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Kepler Communications operates the first commercial optical data relay constellation with 33 satellites launched to date, providing real-time on-orbit connectivity for critical missions. The company is building advanced space communications infrastructure with on-orbit compute and hosted payload capabilities.
As Software Chief Engineer, you serve as the senior technical authority for software across Kepler's programs and are the point of technical accountability for the integrity and coherence of flight and ground software as an integrated capability. This is a horizontal technical-authority role focused on technical leadership rather than program delivery or line management.
You will establish software technical direction, vision, and roadmap across programs; own and approve the software architecture and standards baseline (KEDS, ECSS-E-ST-40/Q-ST-80, NASA NRP 7150.2 heritage); chair software technical decision boards and architecture reviews; and resolve cross-program and cross-discipline software technical disagreements. You assess software technical readiness at major program milestones (PDR, CDR, TRR-equivalent gates) and recommend acceptance of software technical risks, waivers, and deviations.
Key responsibilities include providing software technical leadership across flight software, built-in test, GNC software, onboard autonomy, edge/orbital compute, ground software, and the developer platform and SDK. You will drive convergence toward a coherent, reusable software architecture across programs; take on the highest-risk and hardest cross-cutting software problems; lead deep software technical reviews covering architecture, interfaces, timing and real-time behavior, fault management, margins, and security; and mentor senior engineers and architects.
You will maintain unwavering technical integrity, ensure timely software technical decisions, and identify and remove software technical roadblocks that span teams and programs. The role requires balancing capability, reliability, maintainability, schedule realism, and technical risk to ensure Kepler's software is delivered to standard and fit for purpose across every program and product line.
Kepler offers competitive compensation, comprehensive health/dental/vision insurance, 401(k), unlimited vacation, supportive parental leave, relocation packages for approved roles, $1,500 annual professional development fund, and regular company-wide events. The company is a certified Great Place to Work, seven years in a row at its Canadian headquarters.
**Requirements:**
- 15+ years of progressive software engineering experience, including significant experience as a Chief Engineer, Software Architect, Distinguished Engineer, Technical Fellow, or equivalent senior technical authority
- Demonstrated success providing technical direction across a software organization of 50+ engineers, multiple programs, and several engineering disciplines
- Strong understanding of the complete software lifecycle: requirements, architecture, detailed design, implementation, integration, verification, validation, deployment, operations, maintenance, and anomaly resolution
- Experience mentoring senior engineers, architects, and technical leads and developing the next generation of technical leadership
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or a related discipline
- Demonstrated experience establishing and executing an AI strategy across software engineering and the broader organization
- Demonstrated success driving organizational change, building AI fluency, and encouraging adoption among engineers, technical leaders, and non-technical teams
**Bonus qualifications:**
- Direct experience developing flight software, spacecraft autonomy, GNC software, payload software, onboard or edge computing, and ground-segment systems
- Experience with spacecraft operations, on-orbit commissioning, anomaly resolution, or software updates to operational systems
- Familiarity with digital engineering, model-based systems engineering, requirements management, software product assurance, and formal verification methods
- Experience building common software platforms, SDKs, reusable services, and shared infrastructure across several products or programs
- Experience working within a scaling technology company where processes, architectures, and organizational structures are continuing to mature
