Senior Firmware Engineer, Vehicle

K2 Space is building the largest and highest‑power satellites ever flown, unlocking performance levels previously out of reach across every orbit. Backed by $450M from leading investors, K2 is mass‑producing high‑power satellite platforms for missions from LEO to deep space.

The rise of heavy‑lift launch vehicles is shifting the industry from an era of mass constraint to one of mass abundance, and K2 believes a fundamentally different class of spacecraft is required. Engineered to survive harsh radiation environments and to fully capitalize on today's and tomorrow's massive rockets, K2 satellites deliver unmatched capability at constellation scale and across multiple orbits.

We are seeking a Senior Embedded Software Engineer to develop and enhance low‑level embedded software across the satellite platform. The engineer will work closely with custom hardware to develop low‑level software that brings our spacecraft to life—from initial hardware bring‑up through fully integrated, flight‑ready systems.

• Create embedded software architecture for real‑time, fault‑tolerant control of a 20kW+ spacecraft.
• Develop embedded software for new hardware integrated throughout the satellite.
• Extend embedded software applications for managing hardware on some of the largest satellites that have ever flown.
• Scale embedded software across different satellite products by building software infrastructure and development processes.
• Debug complex HW/FW issues using traditional debug tools (JTAG/SWD, logic analyzers, oscilloscopes), and custom debug hooks both on the ground and in orbiting satellites.
• Mentor a diverse team of software engineers and instill embedded software best practices.

• 5+ years of experience developing embedded software in Rust, C, or C++, targeting microcontrollers (ARM, RISC‑V, or similar).
• Strong understanding of a microcontroller’s memory subsystem, instruction pipeline, interrupts, and DMA controller.
• Experience collaborating with hardware engineering teams.
• Demonstrated ability to debug complex hardware/firmware issues.

• Experience using Rust in hard real‑time systems, either bare‑metal or RTOS environments.
• Experience developing peripheral drivers without use of the vendor’s software.
• Experience with spacecraft flight software development.
• Experience maintaining embedded software across multiple product revisions.
• Experience with software verification and testing methods.
• Experience with software and network performance analysis and debugging.
• Experience with fault‑tolerant software design and implementation.
• Experience defining, creating, and maintaining test systems for both hardware‑in‑the‑loop and hardware‑out‑of‑the‑loop.

• Base salary range: $160,000–$220,000 plus equity.
• Salary is determined based on skills, experience, and education.
• Comprehensive benefits package including paid time off, medical/dental/vision, life insurance, paid parental leave, and other perks.

If you don’t meet 100% of the preferred skills and experience, we encourage you to still apply! Building a spacecraft unlike any other requires a team unlike any other, and non‑traditional career paths are encouraged.

We provide reasonable accommodations for candidates and employees with disabilities. Please let us know if you need a reasonable accommodation as part of your application for employment or interviews.

As defined in the ITAR, “U.S. Persons” include U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, and certain protected individuals (e.g., refugees/asylees, American Samoans). If you are not a U.S. person, you must obtain an export control license.

K2 Space is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment is governed on the basis of merit, competence, and qualifications and will not be influenced by race, color, religion, gender, national origin, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability, or any other legally protected status.