Software Engineer – Space, Aerospace Full Time

Space Software Engineer

Company name: The SpaceLead

Job location: Remote

The SpaceLead is seeking an engineer to support practical work at the intersection of spacecraft autonomy, flight software, and systems engineering. This role is for someone who wants hands-on exposure to how autonomous space systems are designed, structured, reviewed, and communicated in a way that is useful to technical teams, founders, and decision-makers.

Start date

ASAP

Duration

18 to 24 months (flexible)

Location

Remote

Time commitment

Part-time or full-time (flexible)

Compensation

Competitive, market-aligned compensation, commensurate with experience and scope.

What you will work on

• Support early-stage design and analysis for autonomy and flight software concepts relevant to space missions
• Help structure system architectures, interface definitions, operating assumptions, and functional breakdowns
• Contribute to technical notes, concept briefs, requirements drafts, and trade-off summaries
• Support work on mission autonomy topics such as onboard decision-making, fault detection, runtime monitoring, planning, and supervisory control
• Review spacecraft software and autonomy stacks across missions, companies, and programmes to identify patterns, gaps, and design choices
• Help maintain structured trackers covering autonomy capabilities, mission types, software functions, and system constraints
• Prepare concise technical background notes and comparison tables for internal use, outreach, and sector-facing content

What you will learn

• How autonomy and flight software fit into the wider spacecraft system
• How early mission concepts move from idea to structured technical definition
• How systems engineering is applied to autonomy, onboard software, and mission operations
• How to write clearly about technical topics for both specialist and non-specialist audiences
• How space companies, programmes, and missions are approaching autonomy in practice

What good looks like

• Clear, structured technical thinking
• Notes and outputs that are well organised, accurate, and easy to reuse
• Strong judgement on system boundaries, assumptions, and interfaces
• Concise writing that gets to the point without losing technical meaning
• Reliable delivery with good communication and attention to detail

Ideal profile

• Studying or recently completed work in aerospace engineering, software engineering, robotics, computer science, systems engineering, or a related field
• Interest in spacecraft autonomy, onboard software, robotics, or mission systems
• Comfortable working with technical information and turning it into clear written outputs
• Able to work independently, meet deadlines, and raise questions early
• Curious, practical, and able to handle ambiguity without losing structure

Nice to have

• Familiarity with spacecraft subsystems, mission operations, or autonomous systems
• Exposure to Python, C++, ROS, simulation environments, or embedded / flight software concepts
• Familiarity with ESA, NASA, UKSA, or commercial space mission architectures
• Comfort with docs, spreadsheets, diagrams, and light technical modelling

Tools

Use whatever you work fastest in. Most work will be in docs, spreadsheets, diagrams, and lightweight technical workflows.

How to apply

Send a short message with:

• Apply via LinkedIn.
• (optional) In your application, include one short pitch, max 100 words, on an autonomy or flight software topic The SpaceLead should cover.

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