Ground Software Manager

ABOUT FIREFLY AEROSPACE

As an end-to-end responsive space transportation company, Firefly Aerospace is on a mission to enable our world to launch, land, and operate in space – anywhere, anytime. Our launch vehicles, lunar landers, and orbital vehicles provide government and commercial customers with full mission services from low Earth orbit to the surface of the Moon and beyond. Headquartered in north Austin, Texas, Firefly is looking for passionate, hardworking innovators to join our team and help fuel our successful trajectory into space.

SUMMARY

As Ground Software Manager at Firefly Aerospace, you will lead the team responsible for building, deploying, and supporting the command and control systems that power our launch vehicles and spacecraft from mission control. You will own the strategy, architecture, and execution for both launch and spacecraft ground software systems, driving development from early design through mission operations. This role is critical to Firefly’s test, launch, and on-orbit success.

You will work across programs and disciplines, supporting lunar landers, orbital spacecraft, and launch systems. Your team will own and maintain both web-based or embedded ground software systems for spacecraft operations, full-stack development, databases, and DevOps. This is a hands-on management role that requires technical leadership, architectural vision, and operational discipline.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead and mentor a cross-functional team of ground software engineers working on launch vehicle and spacecraft ground systems
• Own the design, development, integration, and test of ground software systems across multiple platforms (JavaScript, Python, Go, LabVIEW, etc.)
• Define and enforce best practices for software quality, CI/CD pipelines, version control, and deployment
• Oversee software readiness for integrated testing, launch operations, and live spacecraft missions
• Serve as the technical point of contact for internal stakeholders and external partners (NASA, FAA, etc.) on ground software matters
• Work closely with GNC, avionics, propulsion, test, and mission operations teams to ensure ground software meets real-world needs
• Drive hiring, team development, and resource planning for a growing department
• Support post-flight reviews and incident investigations with software-related findings and data

QUALIFICATIONS

Required

• 5+ years of experience in ground software development for launch systems, spacecraft, or high-reliability test infrastructure
• Demonstrated technical leadership or management of software teams
• Strong programming background in: TypeScript, Python, Go
• Experience deploying software systems in support of test or launch operations
• Proficiency with time-series data integration and real-time command/telemetry systems
• Familiarity with software development tools (Git, JIRA, CI pipelines) and Linux-based environments
• Exceptional communication and collaboration skills across diverse technical teams

Desired

• Experience with spacecraft mission control software, such as F Prime or similar frameworks
• LabVIEW certification (CLD or CLA)
• Familiarity with InfluxDB, PostgreSQL, Grafana, or similar time-series systems
• Experience leading ground software teams through full mission life cycles (design to flight)
• Background in aerospace or flight-critical software environments
• Experience operating in Agile development environments

Firefly offers outstanding benefits for our employees, including generous health, dental and vision plans with low plan deductibles, parental leave, educational reimbursement, short term disability, and flexible PTO options.

To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a 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.

Firefly Aerospace, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with Firefly is governed based on merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.