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Full-Stack Spacecraft Engineer - Compute and Networking

Care Weather Technologies, Inc.
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Springville, Utah

Care Weather mass produces satellites to 10X the global supply of weather data. That data paves the way for superintelligent weather simulations that will give prophetic disaster warnings and prescribe cures to droughts, hurricanes, and torrential rain.

Come make Earth more habitable with us.

Full-stack Spacecraft Engineer — Compute and Networking

Care Weather is looking for engineers with backgrounds in embedded software, embedded Linux, wireless networking, signal processing, RF engineering, and antenna design to join the Veery full-stack satellite engineering team as flight software and networking specialists. For this team, breadth across electronics, embedded software, and mechanical design is a plus, but the right flight software or networking specialist could gain breadth on the job. Come help us design, build, and fly weather satellites that save lives and livelihoods with early and accurate disaster warnings.

As a full-stack spacecraft engineer, you will own features across the Veery technology stack, from requirements and design to manufacturing and operation on orbit. Your primary focus will be on expanding software and data access to the Veery satellites. You will be assigned features of the flight software and communications systems and be responsible to carry them from concept to flight. You will design and build actual flight software and hardware and test it on orbit.

Features you may be assigned to work on include:

  • Radio development in the X and Ka bands.
  • Network development across layers, from modulation to user-space applications.
  • Space processor and operating system architectures supporting Linux and FPGA systems.
  • Frameworks for over-the-air operating system updates.
  • Open-source inter-satellite mesh networking for low-latency data delivery.
  • Satellite operation and automation software.

Responsibilities

  • Model technical relationships between elements of the flight software and networking systems supporting link reliability, throughput optimization, low-latency data delivery, telemetry monitoring, and satellite autonomy.
  • Work like a system engineer, modeling the contribution of flight software and communications to the overall satellite and ground system to meet mission performance targets.
  • Vibe code tools, services, and dashboards supporting communication system design, development, testing, and analysis, as well as on-orbit operations and anomaly triage with appropriate information controls.
  • Develop high-throughput radio modulations and secure, reliable network algorithms supporting satellite telemetry, command, control, data downlink, and networking.
  • Create electromagnetic simulation models of antennas and feed networks to design and evaluate potential performance.
  • Design, fabricate, and characterize radio and antenna hardware components for integrity during launch vibration and reliable, accurate operation within the unique thermal, radiation, and vacuum conditions of low-Earth orbit.
  • Conduct network latency studies and select ground station sites.
  • Support spectrum licensing with interference studies.
  • Collaborate closely with engineers from adjacent disciplines (electrical, mechanical, thermal, GNC) to deliver reliable, high-performance satellites.
  • Plan and conduct end-to-end tests of software and networking systems on your own satellite flight spare. Develop and test like you fly, programming the flight spare over the air across a 20 km range radio link in the line of sight from your desk.
  • Support long-duration, test-like-you-fly functional qualification of the entire satellite in a variety of flight-like environments, including thermal cycling, high-altitude flight testing, and a flight dynamics testbed.
  • Participate in reviews of the test plan and test results prior to satellite delivery for launch.
  • Participate in on-call shifts to operate satellites on orbit. Command primary flight operations and analyze telemetry to evaluate in-space communications system performance and detect and triage emerging anomalies.
  • Write high-quality technical documentation of designs and contributor guidelines. Write minimal procedures for largely automated build and test operations. Provide rules for agents supporting flight operations. Write well-reasoned test reports.
  • Develop and maintain flight software, operational processes, and automations for a series of new and legacy satellites with evolving performance targets.
  • Support other development as needed.

Basic Qualifications

  • Bachelor’s degree in an engineering discipline, computer science, aerospace, or physics.
    • Coursework or experience in relevant disciplines, such as embedded systems, operating systems, digital logic, wireless networking, digital signal processing, electromagnetic waves and fields, RF & microwave design, or antenna theory.
  • Hands-on with electronics development and testing.
  • Software development experience in either Rust, C, C++, or Python.

Preferred Skills and Experience

The ideal candidate has some of the following skills and experience:

  • Cradle-to-grave development of an embedded software or communications system.
  • Hands-on experience troubleshooting complex hardware/software systems (robots, drones, cars, spacecraft, ships, factories).
  • A portfolio of self-conceived, self-driven personal projects with software, electronic, and/or mechanical components.
  • Familiarity with cybersecurity standards, especially for flight systems.
  • Knowledge of digital communication and wireless network systems, spread spectrum, single and multi-carrier techniques, and modulation types such as FSK, QPSK, or APSK.
  • Familiarity with secure boot, signed and rollback-safe over-the-air updates and key management, observability, and fault recovery for embedded Linux systems.
  • PCB design and layout using KiCAD or other tool. Soldering and PCB testing.
  • Familiarity with RF/microwave concepts, such as impedance matching, smith charts, and link budgeting.
  • RF/antenna design and simulation using Flexcompute, ADS, HFSS, AWR, or similar.
  • Familiar with radio related test equipment such as spectrum analyzers, signal generators, network analyzers, anechoic chambers, and near field measurement systems.
  • Refined taste for great design. Built software, electronics, and/or mechanical systems that other people have used.
  • Master’s degree or PhD in computer science, computer engineering, electrical engineering, aerospace engineering, robotics, or physics.
  • Experience, coursework, and passion projects in meteorology, Earth science, planetary science, astrobiology, or astronomy.
  • Experience validating simulations and tests of complex physical systems, including many uncertain factors that are difficult to account for.
  • Experience developing other spacecraft-relevant systems: solar-battery power, thermal management, structures, high-voltage plasma physics, compute, avionics, GNC, integration, and space mission operations.
  • Experience with system engineering and fault tree analysis.
  • Track record of contributions to open source software.
  • Ability to work in a fast-paced, autonomously driven, and demanding start-up atmosphere.
  • Excellent communication skills both written and verbal.
  • Passion for community service, humanitarian work, and the outdoors.

Additional Requirements

  • Able to work extended hours and Saturdays when needed to support critical path development and/or critical on-orbit operations.

Compensation and Benefits

Pay Range:
Level I: $100,000-$127,000
Level II: $123,000-$150,000
Level III: $148,000-$169,000

Your actual level and base salary will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on job-related knowledge and skills, education, and experience.

You may also be eligible for long-term incentives in the form of company stock options and potential discretionary bonuses. You will receive access to medical coverage, access to a 401(k)-retirement plan, and various other discounts and perks. You will also be eligible for six weeks of paid time off per year, including sick leave, vacation, and holidays, with an additional four weeks of paid parental leave plus an additional six weeks of paid recovery leave for birth mothers.

ITAR Requirements

To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.

Equal Opportunity

Care Weather considers qualified applicants without regard to any status protected by law and is an equal opportunity employer of protected veterans and individuals with disabilities. Applicants needing a reasonable accommodation may contact careers@careweather.com.