K2 Space

K2 Space

Senior Firmware Engineer, Vehicle

Seattle, WA · Senior

Sponsorship not specified$160k-$220kDetected 20 days ago
RustC++Embedded SystemsHardware DesignActuators

About the role

  • From initial hardware bring-up through fully integrated, flight-ready systems.

Responsibilities

  • Create embedded software architecture for real-time, fault tolerant control of a 20kW+ spacecraft.
  • Develop embedded software for new hardware integrated throughout the satellite.
  • Scale embedded software across different satellite products by building software infrastructure and development processes.
  • K2 is building the largest and highest-power satellites ever flown, unlocking performance levels previously out of reach across every orbit.
  • Engineered to survive the harshest radiation environments and to fully capitalize on today's and tomorrow's massive rockets, K2 satellites deliver unmatched capability at constellation scale and across multiple orbits.
  • With multiple launches planned through 2026 and 2027, we're Building Bigger to develop the solar system and become a Kardashev Type II (K2) civilization.

Requirements

  • 5+ years of experience developing embedded software in either Rust, C, or C++, targeting microcontrollers (ARM, RISC-V, or similar).
  • Strong understanding of your favorite microcontroller's memory subsystem, instruction pipeline, interrupt and DMA controller.
  • Experience collaborating with hardware engineering teams.
  • Demonstrated ability to debug complex hardware/firmware issues.
  • Experience using Rust in hard real-time systems, either bare-metal or RTOS environments.
  • Experience with spacecraft flight software development.
  • Experience maintaining embedded software across multiple product revisions.
  • Experience with software verification and testing methods.
  • Experience with software and network performance analysis and debugging.
  • Experience with fault tolerant software design and implementation.
  • Nice to haves
  • Experience developing peripheral drivers without use of the vendor's software.
  • Compensation and Benefits:

Compensation

  • Salary will be based on several factors including,

Benefits

  • Base salary range for this role is $160,000 - $220,000 + equity in the company

Company info

  • Rowe Price, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Alpine Space Ventures, and others - with an additional $500M in signed contracts across commercial and US government customers - we're mass-producing the highest-power satellite platforms ever built for missions from LEO to deep space.
  • The rise of heavy-lift launch vehicles is shifting the industry from an era of mass constraint to one of mass abundance, and we believe this new era demands a fundamentally different class of spacecraft.
  • We are seeking a Senior Embedded Software Engineer to develop and enhance low‑level embedded software across the satellite platform.

This listing is sourced directly from K2 Space's careers page and normalized into a canonical job model.