Director​/Sr. Director of Engineering, Software & AI

Through continuous innovation and operational excellence our team in Littleton, CO are using cutting‑edge capabilities to revolutionize spaceflight. With many more exciting projects on the horizon, our team could use your curiosity, passion, talent and experience to help us Build Above.

Redwire Space Missions has an exciting opportunity for a Senior Director/Director of Engineering, Software & AI in our Littleton, CO location. In this role, you’ll lead and scale the Software & AI engineering organization responsible for embedded flight software, ground software, mission operations tools, autonomy, and applied AI/ML capabilities for spacecraft programs. This role combines functional leadership with direct technical contributions to flight and ground segment programs, ensuring disciplined software development, certification‑ready processes, and the strategic integration of AI/ML technologies across the Space Missions portfolio.

• Lead and grow the Software & AI Engineering organization, including embedded flight software, ground control software, autonomy algorithms, simulation frameworks, and Dev Sec Ops  infrastructure.
• Define and enforce software engineering standards, coding practices, verification methods, documentation requirements, and mission assurance processes for flight‑critical systems.
• Provide direct technical leadership to spacecraft programs as needed, serving as a Software technical lead (e.g., SW Architect or IPT Lead), ensuring architecture, implementation, and verification align with mission objectives.
• Oversee development of real‑time embedded flight software for C&DH, GNC, EPS, communications, and payloads.
• Drive development and integration of autonomy, onboard decision‑making algorithms, and AI/ML models to improve spacecraft resilience, adaptability, and operational efficiency.
• Partner with Systems Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and AI&T, to ensure seamless software/hardware integration, robust verification, and closed‑loop performance.
• Guide implementation of digital engineering practices including CI/CD pipelines, automated test frameworks, simulation‑in‑the‑loop, and digital twin environments.
• Build technical roadmaps for software architectures, autonomy frameworks, and AI initiatives supporting future missions and product lines.
• Mentor and develop software engineers, autonomy specialists, and team leads, fostering a culture of technical rigor, innovation, and accountability.
• Support proposal development, customer interactions, design reviews, and mission readiness reviews, as the senior software engineering authority.

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related field.
• 16+ years of experience in software engineering for aerospace, defense, or high‑reliability systems.
• 5+ years of leadership experience managing teams.
• Experience leading embedded software development for spacecraft, launch vehicles, or similar mission‑critical platforms.
• Experience with real‑time embedded systems (C/C++), flight software architectures, or safety‑critical software development.
• Familiarity with one or more industry flight software frameworks, such as cFS, F Prime, AGI Max, or similar modular flight software architectures.
• Familiarity with AI/ML methods, autonomy algorithms, or onboard decision systems, including constraints in embedded and space environments.
• Experience with agile execution methods and tools (e.g., Jira, Confluence)
• Familiarity with requirements management tools (JAMA, DOORS).
• Active U.S. security clearance

• Master’s or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Software Engineering, AI/ML, or related field.
• 5+ years managing a geo‑diverse functional organization.
• Demonstrated ability to build and scale functional organizations, mentor staff, and drive engineering excellence.
• Experience as a Chief Software Engineer, Chief Software Architect, or Software IPT Lead for spacecraft missions.
• Experience across the full software lifecycle including architecture, implementation, verification, validation, and operations support.
• Experience developing flight software using the cFS framework.
• Expertise deploying AI/ML…