Lead Flight Software Engineer

Overview

Principal Flight Software Engineer - Space Tech

Inno Forge are partnering with a venture-backed space and national security company developing a first-of-its-kind space-based system that redefines how assets are deployed, maneuvered and operated in orbit.

We’re seeking a Principal Flight Software Engineer to lead the design and development of mission-critical flight software
.

You’ll work in a fast-moving, cleared prototyping environment, taking hardware from prototype through flight demonstration and into operational deployment.

This is a rare opportunity to own software architecture end-to-end for a system that will fly and directly shape future space and missile-defense capability.

• Architect, implement, and deliver real-time flight software supporting guidance, navigation & control, autonomy, telemetry, and fault management.
• Own software architecture and system-level performance for a first-of-its-kind space system.
• Lead technical design reviews, verification, validation, and integration with hardware and GNC teams.
• Develop high-reliability embedded software in C/C++ (and/or Rust) within RTOS or bare-metal environments.
• Drive software processes, mentor engineers, and establish best practices as the system matures toward flight.
• Support hardware-in-the-loop, spacecraft-in-the-loop, and flight testing in an agile, prototype-driven program.

• 7+ years of experience developing embedded or real-time software for space, aerospace, defense, or other mission-critical systems
  .
• Deep proficiency in C/C++ and a strong understanding of deterministic, real-time system behavior.
• Experience owning software across the full lifecycle — from early concept through integration, test, and operations.
• Comfort operating in ambiguous, fast-paced environments where first-principles thinking is required.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Security Clearance (U.S. citizenship or permanent residency required).

• Work on a system that does not exist anywhere else today
• Clear roadmap to a 2027 flight demonstration
• Multi-year funding and government backing
• Meaningful equity offered to early technical leaders
• Real ownership, real hardware, real impact

If you’re motivated by hard problems, real missions, and the chance to build something that will define a new category in space operations, we’d love to speak with you.

Contact Inno Forge in confidence to learn more.