Satellite Software Lead

Description

Xona is building the next generation of satellite navigation — a high-performance, resilient alternative to GPS powered by a commercial constellation of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites. We are on a mission to unlock a new era of autonomy, advanced mobility, and infrastructure resilience by delivering precise, secure, and robust positioning services to the world. 

We’re not here to incrementally improve GNSS. We’re here to redefine it from the ground up. 

We’re looking for a technical lead with strong systems instincts and deep flight software experience to own the software stack that ties our satellite together. From attitude control to power, thermal, and payload, you’ll be the one knitting the subsystems into a cohesive, mission-ready spacecraft. 

This is a foundational role, central to bringing up our spacecraft on orbit and ensuring it functions as a coordinated, resilient system. 

What You’ll Do: 

• Lead the architecture, development, and integration of the satellite flight software stack. 
• Make the key build vs. buy decision on flight software frameworks, with a bias toward pragmatic acceleration. 
• Interface directly with subsystem leads (ADCS, power, comms, payload) to define software interfaces and bring-up plans. 
• Own onboard software integration and testing, from simulations and flatsats to hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) and flight validation. 
• Define and implement safe-mode behavior, system bootstrapping, fault handling, and operations sequencing. 
• Collaborate with the ground segment team to define telemetry, command, and software update flows. 
• Write clean, reliable, testable software — and put in place processes and tooling to do it fast and right. 
• Drive long-term thinking around software modularity, maintainability, and testability as we scale the constellation. 

You Might Be a Fit If: 

• You’ve built or led development of flight software or embedded systems for spacecraft, UAVs, or other high-reliability autonomous systems. 
• You’re fluent in C/C++, and have worked with real-time operating systems (RTOS) or space-focused frameworks like cFS, F Prime, or TASTE. 
• You’re highly systems-aware — you understand the dynamics and interfaces of spacecraft hardware and how to abstract and manage them in software. 
• You’ve owned complex projects end-to-end and know how to move fast while keeping systems robust and maintainable. 
• You’re a strong communicator, and love collaborating with hardware teams to make the full system work. 

Requirements

• Full-time, onsite in Burlingame, California (this role is not remote or hybrid) 
• To comply with U.S. Government space technology export regulations, applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the United States (i.e. Green Card holder), or other protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3) 

Desired Qualifications: 

• Experience with on-orbit operations, fault protection logic, or embedded autonomy 
• Familiarity with hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing, simulators, and satellite flatsats 
• Exposure to space comm protocols, time synchronization, or GNSS systems 
• You’ve launched flight software before