Senior Flight Software Engineer, Arc Vehicle

Turning Space into a Transportation Layer for Earth Who We Are: 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. We see space not as a destination, but as a platform — one that unlocks unprecedented speed and global reach. Our spacecraft are designed to deliver payloads anywhere on Earth in under an hour, operating through extreme reentry conditions and landing with high precision. These systems open the door to new ways of testing, delivering, and operating at hypersonic speeds. Inherently dual-use, our technology is built to meet urgent national security needs while laying the groundwork for future commercial applications. Backed by leading investors including Y Combinator, Spark Capital, and Lockheed Martin Ventures, and working with partners such as the U.S. Space Force and NASA, Inversion is pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in space-based defense and logistics. What You'll Do As a Senior Flight Software Engineer at Inversion, you will report directly to the Engineering Manager of Arc Vehicle Software . In this role, you will be responsible for designing, implementing, and verifying the core flight software that controls the Arc hypersonic reentry vehicle. You will own safety-critical software modules end-to-end, including vehicle state machines, flight autonomy, and fault-management logic . Key Responsibilities Develop, test, and deploy high-reliability, real-time flight software . Design and implement safety-critical state machines, autonomous flight sequencing, and fault detection, isolation, and recovery (FDIR) algorithms. Integrate and optimize GNC flight software modules from the Reentry and Accurate Landing teams into the main C++ software loop. Perform low-level driver development and board bring-up on flight hardware, debugging hardware-software interfaces using logic analyzers and oscilloscopes. Lead the development and execution of Software-in-the-Loop (SIL) and Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) test suites to validate software performance and timing margins. Participate in rigorous code reviews, establish technical coding standards, and mentor junior embedded software developers. Collaborate with systems and avionics engineers to define interface control documents (ICDs), telemetry packets, and communication protocols (CAN, Ethernet, Serial). Required Qualifications Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science , Computer Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or equivalent technical experience. Typically 5+ years of professional experience developing embedded, real-time, or safety-critical software. Strong proficiency systems programming languages (C / C++ / Rust) in a Linux-based development environment. Solid understanding of embedded Linux , deterministic software design, memory management, and multi-threaded architectures. Hands-on experience writing software that directly interfaces with physical hardware via communication protocols (such as CAN, Ethernet, SPI, I2C, or RS-422). Demonstrated excellent verbal and written communication skills with experience presenting technical software designs. Must have the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government Secret/Top Secret security clearance. Desired Qualifications Experience developing flight software for spacecraft, launch vehicles, or safety-critical autonomous aerospace platforms. Familiarity with modern software development best practices, including Git, unit-testing frameworks, static analysis, and automated CI/CD pipelines. Familiarity with physical systems modeling, sensor data processing, or GNC algorithms. Prior experience in a fast-paced aerospace startup or small, high-ownership team. Our office headquarters is located in Playa Vista, CA. This position requires in office presence. The California annual base salary for this role is currently $139,000 - $201,000. Pay Grades are determined by r…