Bright Ascension Ltd
Senior Software Engineer
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Senior Flight Software Engineer
The Senior Flight Software Engineer focuses on leading the development and delivery of flight and upstream software solutions from initial concepts through to in-orbit acceptance. This is a customer-facing role that requires excellent technical expertise, problem-solving skills, and a commitment to delivering high-quality software solutions for satellite manufacturers, operators, and space agencies. We are a fast-growing, innovative company changing the way that software is developed in the space industry. With customers across the world, ranging from universities and space agencies to commercial organisations and start-ups, our core technologies enable our customers to develop and operate space-based systems and services faster, more cost-effectively, and more reliably.
This role works closely with customers to understand mission requirements, develop and deploy flight software solutions, and ensure system reliability. The role also involves building and growing customer relationships.
It plays a pivotal role in the development of software for satellite flight computers, payload processors, onboard systems, and ground-segment interactions, ensuring adherence of the development and delivery team to industry best practices and mission-critical standards to ensure mission success.
Customer-Facing & Solutions Development
- Work directly with customers to understand and develop mission requirements and technical challenges
- Design, develop, and lead the implementation of high-reliability flight and upstream satellite software solutions
- Lead technical discussions, system design, and architecture decisions
- Provide guidance and support to customers in the integration and validation of flight software, including in-orbit acceptance
- Responsible for preparing and delivering customer training and documentation to ensure smooth deployment and operation of software
- Support members of the team with customer interactions and lead by example
- Work with different customer stakeholders to ensure good customer relationships
Software Development & Quality Assurance
- Lead the development of real-time, mission-critical software for satellite onboard computers and avionics systems
- Ensure the delivered flight software is compliant with reliability, fault tolerance, and safety standards
- Perform code reviews, testing, and validation to ensure software meets quality and performance benchmarks
- Work with simulation and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing environments to verify software performance
- Excellent skills in debugging and optimizing real-time and embedded systems software for efficiency and robustness
- Work with junior members of the team to help with their career development
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Collaboration & Continuous Improvement
- Work closely with internal teams, including system engineers, DevOps, and mission operations, to deliver robust solutions
- Create and contribute to best practices in software development, testing, and deployment for satellite flight systems
- Stay updated on emerging trends in satellite software, space computing, and autonomous systems
- Provide feedback and lessons learned from customer engagements to improve future projects
Essential Technical Skills and Experience
- Experience with the full-life cycle of software engineering in a team environment including working with formal requirements, architectural and detailed designs, structured development and unit, integration and system-level testing
- Experience with microcontrollers such as ARM and STM32
- Expert programming skills in C with a focus on real-time and embedded systems
- Experience with satellite flight software development, onboard computing, and avionics systems
- Experience with programming and debugging on target hardware using tools such as ST-Link and GDB
- Proficiency working in a Linux environment and developing Linux applications
- Familiarity with real-time operating systems (RTOS) such as FreeRTOS or RTEMS
- Experience in hardware interfacing and essential hardware concepts, including the ability to read and interpret hardware datasheets and manuals
- Understanding of flight software architectures, fault-tolerant computing, and spacecraft autonomy
- Knowledge of satellite telemetry, telecommand (TT&C), and communication technologies and protocols (RS422/485, I2C, SPI, CAN, SpaceWire, CCSDS, ECSS PUS, CSP, RMAP)
- Experience with hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing, simulation, and software validation
- Familiarity with version control systems (Git/Mercurial) and CI/CD pipelines
Essential Personal Skills and Experience
- Customer-focused mindset, with a strong ability to communicate complex technical concepts to diverse audiences
- Strong problem-solving skills, able to troubleshoot and resolve software issues in real-time systems
- Excellent teamwork and collaboration abilities, working with both internal teams and external customers
- Attention to detail, ensuring high-quality software development and testing practices
- Adaptability, with the ability to work in fast-paced, mission-driven environments
- Ability to support junior members of the team and help with their career development
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Desirable Skills and Experience
- Experience with AI/ML applications in spacecraft autonomy and fault detection
- Exposure to component-based and/or model-based development tools and frameworks
- Familiarity with embedded Linux and Linux build tools such as Yocto, Buildroot, and Busybox
- Experience in radiation-hardened computing and space-grade hardware
- Familiarity with Python or MATLAB for data analysis, testing, and simulation
- Previous experience working with space agencies, manufacturers, operators, or other commercially focused companies in the space industry
- Previous experience working with software-defined radios
- Understanding of mission control/ground software
Innovation is at the heart of what we do and it is our team which drives that innovation; this is reflected in our commitment to employee ownership, which gives all of us a voice, and a stake, in our current and future success. With offices in Dundee, Edinburgh, and Bristol, we now have more than 50 members of staff and plans to expand significantly over the next 12 months. We are at a very exciting time in our ambitious growth plans and have fantastic opportunities for talented individuals to join our team.
Our Values
We worked together to identify and shape the values that underpin everything we do, our actions, our vision, and all things Bright Ascension.
Passion & Innovation
Enjoy what you do and have fun. Be curious and be fearless. Unconventional ideas and passion are the paths to true innovation.
Teamwork & Collaboration
Sharing knowledge helps the team thrive. Start a dialogue and win through teamwork. Success comes through collaboration and support.
Respect & Integrity
Recognise differences and accept opinions. Integrity, respect, and high standards create unbreakable trust and build reputation.
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