Ground Software Engineer II, Arc Vehicle

About Inversion

Inversion builds advanced reentry systems to deliver next-generation capabilities from space. Our mission is to make Earth radically more accessible by turning Low-Earth Orbit into an on-demand logistics domain.

What You'll Do

As a Ground Software Engineer at Inversion, you will report directly to the Engineering Manager of Arc Vehicle Software. In this role, you will build, integrate, and test the mission control software, real-time telemetry processing pipelines, and data visualization tools required to operate and monitor the Arc vehicle. You will own the development of user interfaces and backend applications used in both test and operations.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain the backend architectures, telemetry parsers, and command pipelines that support ground operations and flight tests.
• Build highly reliable, low-latency operator displays and data visualization interfaces used during vehicle testing and missions.
• Develop, package, and deploy automated software tools to orchestrate and monitor Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) and Software-in-the-Loop (SIL) simulation runs.
• Define and implement communication protocol structures, serialization standards, and data definitions (e.g., JSON, Protobuf, YAML) between flight and ground hardware.
• Build and maintain high-rate time-series databases and data storage solutions for rapid post-test analysis and archive searching.
• Integrate ground station software interfaces to manage uplink and downlink RF hardware, tracking antennas, and network routing.
• Provide direct, real-time software support during integrated vehicle testing, troubleshooting networking or command-and-control drops.

Required Qualifications

• Must have the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government Secret/Top Secret security clearance.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or equivalent technical experience.
• Typically 2+ years of professional experience developing software, with a focus on ground control systems, telemetry pipelines, or distributed systems.
• Proficiency in Rust in a Linux environment.
• Experience working with network communication protocols (such as TCP, UDP, and WebSockets).
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with the ability to coordinate across software and hardware teams.

Desired Qualifications

• Experience working in full-stack software development.
• Familiarity with existing aerospace mission control and ground software frameworks (such as COSMOS, Open MCT, Yamcs, or similar).
• Experience with containerization (Docker, Kubernetes) and modern DevOps practices (GitLab CI, GitHub Actions).
• Familiarity with RF communication systems, satellite link characteristics, or digital signal processing.
• Prior experience working in startups and/or small independent engineering teams.

Compensation

The California annual base salary for this role is currently $101,000 - $160,000.