Senior Firmware Engineer, Vehicle

K2 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 including Altimeter Capital, Redpoint Ventures, T. Rowe Price, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Alpine Space Ventures, and others - with an additional $500M 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 planned through 2026 and 2027, we're Building Bigger to develop the solar system and become 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 groundbreaking Series C space startup, we’d love for you to apply.

The Role

We are seeking a Senior Embedded Software Engineer to develop and enhance low‑level embedded software across the satellite platform. As a Senior Embedded Software Engineer, you’ll 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.

You’ll build embedded software that interfaces directly with sensors, actuators, and critical spacecraft subsystems, including propulsion, attitude control, and power. Your work will primarily be written in Rust and deployed on microcontrollers across our platform, requiring strong fundamentals in real-time systems, resource-constrained environments, and fault-tolerant design.

Responsibilities

• 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.

Qualifications

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

Nice to haves

• 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.

Compensation and Benefits:

• Base salary range for this role is $160,000 - $220,000 + 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.