100,000 – $175,000
A Series A aerospace startup developing space-based reflectors to beam sunlight back to Earth after dark—enabling solar farms to operate at night. Backed by $8.7M in funding (including Sequoia Capital's first space investment since SpaceX), the team aims to launch its first spacecraft in 2026. Currently a team of ~20 engineers based in Hawthorne, CA.Why join
- Design embedded flight software for first-of-its-kind, scalable spacecraft
- Join a startup led by a former SpaceX engineer
- Work on breakthrough solar energy tech in orbit
- High-autonomy environment with full ownership over architecture decisions
- Generous health, vision, and dental benefits
- Free daily lunches + unlimited PTO
- Base Salary: $100,000 – $175,000 (varies by interview performance, level, and location)
- Tech environment
- Languages: C, C++
- Platforms: Embedded systems, electromechanical hardware (drones, spacecraft, robotics)
- Focus: High-reliability, fault-tolerant, remotely updatable flight systems
- Tooling: Unit testing, HIL setups, version control, and validation automation
- As the first Embedded Firmware Engineer, you'll design, write, and deploy core embedded flight software to control the company's debut satellite constellation.
- Your work will enable communications, autonomous behavior, and in-orbit upgrades for mission-critical systems, with the opportunity to scale your architecture across future vehicles.
- Architect and implement flight software (OS, mission logic, C&DH, comms) for spacecraft
- Ensure software is fault-tolerant, modular, and remotely updatable
- Collaborate with avionics engineers on processor and electrical architecture
- Build software for critical systems (star trackers, ADCS, sail deployment, batteries, cameras)
- Design and test embedded systems using unit tests, simulation, and HIL setups
- Own version control, release, and validation workflows
- Embedded C/C++ experience on electromechanical platforms (e.g., drones, spacecraft, robotics)
- Proven work on high-reliability, fault-tolerant, remotely-operable systems
- Track record designing or architecting complex embedded systems
- Ability to work independently and make rapid decisions in a fast-paced environment
- Exceptional, outlier-level personal or professional achievement, such as:
- Built something ambitious solo (e.g., custom hardware, startup)
- Youngest tech lead at a major company
- Olympic athlete, viral creator, Everest climber, etc.
- Promoted quickly without traditional credentials
- BS in Mechanical, Manufacturing, Electrical, Aerospace, or Industrial Engineering
- Experience learning from real-world electromechanical system deployment
- Prior experience at SpaceX, Blue Origin, NASA, Northrop Grumman, Tesla, or F1 teams