Design and build mission-critical software for satellite engineering and operations at a high-growth company.
Posted by employer 5 months ago
First seen on Joblaze 1 week ago
Last verified on the company career page 1 day ago
Skills & Technologies
Requirements
- Experience
- 15+ years
- Education
- Bachelor's degree
Not disclosed in this posting: work arrangement, visa sponsorship.
Benefits
Joblaze summary
In the role of Principal Application Software Engineer at K2 Space, the individual will focus on designing and developing essential software that integrates engineering, manufacturing, and operations to enhance satellite production and mission reliability. Key skills include extensive experience in full-stack development, cloud platforms like AWS, and proficiency in programming languages such as C# or Java. This position is ideal for seasoned engineers with a strong background in software architecture and a passion for innovative aerospace solutions. K2 Space is rapidly scaling its operations, aiming to produce a significant number of satellites annually.
Joblaze insights
- Listed 9 days ago on Joblaze — tracked directly from K2 Space's career page.
- K2 Space has 222 other open roles including Senior Modeling & Simulation Engineer: National Security Missions, Senior Platform Engineer (DevX) , Principal Tooling Engineer.
- 2727 active AWS roles on Joblaze right now.
- 2568 active Kubernetes roles on Joblaze right now.
- 1969 active Go roles on Joblaze right now.
- Salary band is in line with the typical range for Backend roles (median ~$180,000).
- Pays more than 70% of the 1354 salaried AWS roles we track (median $170,000). See AWS salary trends
Quick facts
- What's the salary range?
- K2 Space lists $190,000–$230,000 for this role.
- How much experience is required?
- At least 15 years of relevant experience for this Principal Application Software Engineer role.
- What's the tech stack?
- Joblaze extracted these technologies from the posting: AWS, AWS CodeArtifact, Amazon DynamoDB, Ansible, Azure, C++.
- What seniority level is this role?
- K2 Space targets principal-level candidates for this position.
- Is this full-time or contract?
- Full-time for this Principal Application Software Engineer role at K2 Space.
From the original posting
K2 is building the largest and highest-power satellites ever flown, unlocking performance levels previously out of reach across every orbit. Backed by over $1 billion in total funding from leading investors including Altimeter Capital, ICONIQ, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Redpoint Ventures, and T. Rowe Price — and with over $1 billion in signed contracts across commercial and US government customers, we're mass-producing the highest-power satellite platforms ever built 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 we believe this new era demands a fundamentally different class of spacecraft. Engineered to survive the harshest 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.
With multiple launches in 2027 and plans to scale to 100 satellites a year, we're Building Bigger — helping develop the solar system and build toward a Kardashev Type II (K2) civilization. If you are a motivated individual who thrives in a fast-paced environment and you're excited about contributing to the success of a high-growth Series D-funded company, we'd love for you to apply.
The Role
As a Principal Application Software Engineer on our Enterprise Team, you will design and build mission-critical software that connects engineering, manufacturing, and operations. Your work will directly enable accelerated satellite design, rapid production, and reliable mission execution. You’ll collaborate closely with teams throughout K2 Space and deliver systems that improve efficiency, scale operations, and support ambitious missions.
Responsibilities
- Develop highly reliable software solutions used across K2 Space — from factory floors to mission control.
- Create and evolve applications that improve how we design, build, and operate our spacecraft.
- Partner closely with engineers, business partners, and leaders across disciplines to understand their challenges and design efficient solutions.
- Develop prototypes test concept and progress to full fledge software products.
- Own full-lifecycle product development from inception to happy customers.
- Lead architecture reviews, design discussions, and code reviews with your unique perspective.
- Lead software architecture design, deployment strategy, coding standards, and quality processes.
- Evaluate and make decisions regarding engineering options while balancing tradeoffs.
- Advocate, defend and convert other engineering leaders to your own solutions.
- Use data to drive prioritization of work and design of solutions to create the largest positive impact.
- Actively contribute to building a culture of transparency, empathy, integrity, and engineering excellence.
- Actively mentoring other staff members and help team members build good culture and engineering practices.
Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in computer science, information technology, mathematics or a STEM discipline or 15+ years of professional experience in software engineering.
- 10+ years of experience in full stack development, platform engineering, or API development.
- 5+ years of experience with AWS (or Azure, GCP)
- 5+ years of in-depth working experience with CI/CD such as GH Actions, Jenkins, Gitlab CI/CD.
- Working experience with Docker.
- In-depth working experience with Kubernetes (prefer AWS EKS).
- Expert working experience with one or more of the following static typed programming languages such as C#, Go, Java, C++, TypeScript.
- 5+ years of experience with structured database such as PostgreSQL, SQL Server, Snowflake or similar technologies
- Working experience with unstructured database such as NoSQL, Amazon DynamoDB, MongoDB or similar.
- Strong working experience with REST API or gRPC.
- Strong working experience with binary management platforms such as JFrog Artifactory, AWS CodeArtifact or similar technologies.
- Experience with infrastructure orchestration and management tools (Terraform, Ansible, Puppet).
Nice to Have
- Experience with Next.js, React, Angular, or similar frameworks.
- Working experience with testing tool such as Cucumber and Cypress.
- Experience designing scalable, high-performance software systems.
- Knowledge of build systems and package management tools (e.g., Make, Gradle, npm, pip).
- Familiarity with data streaming technologies like Apache Kafka, RabbitMQ, or similar.
Compensation and Benefits:
- Base salary range for this role is $190,000 - $230,000 + equity in the company
- Salary will be based on several factors including, but not limited to: knowledge and skills, education, and experience level
- Comprehensive benefits package including paid time off, medical/dental/vision/ coverage, life insurance, paid parental leave, and many 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 twists and turns are encouraged!
If you need a reasonable accommodation as part of your application for employment or interviews with us, please let us know.
Export Compliance
As defined in the ITAR, “U.S. Persons” include U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents (i.e., Green Card holders), and certain protected individuals (e.g., refugees/asylees, American Samoans). Please consult with a knowledgeable advisor if you are unsure whether you are a “U.S. Person.”
The person hired for this role will have access to information and items controlled by U.S. export control regulations, including the export control regulations outlined in the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR). The person hired for this role must therefore either be a “U.S. person” as defined by 22 C.F.R. § 120.15 or otherwise eligible for a federally issued export control license.
Equal Opportunity
K2 Space is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with K2 Space is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.