Canada Rocket Company

Head, Flight Software

Toronto, Canada

Sponsorship not specifiedDetected 23 days ago

C++AlgorithmsCode ReviewFPGAEmbedded SystemsAvionicsDO-178Aerospace EngineeringElectrical EngineeringLeadershipCommunicationCollaborationMentoring

About the role

If you want to shape the software architecture of an entire launch vehicle program from the ground up, this is the role.

Build, mentor, and lead a high-performing flight software team, establishing hiring plans, engineering processes, and a culture of rigour and ownership.
Architect and develop embedded software across flight computers and low-level controllers, working across GPOS, RTOS, FPGA, and baremetal environments as the program demands.
Partner closely with the Avionics team on hardware-software integration, board bring-up, driver development, and interface definition for flight electronics.
Collaborate with the GNC team to implement guidance, navigation, and control algorithms in flight software, ensuring real-time performance, determinism, and fault tolerance.
Own the software lifecycle for flight-critical systems, including requirements management, configuration control, code review, testing (hardware-in-the-loop, software-in-the-loop), and anomaly resolution.
Establish and maintain software development standards appropriate for flight-critical and safety-critical applications.
This is a foundational leadership role: you'll own the full flight software stack, from low-level controller firmware to flight computer applications, and grow the team around it.

10+ years of experience developing embedded software for complex, real-time systems, with a meaningful portion in a technical leadership capacity.
Strong proficiency in C and/or C++ for embedded targets, with demonstrated experience across RTOS, GPOS, FPGA, and baremetal development environments.
You'll work at the intersection of software, avionics, and GNC, translating mission requirements into reliable, flight-proven code.
Required 10+ years of experience developing embedded software for complex, real-time systems, with a meaningful portion in a technical leadership capacity.

hardware-software interfaces, memory management, real-time scheduling, communication protocols (CAN, SPI, I2C, Ethernet), and fault handling.
Excellent collaboration skills, particularly in cross-disciplinary environments involving hardware, software, and systems engineering.
Preferred Direct experience with flight software for launch vehicles, spacecraft, or similarly high-consequence aerospace systems.
Familiarity with GNC algorithm implementation and the real-time performance constraints involved.
Experience with hardware-in-the-loop and software-in-the-loop test frameworks.
Exposure to software assurance practices for flight-critical systems (e.g., DO-178C, ECSS, or NASA standards).
Bachelor's or advanced degree in computer science, electrical engineering, aerospace engineering, or a related field.

About Canada Rocket Company Canada Rocket Company is developing Canada's first medium-lift launch vehicle.
We are a team of veterans from SpaceX, Blue Origin, Rocket Lab, ArianeGroup, Pangea Propulsion, Tesla, and MDA, bringing over a century of combined launch and space systems experience back to Canada.
Our mission is to provide reliable, independent access to space for Canada and its allies in a rapidly expanding global market.
Canada Rocket Company is building a sovereign launch capability for Canada.
We're looking for a Head of Flight Software to build and lead the team responsible for every line of code that flies.

This listing is sourced directly from Canada Rocket Company's careers page and normalized into a canonical job model.