Java Engineer; Tooling

We are looking for an experienced and motivated Java Engineer to We are looking for an experienced and motivated Java Software Engineer to join our team. This exciting new role will contribute to our product development, taking responsibility for specific areas of functionality within our product suite, and being the driver of design and development in those areas.

Our team is focused on the development of new Bright Ascension software products, as well as supporting the maintenance of legacy products, and building on our internal tooling which enables our product development. As part of the team, you will primarily be contributing to the development of new products and getting involved in all stages of the software development lifecycle as part of that work.

Our teams use agile processes and work closely together to create a cohesive suite of software products, and underlying tooling.

We see this role as being full time, although this is negotiable. Ideally, we would like this role to be based in Edinburgh/hybrid working to allow for regular interaction with the teams responsible for Product Management, Customer delivery and operations, Finance, Business Development and Sales and Marketing. This is a hybrid role in principle, though fully remote will be considered for exceptional candidates.

As a member of the Customer Delivery and Operations team, your key responsibilities would be:

• Design, development, and testing elements of our ground software.
• Working with the team to produce high-quality, reliable software that conforms to best practices.
• Collaborating with other teams to ensure seamless integration of ground software products within the wider product suite.
• Implementing bug fixes, and providing support both internally, and externally.

Essential skills & experience

We see experience with the following as essential to the job:

• Strong Java experience and knowledge, with a minimum of 2 years’ experience in a professional environment
• Experience with development and debugging of high-quality code, and adherence to best coding practices.
• Experience in planning and executing all stages of software engineering, from design to documentation according to a specified development process.

Personal skills

We’re especially looking for someone who:

• Enjoys problem solving in a range of programming languages, with an interest in learning new languages and frameworks.
• Works well both independently and in a team, respecting the opinions of others as part of a fast‑paced technical environment.
• Possess strong verbal and written communication skills, both for internal, and external customer facing interactions.
• Is diligent, creative, and attentive to details.
• Wants to make a strong contribution to the business, financially but also in terms of team culture and values. You enjoy making an impact and shaping how the business operates.
• Is consistently curious, interested in learning new skills, and open to new ideas and ways of working.

We think that the following skills would definitely be valuable in this role:

• Knowledge of, or exposure to, space systems in either a commercial or academic context.
• Experience operating as part of a collaborative Agile team.
• Experience of model‑based and/or component‑based software engineering.
• Experience in performing requirements analysis and elicitation based on formal and informal inputs.
• Use of version control such as Git or Mercurial.
• Familiarity with Dev Ops concepts and CI/CD pipelines.
• Experience with Apache Maven.
• Understanding of database schemas and query languages.

What we can offer you

• A competitive salary in the range of £35k‑£45k depending on experience, with regular reviews.
• A fantastic opportunity to join a growing, innovative, employee‑centred business pushing boundaries in the space industry.
• Flexible hours and hybrid working, enabling you to create your ideal work life balance.
• 36 days paid holiday per annum.
• Enhanced Company Sick Pay and Long‑Term Sickness cover.
• A Health Cash Plan to cover costs such as dental, physio and optical.
• Life Assurance cover (x4 salary).
• As a member of the Bright Ascension team you would have a stake in the business through our Employee Benefit…