Director of Software Engineering

Quick Facts

• Role: Director of Software Engineering

• Focus: Autonomous, self-healing constellation operations

• Team: 6–10 reliability and platform engineers (hands-on leadership)

Description

Lead the shift from operator-driven workflows to fully autonomous, self-healing, data-intelligent space operations. Set technical vision and architecture for reliability systems, automation infrastructure, and the data platform, while staying hands-on with code reviews and prototypes. Establish engineering standards and drive SLOs, error budgets, and continuous reliability improvement.

Responsibilities

• Define and own the technical roadmap for autonomous constellation operations

• Set architectural direction for data platforms, reliability systems, and automation infrastructure

• Stay hands-on: review code, prototype solutions, and dive into technical details when needed

• Establish engineering standards across code quality, system design, testing, and observability

• Recruit, develop, and retain a team of 6–10 reliability and platform engineers

• Mentor engineers and level up through technical growth, not just management

• Lead operational transformation from manual processes to automated and self-healing operations

• Define and drive SLOs, error budgets, and reliability targets for the constellation

• Partner with satellite operations and mission teams to translate pain points into software solutions

• Act as the technical voice for architecture, infrastructure, and platform strategy across the organization

• Influence broader decisions about automation, data, and AI/ML

Requirements

• 7+ years of software engineering experience, with at least 3 in technical leadership or staff-level roles

• Demonstrated track record building and shipping reliable production systems at scale

• Deep technical credibility; engineers respect judgment

• Experience with SRE principles, reliability engineering, or large-scale automation; reduced toil systematically

• Strong foundation in Python, distributed systems, data platforms, and cloud infrastructure

• Experience hiring and developing engineers

• Communication and influence skills to drive technical decisions across teams

Benefits

• Base salary range: $171,000–$202,500 USD (final based on location, skills, experience, and qualifications)

• Eligible for commissions and annual equity awards

• Employee benefits program including vacation, sick, and personal time off

• Optional medical, dental, vision, life, and disability coverage; 401(K)

• Health and wellness reimbursement program

• Participation in Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP)

• Hybrid work model requiring at least three days per week in the office

• Global perks: Education Assistance, Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Family Leave, Fitness reimbursement, Employee Referral Program, healthy snacks & beverages, and Launch attendance time off (NYSP)

• Background check required after a conditional offer