Principal Software Engineer

Company Overview Iridium is an award-winning satellite communications company operating the world's only truly global voice and data network, delivering reliable connectivity anywhere on Earth. For more than 20 years, Iridium has powered mission-critical communications for governments, businesses, aviation, maritime, and the rapidly expanding Internet of Things.

Now part of Iridium, Aireon is the world’s only space-based air traffic surveillance system, providing real-time visibility of aircraft over oceans, the poles, and remote regions. Together, Iridium and Aireon are helping build a safer, more connected, and more efficient future for global aviation.

Join our team and help shape how the world stays connected. We foster a collaborative, inclusive culture where employees are empowered to innovate, grow professionally, and make a meaningful impact.

What We’re Looking For:

Iridium is seeking a hands-on technical leader with expertise in test automation, software architecture, and the engineering tooling that powers modern development teams. In this role, you will serve as the technical authority over automation framework for our Solutions Automation team. You will partner closely with the associate director, engineering managers, and stakeholders to translate the long-term technical roadmap into well-designed solutions, leading through technical authority rather than direct reports.

You will thrive in this role if you are a technically sound engineer who is able to solve complex architecture problems, set standards that elevate the entire team, and drive innovation through automation.

Our work spans the full stack and then some: from device-level integration (Python/py Serial talking directly to hardware) up through Python data and automation services (FastAPI, Pandas, Num Py, Airflow), event streaming with Apache Pulsar, PostgreSQL and the ELK stack, and out to React front-ends on Linux. Parts of our infrastructure run on AWS (EC2, ECS/ECR, ALB/NLB), and we're actively expanding our cloud footprint.

We're looking for someone comfortable operating across that whole range, not an expert in every tool.

What You’ll Do:

Partner with technical leadership to define and evolve the framework architecture for the Solutions Automation team, including design patterns, technology selection, and integration standards

Define standards and reference patterns for integrating generative AI into the software development lifecycle, including AI-assisted test generation, triage, and developer tooling, with clear attention to quality, code provenance, IP, and security

Prototype new frameworks, patterns, and AI-augmented tooling to validate architectural decisions before team-wide adoption

Partner with the associate director and engineering managers to shape and drive the long-term technical roadmap, establishing and maintaining technical standards, coding practices, and quality benchmarks, and reviewing and approving designs

Own lab and framework standardization, ensuring consistent environments and tooling across all teams, and drive technical modernization and platform scalability initiatives

Represent the Solutions Automation team (SAT) in Technical Interchange Meetings (TIMs), Daily Change Control Boards (DCCBs), and other technical forums, and facilitate architecture reviews and technical workshops that elevate the team’s capabilities

Grow the technical depth of every engineer on the team through mentorship, design and code reviews, pairing on hard problems, and leading technical onboarding for new hires

Provide technical evaluation support during hiring, including the design of technical interview assessments and candidate evaluation

What You’ll Need to Succeed:

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software…