Software Engineer (Data Engineering Team)

Slingshot Aerospace is at the forefront of satellite observation and orbital determination technologies, using the latest in ground-based optical telescopes and advanced AI-powered processing algorithms. Satellite data is the lifeblood of the company, and as such, the Data Engineering team plays a critical role in ensuring its success, by managing and processing the observational data with as little latency and as high reliability as possible. We are looking for the best and brightest engineers to help Slingshot accelerate the security, safety, and sustainability of space by developing and maintaining state-of-the-art software and data pipelines that enable the optical tracking of satellites by Slingshot and its customers.

What You’ll Do:

As a software engineer working on the Data Engineering team, you will:

• Build and maintain data processing pipelines using Databricks, a state-of-the-art AI-powered data platform.
• Help design and build next-generation products that deliver Slingshot’s best-in-class satellite data and analytics to government and commercial customers around the world.
• Contribute to the improvement, operations, and maintenance of the Slingshot Global Sensor Network (GSN)
• Develop and maintain automated alerting systems, track and resolve software faults, and enhance software components across Slingshot’s tasking, collection, processing, exploitation, and dissemination pipeline.
• Champion industry best practices and provide input into the strategy and technical planning of Slingshot’s software infrastructure and technology stack.

Position Responsibilities:

• Execute all position responsibilities in alignment with Slingshot’s core values, mission, and purpose.
• Build high-performance back-end software systems and front-end GUIs and dashboards through strong collaboration with fellow Slingshot team members.
• Help architect and implement cutting-edge software systems running on cloud platforms and edge devices using industry best practices.
• Engage with customers and stakeholders to ensure successful outcomes for their mission-critical needs.
• Promote industry coding standards and best practices.
• Develop and mature software to help automate and enhance optical sensor data tasking, collection, processing, exploitation, and dissemination.
• Develop and maintain automated alerting systems.
• Track and resolve software faults reported by fellow team members.
• Support ongoing and future transitions of Slingshot’s products and services to the Slingshot GSN, to space operations centers, and to other technology testbeds.
• Perform other duties as assigned (to be less than 10% of the responsibilities listed above).

Prerequisites:

• Must be able to work remotely, including having adequate internet bandwidth to support video calling and software development activities.
• Must be a U.S. citizen eligible for government clearances.

Minimum Requirements:

• 5+ years’ experience in software engineering
• Bachelor’s degree in computer science or related technical field
• Proficiency producing technical documentation, including written documents and technical drawings
• Strong data management experience, including using and developing with databases such as: MongoDB, PostgreSQL, Databricks
• Experience developing high-performance data transformation and processing software using such languages and frameworks as: Python, Spark, SQL, C/C++, Java, and JavaScript/TypeScript
• Experience developing software running natively on Linux or in containers (Docker/Kubernetes) in cloud environments (preferably AWS)
• Ability to work both independently and on teams, and to learn whatever technologies and platforms are required to complete assigned tasks
• Self-starter mentality, including resolving blockers independently and escalating problems when necessary, and ability to work on a fluid and dynamic team with changing requirements
• Strong written communication skills and attention to detail
• Ability to travel up to 10% of the time

Preferred Skills:

• Significant experience developing and debugging applications in Python and/or C++, including deployment experience in a Linux operating environment
• Experience working in a remote startup environment on a high-performing engineering team
• Experience investigating and debugging complex processes
• Experience working for aerospace companies and/or working with aerospace data and data files
• Experience setting up data ETL pipelines with Databricks and Apache Spark, or with other data environments
• Experience optimizing software while balancing multiple outcomes, e.g. performance, data throughput, system load, and cost
• Experience using and developing in Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Location: Remote continental US

Classification: Full-Time Exempt (Computer Employee Exemption)

Salary: $105,000 - $174,000