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Principal Engineer, Mission Software

Arvada, COLos Angeles, CASan Francisco, CASeattle, WAEngineering ManagementHybrid
Summary

Lead and architect mission-critical Command & Control software for space operations at a hybrid role with technical leadership and people management responsibilities. Requires deep expertise in aerospace/defense domains and hands-on architecture across distributed systems.

About the role

Key Responsibilities

  • Lead and mentor a multidisciplinary engineering team focused on Command & Control (C2) software and Ground Systems Integration capabilities
  • Drive technical execution across mission systems programs, balancing delivery timelines, system reliability, and long-term architectural scalability
  • Serve as system and software architect for strategic government and defense programs leveraging Quindar’s platform
  • Define and evolve software architecture across distributed systems, mission operations tooling, integration layers, and operator-facing applications
  • Collaborate closely with product, mission operations, customer success, and executive leadership to translate mission requirements into scalable technical solutions
  • Guide the team through complex integration efforts involving third-party systems, mission partners, and government stakeholders
  • Maintain hands-on involvement in technical design and software development, contributing directly to architecture reviews, implementation strategy, and critical code paths
  • Support hiring and organizational growth for mission software engineering functions
  • Mentor engineers and technical leads, helping develop technical depth, ownership, and leadership across the organization
  • Coordinate with Engineering and Product leadership to proactively identify architectural gaps, technical risks, and cross-team dependencies
  • Contribute to engineering standards, operational excellence, incident response processes, and post-mortem reviews
  • Communicate technical concepts, program status, and architectural decisions clearly across technical and non-technical stakeholders

Qualifications

  • Proven experience leading complex software engineering efforts in aerospace, defense, mission operations, autonomy, robotics, or other high-reliability domains
  • Strong software architecture experience across distributed systems, backend infrastructure, APIs, operator tooling, and mission-critical applications
  • Experience serving as a technical lead, systems architect, or chief engineer on large-scale customer or government programs
  • Demonstrated ability to lead and mentor engineering teams while remaining deeply technical and hands-on
  • Experience integrating software systems across multiple teams, vendors, or external mission partners
  • Strong understanding of software development life cycles, systems engineering principles, and Agile development methodologies
  • Ability to code and review production-quality code in languages relevant to Quindar’s technology stack
  • Excellent communication and leadership skills with the ability to align technical execution with strategic mission objectives
  • Strong organizational and program leadership skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and drive execution across parallel efforts
  • Experience working with government customers, defense programs, or regulated environments is a strong plus
  • Ability to obtain U.S. Security Clearance (Active clearance strongly preferred)
Skills
Software ArchitectureDistributed SystemsBackend DevelopmentAPI DesignCommand and Control SystemsMission OperationsSystems EngineeringAgile MethodologiesSecurity ClearanceTeam Leadership