Wanna Join the Adventure?
Loft Orbital is seeking a Software-in-the-Loop (SIL) Systems Engineer to join our Test Infrastructure team. In this role, you will lead the development and maintenance of a scalable SIL platform that emulates spacecraft avionics, enabling rapid software development and testing. You will collaborate with cross-functional teams, integrating technologies like QEMU and Docker to create a robust virtualized test environment used across our global teams.
*Research shows that while men apply to jobs where they meet an average of 60% of the criteria, women and other marginalized people tend to only apply when they meet 100% of the qualifications. At Loft, we value respectful debate and people who aren’t afraid to challenge assumptions. We strongly encourage you to apply, even if you don’t ‘check all the boxes.
About This Role:
- Designing, developing, and deploying a Software-in-the-Loop platform that emulates spacecraft avionics, enabling comprehensive software testing without the need for physical hardware.
- Collaborating with cross-functional teams to understand and meet their testing needs, ensuring the platform is flexible and easy to use.
- Integrating QEMU, Docker, and other virtualization technologies to create a scalable and widely deployable test environment.
- Maintaining and supporting the SIL infrastructure, ensuring high availability and reliability for continuous integration and testing.
Must Haves:
- Proficiency in containerization using Docker to create isolated, reproducible software environments.
- Virtualization: Knowledge of other virtualization tools and technologies that could be used to simulate hardware.
- Experience with hardware emulation technologies, such as QEMU
- Understanding of APIs and the ability to interact with different types of APIs
- Proficiency with Python and/or C/C++
- Scrappy and inventive: you will be working with cutting edge technologies and proprietary tools
- Linux power user
- Ability to work closely with cross-functional teams, including hardware, software, and systems engineers, to understand and meet diverse testing needs.
- Experience with integrating various subsystems into a cohesive test platform, ensuring compatibility and performance.
Nice to Haves:
- Experience with one or more continuous integration tools
- Recent experience setting up CI/CD pipelines
- Aptitude for gathering requirements from multiple stakeholders and implementing test infrastructure improvements
- Hands-on experience involving embedded hardware, such Raspberry Pis, Arduinos, microcontrollers, or similar (can be personal or professional experience)
- Experience emulating existing hardware systems in a software-only environment
- Experience with DevOps systems and tools such as Ansible, Salt, Prometheus, Grafana, etc.
- Technical experience in similar industries (aerospace, automotive, robotics, etc)
- Experience with deploying and managing testing environments in the cloud, such as AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
Some of Our Awesome Benefits:
- 100% company-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance option for employees and dependents
- Flexible Time Off policy for vacation and sick
- 401(k) plan and equity options
- Daily catered lunches and snacks
- International exposure to our team in France
- Fully paid parental leave; 14 weeks for birthing parents and 10 weeks for non-birthing parents
- Carrot Fertility provides comprehensive, inclusive fertility healthcare and family-forming benefits with financial support
- Off-sites and many social events and celebrations
- Relocation assistance when applicable
State law requires us to tell you the base compensation range for this role, which is $90,000- $140,000 (determined by your education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities). The salary range for this role is intentionally wide as we evaluate individuals based on their unique experience and abilities to fit our needs. Most importantly, we are excited to meet you, and see if you are a great fit for our team. What we can’t quantify for you are the exciting challenges, supportive team, and amazing culture we enjoy.
Who We Are
Loft Orbital builds “shareable” satellites, providing a fast & simple path to orbit for organizations that require access to space. Powered by our hardware & software products, we operate satellites, fly customer payloads onboard, and handle entire missions from end to end – significantly reducing the lead-time and risk of a traditional space mission.
Our standard interface enables us to fly multiple customer payloads on the same satellite, with capabilities such as earth imagery, weather & climate /science data collection, IoT connectivity, in-orbit demonstrations, and national security missions. Our customers trust us to manage their space infrastructure, so they can focus on what matters most to them: operating their mission and collecting their data.
At Loft, you’ll be given the autonomy and ownership to solve significant challenges, but with a close-knit and supportive team at your back. We believe that diversity and community are the foundation of an open culture. We are committed to hiring the best people regardless of background and make their time at Loft the most fulfilling period of their career.
We value kind, supportive and team-oriented collaborators. It is also crucial for us that you are a problem solver and a great communicator. As our team is international, you will need strong English skills to better collaborate, easily communicate complex ideas and convey important messages.
With 4 satellites on-orbit and a wave of exciting missions launching soon, we are scaling up quickly across our offices in San Francisco, CA | Golden, CO | and Toulouse, France.
As an international company your resume will be reviewed by people across our offices so please attach a copy in English.
