Head of Software

AdAstra Talent Advisors is a headhunting and talent advising firm focused on the Climate, Space, and Defense sectors of Hard Tech. This is a direct hire, permanent placement position for a client based in Torrance, CA.

Our client is a rapidly scaling, venture-backed space infrastructure company building the foundational layer that connects space-based assets to Earth. Their platform enables real-time data transfer, communications, and mission-critical operations across government and commercial customers.

With significant recent funding and strong market traction
, the company is entering a phase of rapid global expansion
, scaling its infrastructure footprint from a handful of sites to a globally distributed network
. This creates complex challenges across distributed systems, reliability, and automation at scale
.

The team is composed primarily of engineers from strong software and infrastructure backgrounds
, with a focus on building highly reliable, production-grade systems in a fast-paced, execution-driven environment.

This is a direct hire, permanent placement position for a client of AdAstra Talent Advisors. This position is based in Torrance, CA. More company details will be shared during an initial call.

As Head of Software, you will own and execute the company’s end-to-end software strategy powering a global ground network
. This includes systems that orchestrate hardware assets, manage data flow across distributed infrastructure, and deliver mission-critical data to customers
.

You will be responsible for building and scaling the software layer that ensures reliability, observability, and performance as the company rapidly expands from a small number of sites to a globally distributed footprint
.

This role sits at the intersection of infrastructure, backend systems, and customer-facing platforms
, requiring a strong technical generalist who can operate across layers and drive cohesive system design.

This is a player-coach role
: you will set technical direction, lead and grow the team, and remain hands‑on in architecture, debugging, and critical system development to ensure systems are delivered reliably and at pace.

• Own the architecture and technical direction of the core software stack, including backend systems, cloud infrastructure, networking, and customer-facing platforms
• Build and scale systems that orchestrate and manage globally distributed hardware assets
  , ensuring uptime and reliability
• Develop and optimize data pipelines and networking systems that route data from ground infrastructure to customers in real time
• Drive reliability, observability, and operational excellence across all systems, including monitoring, telemetry, and automated recovery
• Design and implement cloud and edge compute infrastructure
  , including distributed processing at global sites
• Partner closely with hardware and operations teams to ensure seamless integration between physical systems and software
• Lead, mentor, and grow a high-performing engineering team across backend, infrastructure, and web domains
• Establish and scale engineering best practices across CI/CD, deployment, and system operations
• Stay hands‑on in system design, debugging, and critical path execution

• 7–12+ years of software engineering experience with ownership of production, distributed systems at scale
• Proven experience leading and managing engineering teams (ideally 5–10+ engineers), including mentorship and team development
• Strong background in backend systems and cloud infrastructure
  , with experience in distributed systems and/or networking
• Experience architecting and operating highly reliable, production-grade systems with a focus on uptime, performance, and observability
• Proficiency in C/C++ and/or Rust
  , or experience working on performance‑critical systems
• Ability to operate as a technical generalist across infrastructure, backend, and system design
  , rather than a narrow specialist
• Track record of owning complex systems end‑to‑end
  , from initial build through scaling in production
• Hands‑on leadership approach with willingness to engage directly in system design, debugging, and critical…