{"id":22939,"url":"https://alion.io/job/northwoodspace-senior-software-engineer-space-communications","title":"Senior Software Engineer (Space Communications)","company":{"id":6433,"name":"Northwood Space","domain":"northwoodspace.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/northwoodspace","size_band":"1001-5000","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Ashby","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":82,"open_postings":7,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.714,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":54,"computed_at":"2026-10-25T05:49:26Z"}},"role":"Backend","role_family":"Backend","seniority":"senior","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Los Angeles, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":161000,"max":224000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":224000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":5,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Amazon S3","optional":false},{"name":"AWS","optional":false},{"name":"Angular","optional":true},{"name":"Ansible","optional":true},{"name":"Azure","optional":true},{"name":"C++","optional":true},{"name":"CI/CD","optional":true},{"name":"FreeRTOS","optional":true},{"name":"GCP","optional":true},{"name":"GitLab CI","optional":true},{"name":"Go","optional":true},{"name":"Grafana","optional":true},{"name":"InfluxDB","optional":true},{"name":"JavaScript","optional":true},{"name":"Jenkins","optional":true},{"name":"MySQL","optional":true},{"name":"PostgreSQL","optional":true},{"name":"Prometheus","optional":true},{"name":"React.js","optional":true},{"name":"Rest API","optional":true},{"name":"Rust","optional":true},{"name":"Terraform","optional":true},{"name":"Time Series","optional":true},{"name":"TimescaleDB","optional":true},{"name":"TypeScript","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-07-13T18:11:58Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-22","last_verified_at":"2026-10-25T12:43:07Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":103,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":1,"flags":[],"days_open":103},"description":"About Northwood:\nNorthwood is a modern space infrastructure company bringing the benefits of space to the masses through advanced communications technology. We are building a global network of phased array ground stations that enable real-time, reliable communication for satellite missions such as national security, global connectivity, and disaster response. With a vertically integrated approach, Northwood designs, builds, and rapidly deploys scalable systems that power the next generation of space missions. If you like solving complex challenges and seeing your work deployed around the world with real impact, Northwood is the place to do it.\nRole:\nAs a Software Engineer at Northwood, you will be pivotal in designing, implementing, and optimizing the global service that delivers connectivity to our customers. You will have ownership over key areas - ranging from control of our antenna systems to the customer APIs that enable booking time on our network. An ideal candidate is someone who likes to work across areas of responsibility and can dive deep into high priority challenges.\nNorthwood is a full-stack company, with software development spanning everything from embedded systems and high speed networking to distributed web services. We seek versatile candidates who want to contribute across multiple areas while having a solid foundation in a few core areas of focus. Key areas of focus include-but are not limited to-the following (new team members will have the opportunity to work across these areas):\nCloud orchestration & distributed systems design\nLead the end-to-end architecture of a global, distributed control plane that schedules hundreds of satellite passes per hour across mixed AWS/on-prem nodes\n\nMentor teams on fault-tolerant patterns and land design RFCs that become Northwood standards\n\nAPI, database & front end development\nBuild and own customer-facing and internal control-plane APIs - craft, version, and operate the endpoints that let users search, reserve, update, and cancel satellite passes at multi-thousand-request scale\n\nDesign and implement the underlying workflow-orchestrator that coordinates satellite communications across sites, reconciles conflicts, and enables autonomous coordination across the worlds largest ground network\n\nArchitect the real-time TT&C / data-transfer interfaces - deliver a secure, bidirectional streaming channel that carries command uplink, telemetry downlink, and supports near-real-time data delivery across Northwood’s global ground network.\n\nEdge systems (ground station)\nDesign and implement control systems for our ground station hardware, you will write software that interacts with everything from embedded systems to RF modems\n\nHigh bandwidth data movement\nArchitect and optimize data pipelines for efficient movement of data between ground stations and various end environments\n\nArchitect a Tbps-class SD-WAN overlay (WireGuard + QUIC) that transparently shifts traffic between sites, S3-compatible buckets and customer VPCs, with per-flow QoS and FEC.\n\nMonitoring & alerting systems\nCreate comprehensive monitoring and alerting solutions for software and infrastructure\n\nImplement tools to ensure continuous uptime and rapid issue resolution\n\nGlobal telemetry capabilities\nTransform our telemetry data into actionable insights, enabling predictive diagnostics to address issues before they arise; keep our customers informed about relevant operations in real time\n\nInfrastructure, security & pipelines\nA global network requires global deployments, and Northwood is committed to building a secure, reliable, and stable pipeline. This infrastructure empowers our developers to deploy changes continuously-without the risk of disrupting the system or relying on 'testing in prod.'