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Senior Software Engineer Flight + Plan

Quindar

Washington, DC

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JOB DETAILS
SKILLS
AWS Lambda, Aerospace Engineering, Aerospace and Defense, Algorithms, Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3), Application Programming Interface (API), Architectural Services, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Artificial Intelligence (AI) Agents, Automation, Best Practices, C++ Programming Language, Caching, Cloud Computing, Communication Skills, Computer Science, Continuous Deployment/Delivery, Continuous Integration, Cross-Functional, Debugging Skills, Distributed Computing, Flight Planning, Git, Government Regulations, High Reliability, Identify Issues, Java, Leadership, Machine Tool, Mathematical Modeling, Mentoring, Multiplatform/Cross-Platform, Operations Planning, Optimization Algorithm, Performance Tuning/Optimization, Physics, Production Systems, Productivity Management, Python Programming/Scripting Language, Relational Databases (RDBMS), Reliability Engineering, Rust Programming Language, Satellite Operations, Scalable System Development, Security Clearance, Simulation, Software Architecture, Software Development, Software Engineering, Systems Administration/Management, Systems Reliability, Systems Scalability, Test Plan/Schedule, United States Citizen, User Interface/Experience (UI/UX)
LOCATION
Washington, DC
POSTED
2 days ago
Software Engineer, Flight + Plan

What You'll Be Doing

As a Software Engineer on the Flight + Plan team, you will lead the design and development of scalable systems that power satellite modeling, mission planning, operational automation, and flight dynamics workflows across Quindar's platform.

You'll work primarily in Python to architect and implement high-performance backend systems capable of supporting real-world spacecraft operations in production environments. This includes building and validating algorithms, integrating cloud-native services, and developing infrastructure that scales from single missions to large satellite constellations.

This role sits at the intersection of aerospace engineering and modern software infrastructure. You'll collaborate closely with flight dynamics engineers, operators, frontend engineers, and product leadership to turn complex operational requirements into resilient, maintainable systems.

Success in this role requires more than strong implementation skills. We're looking for engineers who actively seek leverage through automation and who are enthusiastic about integrating AI tools, coding agents, and AI-assisted workflows into their daily practice. At Quindar, we believe modern engineering teams should use AI to accelerate development, improve validation depth, reduce operational friction, and raise the overall quality bar across the platform.

In this role, you will:
  • Lead the design and implementation of backend systems supporting mission planning, satellite operations, and flight engineering workflows
  • Develop and validate algorithms related to optimization, orbit propagation, scheduling, sensor fusion, or operational automation
  • Build APIs and distributed services that integrate with cloud infrastructure and operational tooling
  • Improve system scalability, reliability, observability, and performance across mission-critical workflows
  • Use automation and AI-assisted engineering practices to improve developer productivity, testing depth, debugging efficiency, and operational insight
  • Collaborate cross-functionally with aerospace engineers, operators, frontend engineers, and product managers to deliver operationally robust solutions
  • Help shape engineering standards, technical direction, and architectural decisions across the Flight + Plan domain
  • Mentor engineers and contribute to a strong culture of ownership, iteration, and technical excellence
Technical Skills

Required
  • Strong proficiency in Python and experience with Java (C++, Rust, or other systems languages are a plus)
  • Deep experience building scalable backend or distributed systems in production environments
  • Experience developing software that models complex mathematical, aerospace, or physics-based systems
  • Applied experience developing or validating algorithms for optimization, mission planning, orbit determination, scheduling, or sensor fusion
  • Strong understanding of software architecture, performance optimization, reliability, and modern engineering best practices
  • Experience designing, analyzing, and troubleshooting:
    • API services
    • Distributed systems
    • Relational databases
    • Caching and event-driven architectures
    • Experience building and deploying containerized applications using Kubernetes and/or serverless cloud infrastructure
  • Hands-on experience with AWS services such as:
    • Lambda, ECS, EKS
    • CloudWatch, S3
    • EC2, RDS, EFS/EBS
  • Experience with CI/CD systems and modern git-based workflows
  • Enthusiasm for using AI-assisted engineering tools and automation to improve development velocity and software quality
What Makes You Stand Out
  • You use automation and AI to increase engineering leverage and system quality - not just move faster
  • You thrive in ambiguous, highly technical problem spaces and can independently drive solutions from concept to production
  • You balance long-term architectural thinking with rapid execution
  • You communicate clearly across software, aerospace, and operational teams
  • You maintain high standards for reliability, maintainability, observability, and operational readiness
  • You naturally take ownership and help raise the technical bar for the team around you
Background Qualifications
  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Aerospace Engineering, or a related technical field
  • 6-10+ years of professional experience in backend engineering, distributed systems, mission planning systems, modeling & simulation, or related technical domains
  • Equivalent hands-on experience from an exceptional self-starter with deep technical expertise will also be considered
  • Experience operating or supporting mission-critical production systems preferred
  • Active U.S. Security Clearance preferred but not required
ITAR REQUIREMENTS:
  • To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.
Why you'll love working at Quindar
  • We work in a cutting edge industry and you will get the opportunity to be part of a small team with a large direct impact on the success of our customers' space missions!
  • We take work life balance very seriously. We require employees to take 15 days off but provide unlimited PTO and follow most US federal government holidays.
  • Mental health is just as important as physical so we provide quarterly health & wellness benefits.
  • Comprehensive health insurance for you and your family with 100% coverage for employees.
  • We encourage employees to save for retirement and provide 4% 401(k) matching.
  • Each year we have a 4-day company offsite. Previous locations include San Francisco, Nashville, Denver, Santa Fe, New Orleans, San Diego, Bozeman, and New York City.
  • Our culture and company is evolving. You will be key in creating the next major or minor version!

About the Company

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Quindar

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