Senior Flight Software Engineer, Arc Vehicle

Job description

Advanced Reentry Technologies Who We Are: Inversion is an aerospace and defense company pioneering advanced reentry technology to enable next-generation capabilities from space. By combining high-performance materials, precision aerodynamics, and mission-driven autonomy, Inversion is transforming reentry into an operational capability for an entirely new class of missions. The company’s highly maneuverable reentry spacecraft, Arc, is designed for rapid global cargo delivery, hypersonic testing, and other national security missions that require precise, controlled flight through the atmosphere. Arc creates an entirely new transportation domain, unlocking unprecedented speed and global reach. Headquartered in Los Angeles, Inversion designs, manufactures, and integrates its spacecraft under one roof, enabling the company to move rapidly from concept to flight. The company is backed by leading investors including Y Combinator, Spark Capital, and Lockheed Martin Ventures, with customers across the U.S. government and commercial space industry. Position Overview: As a Senior Flight Software Engineer at Inversion you will be responsible for designing, implementing, and verifying the core flight software that controls the Arc hypersonic reentry vehicle. You will own safety-critical software modules end-to-end, including vehicle state machines, flight autonomy, and fault-management logic . Key Responsibilities: Develop, test, and deploy high-reliability, real-time flight software . Design and implement safety-critical state machines, autonomous flight sequencing, and fault detection, isolation, and recovery (FDIR) algorithms. Integrate and optimize GNC flight software modules from the Reentry and Accurate Landing teams into the main C++ software loop. Perform low-level driver development and board bring-up on flight hardware, debugging hardware-software interfaces using logic analyzers and oscilloscopes. Lead the development and execution of Software-in-the-Loop (SIL) and Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) test suites to validate software performance and timing margins. Participate in rigorous code reviews, establish technical coding standards, and mentor junior embedded software developers. Collaborate with systems and avionics engineers to define interface control documents (ICDs), telemetry packets, and communication protocols (CAN, Ethernet, Serial). Required Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science , Computer Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or equivalent technical experience. Typically 5+ years of professional experience developing embedded, real-time, or safety-critical software. Strong proficiency systems programming languages (C / C++ / Rust) in a Linux-based development environment. Solid understanding of embedded Linux , deterministic software design, memory management, and multi-threaded architectures. Hands-on experience writing software that directly interfaces with physical hardware via communication protocols (such as CAN, Ethernet, SPI, I2C, or RS-422). Demonstrated excellent verbal and written communication skills with experience presenting technical software designs. Must have the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government Secret/Top Secret security clearance. Desired Qualifications: Experience developing flight software for spacecraft, launch vehicles, or safety-critical autonomous aerospace platforms. Familiarity with modern software development best practices, including Git, unit-testing frameworks, static analysis, and automated CI/CD pipelines. Familiarity with physical systems modeling, sensor data processing, or GNC algorithms. Prior experience in a fast-paced aerospace startup or small, high-ownership team. Our office headquarters is located in Playa Vista, CA. This position requires in office presence. The California annual base salary for this role is currently $139,000 - $201,000. Pay Grades are determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data. Individual pay will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: interviews and an assessment of several factors that are unique to each candidate, job-related skills, relevant education and experience, certifications, abilities of the candidate and internal equity. ITAR Compliance: To 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. Learn more about the ITAR here . Equal Employment Opportunity: Inversion provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, veteran status, or disability. Inversion collects and processes personal data in accordance with applicable data protection laws. If you are a US Job Applicant see the CCPA Privacy Policy Notice for further details.