\n\nProduction line software & testing\nDevelop software for production line bring-up and testing\n\nAutomate testing procedures to ensure hardware and software reliability\n\nWorking alongside mechanical/RF/EE/FPGA and SW engineers to ensure system correctness, performance, and reliability before leaving our manufacturing line\n\nSimulation & orchestration software\nCreate simulations that model satellite and network design\n\nCreate simulation tools for testing and validating system performance\n\nDesign and implement software that orchestrates our global antenna network and data plane\n\nBasic Qualifications:\n5-7+ years of professional software development experience (this doesn’t have to be from a full-time role-there are many ways to gain valuable experience, and we’d love to hear about yours - tell us about internships, projects out of the classroom, or any personal projects)\n\nCompleted bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Math or other related major (soft-requirement, tell us why you didn't pursue a degree, and what you've done in it's place)\n\nPreferred Qualifications:\nWhile we don’t expect you to have every skill listed below, we do expect you to take ownership of one or more areas and drive decisions and implementations where your strengths lie.\nProgramming Languages (General):\nProficiency in one or more of the following:\nRust, Golang, C/C++\n\nOpen to other languages that are suitable for distributed systems and/or high-performance computing and interested in strong opinions on the right language for various applications\n\nStrong problem-solving abilities\n\nExcellent communication and collaboration skills\n\nAbility to work in a fast-paced, dynamic environment\n\nDomain specific skills:\nDistributed Systems & Cloud Computing:\nExperience designing and implementing distributed systems\n\nKnowledge of cloud services (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud) and orchestration tools\n\nFamiliarity with microservices architecture and serverless computing\n\nHardware Interaction & FPGA:\nExperience with hardware control systems\n\nFamiliarity with FPGA programming and orchestration\n\nUnderstanding of embedded systems development (FreeRTOS, Zephyr)\n\nData Movement & Networking:\nProficiency in architecting data pipelines for high-throughput environments\n\nUnderstanding of network programming and IP protocols\n\nExperience with high-speed communications (10GigE+)\n\nAPI & Front-End Development:\nExperience in building RESTful APIs\n\nProficiency with front-end technologies:\nJavaScript/TypeScript\n\nFrameworks: Angular, React, or similar.\n\nKnowledge of UI/UX best practices\n\nMonitoring & Alerting Tools:\nExperience with monitoring solutions (Prometheus, Grafana, ELK Stack)\n\nFamiliarity with alerting systems and incident response\n\nInfrastructure & Security:\nProficiency with Infrastructure as Code tools (Terraform, Ansible)\n\nUnderstanding of security best practices and compliance requirements\n\nExperience managing CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, GitLab CI/CD)\n\nDatabases & Data Processing:\nExperience with time-series databases (InfluxDB, TimescaleDB)\n\nProficiency with relational databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL)\n\nKnowledge of data processing frameworks\n\nSimulation\nExperience designing/implementing simulations for physical models (think satellite orbits) or network movement\n\nOrchestration:\nExperience designing/implementing orchestration engines for distributed nodes (think robotics, long running jobs, data pipelines, etc…)\n\nTesting & Automation:\nExperience with automated testing frameworks\n\nFamiliarity with production line testing software\n\nAdditional Requirements:\nThis position requires successfully obtaining and maintaining a Top Secret Security Clearance as a condition of employment. While the clearance may not be immediately necessary upon hire, we encourage you to initiate the application process promptly upon accepting this offer. Your ability to secure the necessary clearance is essential for fulfilling key responsibilities of the role. Should you be unable to obtain it, Northwood Space reserves the right to modify or terminate your employment to align with operational needs.\n\nAdditional Information:\nIf you need a reasonable accommodation as part of your application for employment or interviews with us, please let us know.\nTo conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.\nNorthwood Space is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Northwood 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.","description_format":"text","description_chars":8775,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":5,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":true,"languages":[]},"benefits":[],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Satellite Communications","Ground Systems"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-07-13T18:11:58Z"},{"event":"close","at":"2026-09-17T02:15:49Z"},{"event":"reopen","at":"2026-10-22T01:46:41Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":24,"band":"cold","label":"Long shot","p_open":1,"p_active":0.655,"p_room":0.36,"age_days":103,"expected_fill_days":54,"reasons":["conf:1","velocity","win:tail","crowd:"],"computed_at":"2026-10-25T05:49:26Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":224000,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/northwoodspace-senior-software-engineer-space-communications","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/northwoodspace-senior-software-engineer-space-communications.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-25T15:15:50Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":21991,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-26T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":6433},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=6433"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fnorthwoodspace-senior-software-engineer-space-communications"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fnorthwoodspace-senior-software-engineer-space-communications"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fnorthwoodspace-senior-software-engineer-space-communications"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/northwoodspace-senior-software-engineer-space-communications\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fnorthwoodspace-senior-software-engineer-space-communications"}]}