Senior Software Engineer

Software EngineerNorthwood 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.
As 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.
Northwood 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):Cloud orchestration & distributed systems design Lead the end-to-end architecture of a global, distributed control plane that schedules hundreds of satellite passes per hour across mixed AWS/on-prem nodesMentor teams on fault-tolerant patterns and land design RFCs that become Northwood standardsAPI, database & front end development Build 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 scaleDesign and implement the underlying workflow-orchestrator that coordinates satellite communications across sites, reconciles conflicts, and enables autonomous coordination across the world’s largest ground networkArchitect 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.
Edge systems (ground station) Design and implement control systems for our ground station hardware, you will write software that interacts with everything from embedded systems to RF modemsHigh bandwidth data movement Architect and optimize data pipelines for efficient movement of data between ground stations and various end environmentsArchitect 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.
Monitoring & alerting systems Create comprehensive monitoring and alerting solutions for software and infrastructureImplement tools to ensure continuous uptime and rapid issue resolutionGlobal telemetry capabilities Transform our telemetry data into actionable insights, enabling predictive diagnostics to address issues before they arise; keep our customers informed about relevant operations in real timeInfrastructure, security & pipelines A 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.'Production line software & testing Develop software for production line bring-up and testingAutomate testing procedures to ensure hardware and software reliabilityWorking alongside mechanical/RF/EE/FPGA and SW engineers to ensure system correctness, performance, and reliability before leaving our manufacturing lineSimulation & orchestration software Create simulations that model satellite and network designCreate simulation tools for testing and validating system performanceDesign and implement software that orchestrates our global antenna network and data planeBasic

Qualifications:
5-7+ 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)Completed 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 its place)Preferred

Qualifications:
While 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