Sr. Principal Architect, Systems and Mission Software

The TeraWave software system spans flight software running aboard hundreds of satellites through to the ground systems managing mission operations, network operations, and payload services — all linked across multiple communication channels and operating with varying levels of automation and autonomy. This system must simultaneously maintain TeraWave's commercial service levels, support safe vehicle operations, and evolve rapidly as the constellation scales from first deployment through full operational capability. TeraWave is a satellite communications network designed to deliver symmetrical data speeds of up to 6 Tbps anywhere on Earth, servicing tens of thousands of enterprise, data center, and government users who require reliable connectivity for critical operations. 

As the Senior Principal Architect for Systems & Mission Operations Software, you will own the end-to-end software architecture tying together TeraWave's flight and ground systems — spanning the satellite bus, mission operations, and payload domains — with deliberate ownership of minimizing architectural complexity across the organization. The scope of this role extends to defining the software interfaces with the network operations domain, ensuring those interactions are well-defined and consistent with the overall architecture, while detailed network and RF software design remains within the network engineering organization. You will own the program-wide CICD architecture, linking software releases across all contributing teams with verification and validation processes to enable rapid, safe deployment at constellation scale. You will drive adoption of common tools, mechanisms, and standards across domains, and own the system-level architecture for over-the-air software updates — ensuring updates can be deployed safely and seamlessly across a live operational constellation without disruption to service or vehicle safety. You will bring a strong appreciation for the hardware realities within which this software operates, including constraints imposed by processor selection, memory, and fault management, ensuring architectural decisions remain grounded in physical system constraints. Successful candidates will bring deep expertise in large-scale distributed software architecture with a strong command of both flight and ground software domains, paired with the cross-functional influence needed to shape software strategy across a large engineering organization. 

If you share our passion for building software systems that are elegant in their simplicity, robust in their operation, and ambitious in their scale, thrive in a dynamic startup environment, excel on integrated cross-functional teams, are experienced and skilled in several relevant areas listed below, continuously seek out opportunities to learn and improve, and do not allow title or job description to limit the depth or breadth of your contributions, then we would love to hear from you. 

Special Considerations:

• Relocation provided 

• Travel expected up to 10% of the time 

Responsibilities include but are not limited to: 

• Own the end-to-end TeraWave software architecture spanning flight and ground systems, defining the structure, interfaces, and integration strategy across the satellite bus, mission operations, and payload software domains. 

• Define and maintain system-level interfaces between TeraWave's major software components — including the boundary between mission operations and network operations — ensuring clarity, minimal coupling, and organizational alignment. 

• Own the program-wide CICD architecture, linking software releases from all contributing teams with verification and validation processes to enable rapid, safe, and traceable deployment at constellation scale. 

• Define and own the system-level architecture for over-the-air software updates, ensuring safe, seamless deployment across a live operational constellation without disruption to service or vehicle safety. 

• Drive adoption of common tools, mechanisms, and standards across TeraWave's software domains, reducing duplication and fragmentation across the organization. 

• Serve as the senior technical authority on end-to-end software risks spanning ground-to-flight boundaries or organizational lines, leading risk assessments and driving mitigation strategies that allow the program to respond rapidly and effectively. 

• Define the architecture for software-driven automation and autonomy, command and control flows, and telemetry pipelines across ground and flight systems, ensuring designs are resilient, scalable, and maintainable at full operational scale. 

• Ensure software architectural decisions are grounded in hardware realities — including processor and MCU capabilities, memory constraints, and fault management requirements — across flight and ground systems. 

• Define software configuration management and versioning strategies that support a high-cadence, multi-team development environment with clear traceability between deployed and validated configurations. 

• Evaluate architecture options for security, resilience, and fault tolerance, ensuring the system maintains safe vehicle operations and service continuity under degraded or anomalous conditions. 

• Collaborate with software leads across all domains to align on architectural direction, resolve cross-domain conflicts, and ensure consistent implementation; engage with the Chief Systems Architecture office to ensure the software architecture is reflected in and consistent with the design reference mission. 

• Contribute to team growth through hiring, identifying capability gaps, and mentoring software engineers and architects across the organization. 

Qualifications: 

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, software engineering, aerospace engineering, or equivalent technical field; master's degree preferred. 

• 12+ years of software engineering experience with significant experience architecting and integrating large-scale distributed systems spanning multiple domains or organizational teams. 

• Demonstrated experience defining and owning end-to-end software architecture across both flight and ground systems in a spacecraft or satellite program. 

• Strong working knowledge of CICD principles and practices, including experience designing or owning program-wide pipelines that integrate verification and validation processes. 

• Proficiency in C, C++, and Rust, with demonstrated experience in flight or safety-critical embedded software contexts. 

• Working knowledge of hardware constraints and their implications for software architecture, including processor and MCU selection, memory limitations, and fault management in embedded and flight software contexts. 

• Experience contributing to the architecture of over-the-air software update systems for operational embedded or flight systems, with emphasis on safety, reliability, and service continuity. 

• Demonstrated proficiency in leveraging AI-assisted development tools — including code generation, automated testing, and architectural analysis tools — to accelerate productivity and maintain high standards of code quality and system design across a large-scale software program. 

• Excellent verbal, written, and graphical communication skills, with the ability to communicate complex architectural decisions clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences. 

• Ability to work collaboratively in a fast-paced, dynamic work environment. 

Desired: 

• Successful candidates in this role typically have 15+ years spanning software architecture, flight software, and ground system design for operational satellite programs, including experience with large-scale LEO constellation software systems. 

• Familiarity with satellite autonomy software architectures including onboard fault detection, isolation, and recovery (FDIR) and automated constellation management. 

• Experience with software security architecture for space systems, including command authentication, uplink and downlink security, and cybersecurity frameworks for operational satellite systems. 

• Experience with real-time operating systems (RTOS), containerization, microservices architectures, and cloud-native tooling as applied to flight and ground software development. 

• Background in software verification and validation approaches for flight or safety-critical systems. 

• Leadership or management experience with a demonstrated track record of driving technical consensus across large software organizations.