Embedded Software Engineer

Who We Are: Venus Aerospace is revolutionizing rocket engine propulsion. With the first generational leap in rocket engine technology since Apollo, our proprietary Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine and Venus Detonation Ramjets deliver historic efficiency and performance across aerospace applications. We are building the next generation of propulsion platforms that enable breakthrough capabilities in space, defense, and commercial high-speed flight. Our team thrives on solving the toughest engineering challenges and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in aerospace. At Venus, we’re looking for bold engineers and innovators who want to make history and redefine the future of propulsion.

The Role: Embedded Software Engineer We are seeking a talented Embedded Software Engineer to help develop the flight software that powers our next-generation avionics and flight computer systems. You’ll join a small, multidisciplinary Software team that currently spans embedded systems, ground software, hardware test and data acquisition, HIL/V&V, and internal enterprise software. As an early member of our growing Embedded Software team, you’ll have significant ownership in shaping the architecture, processes, and technical direction of this area. As the company grows, this role offers the opportunity to take on technical and people leadership and help build out the Embedded Software organization.

What You'll Get To Do

Develop Flight Software

Design, implement, and integrate real-time embedded software for our flight computers and avionics systems.

Translate system and hardware requirements into robust, maintainable, and testable software.

Work across the hardware/software boundary to bring up, debug, and integrate embedded systems.

Build for Reliability:

Develop software with the rigor required for mission-critical aerospace systems, including fault handling, verification, and configuration management.

Develop automated unit, integration, and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing to verify flight software.

Collaborate with Avionics, GNC, Test, Ground Software, and QA engineers to identify and solve complex system-level problems.

Shape the Embedded Team:

Help establish our embedded software architecture, development processes, tools, and engineering practices.

Take ownership of projects from initial concept through implementation, integration, and flight readiness.

Grow with the company and, as the team expands, have the opportunity to mentor engineers and lead the Embedded Software organization.

What You Have

Experience-Level:

Software engineer with 5+ years’ experience developing embedded systems for flight-related systems.

Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or related engineering discipline. Advanced degree a plus. Equivalent professional experience may be considered.

Embedded Software Fundamentals:

Strong proficiency in C and/or C++ for resource-constrained embedded systems.

Experience developing software for microcontrollers, SoCs, or embedded CPUs.

Strong understanding of embedded concepts:

Interrupts and interrupt handling

DMA peripherals

Memory-mapped I/O

Timers and watchdogs

Serial communication interfaces

Concurrency and synchronization

Memory management and resource constraints

Ability to read schematics, datasheets, reference manuals, and hardware specifications and translate them into software requirements.

Real-time Systems:

Experience developing real-time embedded software with deterministic timing requirements

Familiarity with RTOS concepts, such as scheduling, priorities, synchronization, inter-task communication, and timing analysis.

Understanding of latency, jitter, deadline misses, and failure modes in real-time systems.

Experience reasoning about system behavior when multiple asynchronous events occur simultaneously.

Safety/Reliability-Critical Aerospace Software:

Experience developing software where correctness, reliability, and fault handling are critical.

Experience with:

Fault detection and handling

Redundancy or graceful degradation

Watchdogs and health monitoring

Startup/self-test behavior

Robust state-machine design

Safe handling of unexpected inputs and hardware faults

Understanding of the difference between nominal behavior and behavior during degraded or failed hardware/software conditions.

Experience with Weapons Open Systems Architecture (WOSA) and Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA).

Verification and Testing:

Experience writing unit & integration tests

Ability to create test cases from software requirements.

Familiarity with code coverage and other objective measures of verification.

Ability to diagnose problems spanning the SW/HW boundary.

Software Engineering Practices:

Good candidates should be comfortable with:

GIT and modern code-review workflows

CI/CD for embedded systems

Static analysis and compiler diagnostics

Automated regression testing

Requirements tracking and traceability

Issue tracking and defect analysis

Peer reviews of both code and design

Writing clear technical documentation

Systems-Level Thinking:

Collaborate closely with Avionics, GNC, Propulsion, Test, and Ground Software engineers

Translate system-level requirements into software architecture and implementation

Understand interfaces between flight software and sensors, actuators, communications systems, and other onboard computers.

Participate in system architecture and interface definition

Diagnose problems that may originate in hardware, firmware, software, configuration, or integration.

What Will Set You Apart

Experience developing or integrating embedded software within modular weapons, missiles, avionics, or other mission-critical architecture.

Familiarity with defensive programming and failure containment.

Experience interfacing/developing code for FPGAs

MIL-STD-1553, RS-422, and RS-485 experience

Experience with compliance to DO-178C or MIL-STD-882E standards

Thrust Vector Control (TVC) experience

Experience working with Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs)

Experience working with Global Positioning System (GPS) chips

SpaceWire / Time-Triggered Ethernet experience

Experience with Model-in-the-Loop (MIL), Software-in-the-Loop (SIL), and Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) testing environments and best practices

Experience debugging software using: JTAG/SWD or equivalent debugging interfaces, Logic Analyzers, Oscilloscopes, Serial/Network interfaces, Embedded tracing/logging tools

DAQ fundamentals for voltage, current, and temperature measurements

Experience developing automated test infrastructure.

Experience with GitLab pipelines, Atlassian tools (Jira, Confluence), or systems engineering practices.

Experience working in a development environment where changes need to be reviewable, reproducible, and traceable.

Location: On-site in Houston, TX

Benefits: Venus Aerospace employee benefits include a 401(k) plan, stock options, and medical benefits, including dental and vision. We have a flex-Friday flexible schedule, unlimited PTO, and receive professional development opportunities.

ITAR Requirements This position involves access to technology that is subject to U.S. export controls. Any job offer made will be contingent upon the applicant’s capacity to serve in compliance with U.S. export controls. To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be able to meet ITAR requirements (U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State). You can learn more about ITAR here.

Venus Aerospace is an Equal Opportunity Employer including Disabled/Veterans. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability. If you have a disability and believe you need a reasonable accommodation, please email careerassistance@venusaero.com or call (281) 203-0027.This email and phone number were created exclusively to assist job seekers whose disability prevents them from being able to apply online. Messages or any other purposes, such as following up on an application, third party staffing agencies, website technical issues, or any other issues not related to a disability, will not receive a response. Messages will be returned within five business days.

For additional information about our Equal Opportunity Employment Policy, please visit our EEOP page.