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Salary: USD 150,000 - 200,000 / annual
Cowboy Space Corporation is building space-based solar energy infrastructure, deploying modular, scalable satellites in Low Earth Orbit to transmit energy via infrared lasers, power on-orbit high-performance computing clusters, and provide secure optical data transport. The company was founded in 2024 by Baiju Bhatt (co-founder of Robinhood) and has raised ~$365 million from top-tier investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Index Ventures, and Breakthrough Energy Ventures. The team includes veterans from SpaceX, Blue Origin, Stoke Space, Astranis, and NASA.
As a Software Engineer, Reliability, you will own software reliability for avionics and compute systems across the full lifecycle—from concept, design, radiation hardening, and integration through launch and on-orbit operations. You will design and develop automated test and validation frameworks for embedded and high-performance compute systems, develop software to validate performance and fault tolerance of CPUs, GPUs, and custom accelerators under mission-representative conditions, and execute system-level testing including hardware-in-the-loop (HIL), environmental, and stress testing to identify failure modes.
Key responsibilities include characterizing system performance (latency, throughput, resource utilization) and driving optimization across hardware/software boundaries; investigating and resolving anomalies through deep root cause analysis; defining reliability metrics, test plans, and acceptance criteria for flight-critical systems; working closely with electrical, avionics, and software teams to ensure robust integration of compute platforms into spacecraft systems; building internal tools to support rapid debugging, telemetry analysis, and system observability; supporting vehicle and payload bring-up, integration, and pre-flight validation; and participating in radiation testing campaigns of avionics and compute parts.
This is a hands-on role requiring you to bridge hardware and software, move quickly, resolve complex anomalies, and take ownership of system stability that directly impacts mission success.
REQUIREMENTS:
Basic Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related field
- 4+ years of experience in software engineering, reliability engineering, or systems validation
- Strong programming skills in Python, C++, or similar languages
- Experience working with distributed systems, embedded systems, or high-performance compute environments
- Familiarity with debugging complex system-level issues across hardware and software
- Experience building automated test frameworks or validation infrastructure
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience with avionics systems, spacecraft hardware, or embedded compute platforms
- Familiarity with GPU/accelerator-based systems and performance validation (e.g., CUDA, parallel computing)
- Experience with hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing and system integration
- Strong background in performance analysis, profiling, and optimization
- Experience with observability tools, logging, and telemetry systems
- Understanding of fault tolerance, redundancy, and high-reliability system design
- Experience operating in fast-paced, high-ownership environments (e.g., aerospace, defense, advanced hardware startups)
ITAR Requirement: Applicants must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.
