Spire
Software Engineer - RFGL Systems
Washington, District of Columbia, United States · Internship
Sponsorship not specified$90k-$131kDetected 2 days ago
PythonC++BashAlgorithmsGitDatabricksAWSDockerKubernetesTerraformAnsibleCI/CDGitHub ActionsLinuxPrometheusGrafanaKafkaSparkData EngineeringEmbedded SystemsRF EngineeringResearchCommunicationMentoring
About the role
- This role is not the algorithmic or scientific core of our geolocation capability (that sits with our Principal RF Engineer and research team).
- ITAR restrictions apply to the work performed on this team.
- You will work under the direct supervision and mentorship of a senior software engineer on a small, high-impact team.
Responsibilities
- Build and improve data handling pipelines, integrations with Spire internal systems, and customer-facing data delivery platforms
- Develop tooling and automation for production monitoring, alerting, logging, and operational observability
- Support satellite tasking operations and command workflows that enable RF geolocation missions
- Collaborate closely with the senior software engineer, RF domain experts, and cross-functional teams to implement incremental improvements that directly enhance RFGL product reliability and capability
- Experience building or maintaining production systems with a focus on reliability, monitoring, and operational excellence
- Spire Global is a space-to-cloud analytics company that owns and operates the largest multi-purpose constellation of satellites.
Requirements
- 2-5 years of professional software engineering experience (or equivalent academic + internship/project work for strong early-career candidates)
- Demonstrated hands-on experience with AWS (EC2, S3, Lambda, ECS/EKS, CloudWatch, IAM, or similar services) - this is critical
- Proficiency in Python for scripting, automation, data processing, and backend tooling
- To help maintain a safe and secure workplace for Spire employees, all candidates who receive a conditional offer will be required to complete a background check.
Nice to have
- Security background or experience implementing secure engineering practices, compliance controls, or working in regulated/government environments
- Background with big data systems, pipelines, or tools (e.g., Spark, Kafka, Databricks, S3-based data lakes)
- Infrastructure-as-Code experience (Terraform, Ansible, CloudFormation, etc.)
- Prior exposure to space, aerospace, satellite operations, ground stations, or related domains
- Familiarity with containerization (Docker, Kubernetes), CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, etc.), or observability tools (Prometheus, Grafana, ELK stack)
- Any experience reading/debugging C++ or embedded systems code (helpful for payload/ground system work)
- (These are differentiators)
- Access to US export-controlled software and/or technology may be required for this role.
Compensation
- $90,000 - $130,500 USD
Benefits
- 🌴 Generous Time Off Policy
- 🎓 Education Assistance Program
- 📈 Employee Stock Purchase Program (ESPP)
- 👣 Family Leave
- 💪 Fitness Reimbursement
- In addition to its constellation, Spire's data infrastructure includes a global ground station network and 24/7 operations that provide real-time global coverage of every point on Earth.
Company info
- Deploy, maintain, and monitor RFGL and SIGINT software products in AWS production environments, ensuring high availability and performance for real customers
- deploying and maintaining production RFGL/SIGINT software systems on AWS, handling data pipelines and integrations (internal + customer-facing), building monitoring tooling and automation, supporting satellite tasking workflows, and troubleshooting/fixing issues across payloads, ground systems, and infrastructure to drive RFGL product success for commercial, government, and defense customers.
- This is an early-to-mid-career hands-on role ideal for someone who thrives in iterative, production-focused environments and wants to contribute meaningfully to mission-critical space systems without needing deep RF estimation theory expertise upfront.
This listing is sourced directly from Spire's careers page and normalized into a canonical job model.