Head of Compute Software

About the Company

Cowboy Space Corp. is building the infrastructure to power and connect the orbital economy. Our satellites operate in Low Earth Orbit to collect sunlight and enable a new class of capabilities—from transmitting energy via infrared lasers to powering on-orbit compute and delivering secure, high-bandwidth optical data.

Responsibilities

• Define the technical vision and roadmap for onboard compute software across spacecraft platforms
• Lead the design and development of real-time, distributed, and fault-tolerant software systems for space environments
• Own system architecture across operating systems, middleware, networking, and application layers
• Build and lead a team of software engineers, setting technical direction and development standards
• Drive end-to-end software development from architecture and prototyping through deployment and in-orbit operations
• Collaborate cross-functionally with hardware, GNC, RF, and spacecraft teams
• Optimize software for performance, reliability, and efficiency within constrained compute, power, and thermal environments
• Establish robust testing, simulation, and validation frameworks

Requirements

• 10+ years of experience in software engineering, focusing on distributed systems, embedded systems, or high-performance computing
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field
• Experience designing and shipping complex software systems
• Strong background in distributed systems, embedded systems, avionics, or real-time systems
• Experience leading technical projects or teams
• Strong understanding of system architecture and hardware/software co-design
• Must meet ITAR requirements (U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or protected individual)

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience building software for aerospace, satellite systems, or mission-critical environments
• Background in edge computing or distributed systems in constrained environments
• Familiarity with resource management and performance optimization under strict hardware constraints
• Experience with real-time or near real-time distributed systems, including scheduling and orchestration
• Background in networking systems and custom protocols
• Proven ability to build or scale systems from 0→1 in fast-moving environments